Day Two – Thursday February 24

After day one, Brenda and I got home late in the evening after they had left. The garage was clean, their tools were neatly stacked to the side and I was a happy camper.

I stopped by at lunch on day two and the panels were back up on the roof, they were finalizing pulling the wire and connecting/moving our critical load to the new sub-panel, and they were making good progress.

Everything was completed by the end of the day. Except… the system was not connecting to our WiFi router. They tried a booster, but it didn’t cut it. So on to Plan B.

Day One – Wednesday February 23

I cleared out the garage around the area where the new system would go. Zach, from Elemental Energy in Portland and his crew showed up at 9:00 and started to work.

To those of you who know we have a Tesla, you may be wondering why we didn’t go with a Tesla PowerWall. Easy answer: Tesla wouldn’t sell one to us.

Tesla will only sell their PowerWalls to those who also buy Tesla solar. And we already have 6kW of solar panels that are working just fine. In my research, I came across the Enphase battery, which seems to be slightly more efficient than the PowerWalls.

The first order of business was removing each solar panel so that the old inverter could be replaced with new, more efficient, micro-inverters. Then they started cutting holes, running wires and generally revamping our system. 

Tomorrow: cutting holes, running wires, and putting it all back together.

Day Zero – Tuesday February 22

After 2,435 days, our SunnyBoy solar inverter is going away. During its time perched silently on our garage wall, it effortlessly logged every watt of electricity our solar array produced.

And in that time period, we generated 50,370,000 watt-hours of electricity. Yes, 50 MWh. That’s an average of almost 21 kWh per day, every day. Not too shabby.

But as with all things, technology advances. And with climate change becoming even more prominent, we felt we wanted to add a measure of comfort and security in case our electricity went out. We’ve had ice storms in recent years and smoke from fires to the extent that sometimes the electric grid in our area goes down. 

Our solar system was originally installed with a 110v outlet in case the power went out, we could switch over to solar and run at least a few items off that plug. But it was manual. And cumbersome.

So on February 23, we are having our SunnyBoy removed (and donated to a non-profit that installs off-grid solar in developing countries, more on that later) and a new Enphase system installed. It will have battery backup and be controlled via an app on our phone.

Four Years In

February 10, 2018 we took delivery of our RWD LR Tesla Model 3. We were fortunate enough to have a friend who was a first day reservation holder from April 2016 and who didn’t want to wait two years. He instead bought a Model S and just recently upgraded to a new Model S.

So he gave us his spot in line. And after almost two years, we were able to order our car, which we named Scarlett. We found if you buy a Tesla, you have to name your car. And since we went red, Scarlett was a natural choice.

Our move to completely electric was probably as big a shift as our move to have just one car. When we moved downtown in 2015, we committed to use just one car. It actually was pretty easy. When we committed to go all-electric, the shift was equally easy. Things like range anxiety, etc. simply didn’t materialize. We’ve never “run out of electricity.” And that’s because of a) charging at home (just like your cell phone) and b) Tesla’s robust supercharging network for our road trips and travels.

As I’ve done in previous years, I look back on our experiences going 100% electric and abandoning gas stations completely (except for ice tea and bathroom breaks). So here’s my four year update.

We’ve driven just under 42,000 miles. Most has been around town, but we’ve taken several road trips of 1,000 to 3,000 miles. We’ve used just over 10,000 kWh of electricity and probably spent just a little over $1,000 on “fuel.” About $20/month on average. The equivalent of 138 miles per gallon. At $0.61 per gallon.

Our original 100% charge range was 310 miles. It has dropped to about 308-309. That’s about 0.6% battery degradation over four years. Our battery has an 8 year warranty. I think we’ll be fine.

We’ve spent $176 in regular maintenance (cabin air filter, tire rotation, wiper fluid and wiper blades). Total. And we’ve replaced the tires at a cost of just under $1,200.

Really, nothing to add. We still love driving her.

Road Trip!

We recently returned from a 3,300 mile road trip through southern Utah and the five National Parks there. We also did a short side trip to Mesa Verde in southern Colorado.

And we did it all in an electric vehicle.

We’ve done road trips before, but this time, we seemed to have more people asking questions about our experience with our trip. Specifically, those questions centered around charging. So I thought a short recap might be in order.

Big picture: our trip would start in Eugene, head east through central and eastern Oregon, down through Idaho to Salt Lake City, east to Moab and Mesa Verde then back and south through Canyonlands, Bryce and Zion National Parks. We would then head north back home pretty much along the same route as we came in. In the middle of the trip, from Moab to Zion, we decided to take the scenic Route 12, which was a nice winding road, beautiful scenery and limited EV chargers.

About charging: it wasn’t a problem at all. It actually never has been. I’ve heard that the best cure for range anxiety is to actually own an EV. And that is really true. We’ve never been nervous that we might run out of charge on a road trip.

There are a couple of reasons for that. First, we drive a Tesla. And the Tesla Supercharging network is very robust. On this last trip, with just two exceptions, there were fast chargers about every 100 to 150 miles. And with a range of just over 300 miles, that makes it easy. We could stop at a Supercharger, have an iced tea, stretch our legs, get lunch, use the restroom and be on our way in 15 to 30 minutes on average.

Second, we plan our trips. Driving an EV cross-country does require some planning ahead of time. I use the PlugShare app, which lists virtually every charger location across the US. I also favor lodging that has overnight, or destination chargers. Many hotels and bed and breakfasts have complimentary chargers that we can plug in when we go to bed and be fully charged by morning.

Just like a cell phone.

And that’s what we did along that scenic Route 12. From the Green River Supercharger through Bryce and Zion then on to the Cedar City Supercharger, it’s a little over 350 miles. And that’s without any side trips. But we stayed at a very nice hotel in Escalante (Canyon Country Lodge) that had four Tesla chargers and one universal charger. Then we stayed at some of the cutest cabins in Tropic (Bryce Canyon Inn) that had two Tesla chargers. In Zion, our hotel had six universal EV chargers. At all of those locations, when we checked out to head on our way, we had 100% charge.

So overall, while it does take some additional planning, it isn’t difficult or nerve-wracking. Will we do a long road trip again? 

Absolutely!

Happy Birthday, Scarlett! (again)

Today marks Scarlett’s 3rd birthday. We took delivery on February 10, 2018. And this is, actually, kind of a bittersweet birthday. Bittersweet largely because while our Model 3 was (and is) cutting edge as far as technology and features, it has graduated to the commonplace. 

When we took delivery, we were in the first 6,300 Model 3s manufactured in the US and only the second Model 3 in Eugene. We could only get the premium interior, single motor, rear wheel drive with the long range battery (really glad we did that!).  And being in that early grouping, whenever we’d pass 12 year old boys or even many adults, we’d get stares. And wide eyes. We often could see those boys mouthing “Tesla!”

When we’d meet another Model 3, we’d flash the peace sign or wave. It was this early-adopter kind of club. But then, something happened.

Tesla became mainstream. Not that it is a bad thing. Transitioning to electric vehicles is happening (like it or not) and it is happening fast. The EV market share in the US is increasing logarithmically from under 1% in 2016 to over 2% in 2020 and an estimate 20% in 2030. In mid-2020, the Tesla Model 3 was the best selling automobile in California. Among ALL new cars sold. Gas or electric.

Now, when we meet another Tesla, there is rarely the peace sign. And the 12 year old boys are mostly indifferent. I can’t remember the last time someone walked up to me in a parking lot and asked “is that a Tesla?”

But there is that quiet satisfaction that we are making a difference in the environment. That we are helping transition our culture to EVs. That we are saving a boat-load of money on fuel and maintenance, too.

Happy birthday, Scarlett! You are growing up and maturing.

And so is our culture.

Autumn Reflections

Brenda has an excellent eye and is a great photographer

As I moved my office computers home (again) to work during our latest COVID shut down, I realized I hadn’t really done a five year update of living downtown. And we’re now at almost five and a half years living near downtown Eugene.

In fairness, the last 18 months has brought helping our son purchase and renovate a 1907 fixer-upper (MAJOR fixer upper) AND a world-wide pandemic, to name just two major events. Our son did finish his renovation and just signed papers on his mortgage a few days ago. Twelve months of renovating and six months dealing with the bank. Don’t get me started.

We moved our staff home in March because of the virus. We moved back into the office sometime in July (I think; everything the last nine months is kind of a blur) and then we just moved back home yesterday.

So as I was sitting at my home office desk and Brenda was on a work break and taking some pictures of our landscaping, I thought I should update you on our life on Lawrence Street. And it’s good.

As we head into celebrating Thanksgiving next week, we personally have much to be thankful for. None of our immediate family have contracted the virus, although we know some who have. Our son got his mortgage at a reasonable rate and is off on the journey of homeownership. Scarlett, our Tesla Model 3 is still running along well, not needing anything more than an occasional plug into the wall for a recharge. Our landscaper is running late trimming our shrubs and that has allowed us to enjoy those beautiful barberries in the photo above just a little bit longer. Work has gone well for both of us and neither of us has experienced any layoff or reduction in salary. Our neighborhood gatherings are now on “pause” but that’s ok for now.

Life at the edge of downtown Eugene is still very very good.

Please consider this our five year update and a time to be thankful. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

The Payoff

All that sanding has a payoff.

Well, I’ve been hinting at the final results of all the sanding, scraping and sealing of the house. I’m not sure how many sanding pads we went through, how many nails and staples we pulled out of the walls, but you can now see the results of all that work.

As I mentioned previously, the house has, throughout, fir shiplap paneling. It wasn’t clear, vertical grain fir that people might want to select today, but we feel the variation in the grain and variety of color tone adds so much to the character of this house.

The left picture is our son sanding one of the walls. My wife and I also spent many hours on step stools and ladders sanding and touching virtually every surface in this house.

The picture on the right shows the results of those efforts. We sealed the walls with an Olympic brand clear sealer in a satin finish. This will allow easier cleaning and it also brought out the richness of the fir.

This is a great example of the “reuse” portion of the reduce, recycle, reuse part of environmental stewardship. This 1907 home still retains about 95% of the original materials. 

When I asked our son (who has done the bulk of the work) if he knew then what he knows now, would he do it again? 

Without hesitation, he said “YES!” He is loving living in the house.

Seal Those Air Leaks

Old houses, actually even many new houses, have air leaks. When we removed the wallpaper and exposed the shiplap, there were areas where you could see daylight through the walls. They didn’t insulate houses in 1907 and they also didn’t have any real concern about air sealing.

“Air Sealing” is a term that is used to plug all (or at least most) of the air leaks in a house. A huge amount of the energy inefficiency of a house is simply the heated air leaking out through cracks in the wall, floor, ceilings.

This became very clear to me a number of years ago while attending a conference in Portland, Oregon. A Portland architect was called to help a client who had purchase a vintage old house. They did the requisite replace the windows and blow insulation into the empty wall cavities. And they found no change in their utility bills.

No Change.

They did a blower door test (which measures the air leakage on a building) and found gaps everywhere. The air leaking out of these gaps rendered the windows and insulation virtually ineffective. At that time, they were foaming and caulking throughout the house. Time consuming and arduous.

Fast forward to today. We came upon a system called “Aero Barrier”. They were very reasonably priced, came out to the Onion House and it was all done in a day. Their system pressurizes the house, sprays an environmentally-friendly sealer that finds and seals the gaps. Check out their website with the link above. It’s fascinating process.

And effective.

As you can see from the photo, we went from 3,530 cubic feet per minute of leakage (about the volume of a two-car garage; every minute) to 138 cubic feet per minute, resulting in a reduction of 96%.

We did insulate and replace windows, but this one item was, in my opinion, the single most effective thing we did on the house. Our son’s utility bills are now very reasonable and we feel the savings will repay the cost to seal in maybe two years, if not less.

Dry Rot Repair

The front deck and the bathroom had dry rot.

In many homes, and especially in the moist Pacific Northwest, dry rot is a concern. And add to that the fact that this home was 113 years old, had layers upon layers of finishes and no real rhyme or reason to a lot of what was done and you’ll almost guarantee there will be some dry rot.

We actually were fortunate. The front porch was almost completely dry rotted out. No ventilation, no pressure treating (a process which didn’t even begin until 1900) and porch deck boards that were laid tight to each other led to dry rot and dangerous conditions on most of the front porch. It’s also on the north side of the house, which further adds to the problem.

The second area of the house that had dry rot was the bathroom/utility room. No real surprise here, either. Most anywhere there is moisture and little to no ventilation is a perfect place for dry rot to develop.

Plus, the bathroom sink leaked (the water was turned off at the street, if you need a hint) and the bathroom floor was springy/spongy, to say the least.

At the front porch, we started feeling that we would have to replace the decking as well as the joists. Since it wasn’t ventilated, we decided to replace it all with pressure treated joists and Trex decking, which allows for ventilation between the boards. We ended up not being able to save the original wood columns, but found some new ones at a local building supply store.

At the bathroom, we originally thought we would just pull up the flooring and replace the floor deck. However, after removing that, we found the entire floor deck had dry rot and most of the supporting joists also had problems. So we ended up replacing the entire floor structure, decking and floor. We also added more supports under the new joists.

This was probably the most extensive part of the remodel changes and we took the opportunity to rearrange the access and arrangement of the rooms.

Next: how do you increase energy efficiency in a very very old house?