by Tim Fulton on November 14, 2011
In part one, we cut out the concrete floor where we needed to run the drain tile. Then, we removed the concrete and dug down to make a trench for the drain tile to sit in.
The next step was to put down some rock. This allows water to more freely flow around and get to the drain tile quicker. We ended up using some ~1″ riverstone as that was the closest thing we could find at the home improvement store and we didn’t need a ton.
After a layer of stone is down, we laid the drain tile down into the trench. It was cut to length from a 100 foot roll and connected up to the sump.
To keep that area around the drain tile free flowing, we needed to add more rocks on the sides of the tile and on top of it. Again this is so that the water can more easily get to the drain tile to move it away from the house.
With the additional rock on top of the drain tile, it is time to put plastic over the top. This will stop the concrete from seeping down into the rock we just put down.
The last step is to pour the concrete and smooth it all out.
The results from doing this work have been very good so far. The basement humidity is usually around 80% without the dehumidifier running. It has been quite rainy here lately, enough to keep everything outside wet, and the basement humidity is a wonderful non-musty 60%. I’m hoping the dehumidifer will no longer be needed at all and that I can stop it from sucking down 1-2 kWh of electricity every day in summer. The energy savings are only augmeted by the health issues that can arise from having a musty basement that gives a perfect environment for mold and dust mites to live.
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by Tim Fulton on November 7, 2011
Even before purchasing my house, I knew that there were water issues with the basement. Being built in the late 1800s, it doesn’t have any drain tile to help remove water from around the house. It did already have a sump and a pump. However, the only water that got to the sump had to drain through the soil (later found to be mostly clay) to it and then it could be pumped out. This issue lead to the problem of a continually very moist basement. It had that unpleasant musty smell if the dehumidifier wasn’t running during summer. In winter things would be fine, but in spring I’d have small puddles in the basement as well as when ever we got a good downpour or a few days of good steady rain. The water did not come through the walls, but rather up from cracks in the floor.
To fix the problem, we needed to add some drain tile under the concrete floor and plumb it to the sump. We started with a concrete saw and made two cuts where the sides of the trough would be for the drain tile to be laid down. You can rent a concrete saw at a tool rental place for a reasonable price.
We made the cuts run to the problem areas of the basement where water would seep through the floor. The proper way to do it is actually to run drain tile around the entire exterior wall. However, the water problem wasn’t that bad so we decided to take this shorter and easier route.
The next step was done with another rented tool, an electric hammer / jack hammer. We had started trying to break up the concrete with a sledge hammer but it just wasn’t working well for us. As you can see the sharper corners broke off which just makes for more work later on. Renting the jack hammer was also cheap and made the job go much quicker.
After getting all the concrete hauled out of the basement, it was time to dig down and create a trench where the drain tile could be laid down. A trenching shovel came in quite handy here (long and narrow), but we still ran into a lot of clay which is a bear to dig through. Not only that, but after its dug up you still have to haul it out of the basement.
For more information see the forum thread about the project.
by Tim Fulton on October 24, 2011
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Forum member Madmike recently joined the forum with the announcement that he was just finishing up making a solar hot air panel
The panel is 45 inches wide by 90 inches tall and 4 inches deep. It sports 16 rows of pop / soda cans that are 15 cans long for a total of 240 cans. The frame is made of 1x4s and a 1/2" plywood backing. The inside of it is lined with 3/4" foil faced foam. The glazing is a sheet of polycarbonate (lexan).
To punch holes in the cans he used a 1-1/2″ hole saw and a drill press on the bottom of the cans. For the top of the cans he simply took a tin snips and bent the fins at an angle to help create some turbulence which will promote heat transfer to the air.
The panel is still getting tweaked now with a larger and higher flow fan to get the outlet temperature down a bit and increase the efficiency (less heat lost to the environment). To control the fan he is simply using a snap disc thermal switch that turns on at 110F and turns off at 90F. To prevent backflow through the collector at night he is using a dryer damper.
For more details on the project see Madmike’s forum thread.
by Tim Fulton on October 3, 2011
It is time to annouce the winners of the giveaway! As I mentioned in before, the winners would be selected at random from the forum posts made between then and now. That includes post number 15917 to 16349. We made 442 posts in the past two weeks, each one an entry to the giveaway. So, without further delay, the winners are:
1) post# 16124 – trikkonceptz
2) post# 16077 – the1cyrus
3) post# 15991 – madmike
4) post# 15978 – Phantom
5) post# 16225 – S-F
Congratulations to our first five winners!
First five winners? Yep. We changed our minds and decided to change the rules part way through the giveaway. We hope you don’t mind, but we’re going to add another five winners!
6) post# 16024 – zick
7) post# 16345 – strider3700
8 ) post# 15952 – benpope
9) post# 16339 – AC Hacker
10) post# 16072 – Xringer
So, congratulations to all ten winners!
As I mentioned the first winner gets first pick of the prizes, second winner gets second pick from what is left and so on and so forth. Each winner will be notified via PM on the forum when the previous winner(s) have made their decision and what prizes are left.
If the winner finds that there is nothing s/he can use or give to someone they know, we would like to encourage them to decline their prize. We will select an additional winner in this case. The goal here is to see these items put to good use, not sit around collecting dust.
As a reminder, here are the prizes:
A big thanks to all our donators! The companies above have provided all the prizes for our giveaway and provide us with these and other energy saving products to use in our homes. Be sure to check out the nifty things they offer.
by Tim Fulton on September 30, 2011
Honeywell is a giant company. You’ve probably already heard of them. They make tons of things from aviation and medical equipment to solar panels and security systems. They make so much stuff I’m not even going to begin to go into it all. For us here who are concerned with energy usage, I’ll just refer you all to their page on “Efficiency, Energy & Utilities”.
For the giveaway, Honeywell has donated a programmable thermostat. The model number is T8002C 1000. It is a 5-2 thermostat with one program for the week and a different program for the weekend. It works with single stage heating and single stage cooling (most heating systems). A huge jump up from a manual thermostat.
