Solar Project: The Wilson House

Photo Journal Contents
Date	Description	Page
July 1999	The Design	1
August 2000	The Foundation	2
October 4 2000	The Ground Floor	3
October 8 2000	In Floor Heating	4
October 16 2000	Ground Floor Done	5
November 5 2000	Walkout Basement	6
November 13 2000	Steel Framing	7
November 25 2000	Glulam Post and Beam Framing Ground Floor	8
December 2 2000	Second Floor Framing	9
December 2 2000	Ground Floor Framing	10
December 2 2000	View from Second Floor	11
December 3, 2000	The House: A Solar Collector	12
December 17, 2000	The Second Floor Goes Up	13
December 23, 2000	The Second Floor Takes Shape	14
January 7, 2001	The Kitchen Takes Shape	15
January 7, 2001	The Second Floor Ready for a Roof	16
January 17, 2000	Roofing	17
January 20, 2001	Roofing Half Done	18
January 20, 2001	Rays of Light	19
January 24, 2001	Finishing the Roof	20
January 24, 2001	Construction	21
February 3, 2001	Car Port Takes Shape	22
February 10, 2001	Inspection	23
February 10, 2001	Roof and Car Port	24
February 11, 2001	Roof Lines	25
February 22, 2001	Sky Light	26
March 3, 2001	Framed for Walls	27
March 15, 2001	Curbing for the Greenroof	28
March 24, 2001	Roof Done, Ready for Windows	29
April 5, 2001	Windows Installed	30
April 13, 2001	Straw Bale Walls Steel Reinforcement	31
April 13, 2001	Straw Bales	32
April 14, 2001	Straw Bale Happening: Like an Old Fashioned Barn Raising	33
April 21, 2001	Plastering Straw Bale Walls	34
April 21, 2001	Zinc Roofing Started	35
April 22, 2001	Completing the Zinc Siding	36
May 17, 2001	North Side Radian Floor Heating	37
May 23, 2001	Painting and Banboo Flooring	38
June 17, 2001	Moved In	39
June 17, 2001	Warm and Cozy	40
June 17, 2001	Morning in Spring	41
June 17, 2001	Solar Powered!	42
August 14, 2001	Summer	43
August 31, 2001	Exterior Finishing Touches	44
September 30, 2001	Sun Sets on Exterior Work	45
December 2, 2001	The In-Floor Radiant Heating System	46
December 2, 2001	Interior Final Touches	47
December 2, 2001	Exterior Done, Grading Completed	48
June 24, 2002	Summer 2002	49
June 28, 2002	Summer Sun, Glorious Days	50
June 28, 2002	Fall/Winter 2002	51
June 28, 2002	Photo Voltaic Solar Panels	52
January 8, 2003	Wind Turbine Installation	53
January 9, 2003	Wind Power!	54
August 30, 2003	Wind and Solar Power	55
September 20, 2003	Fall Winds Power Colourful Change	56
August 16, 2008	New Solar Panels: Summer Sun Flowers Brighten Organic Vegetable Garden	57

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The In-Floor Radiant Heating System
The small water heating on demand system provides the main heating system. This "Microtherm" water heater supplies heated water to the substantial tubing laced throughout the flooring system on all levels of the house. Each room or zone has a thermostat so that temperature can be mainainted at different levels in different areas of the house. The Seisco Microtherm water heating device is electrically powered and designed to be ultra-efficient. For the most part the device is rarely on due to the thermal capacity of the concrete floors. When heated water is required it is only distributed to the zone in which it is required. Finally, the ultra-efficient design ensure the least amount of energy is used to heat the water and no energy is expended in storing the heated water. The main heating system was completed last week. The wood burning stove has provided sufficient heat to keep us warm until this point which suggest we have a well insulated home. This winter will test this relatively new type of heating system configuration.

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December 2, 2001 - The square white unit with the Seisco label is the main "furnace" for the entire house. This ultra-efficient water heating device uses electricity to heat water on demand to be supplied to zones in the house. Each zone in the house has it's own thermostatic control. The Seisco Microtherm device requires to electrical fees as shown in the upper left. The green Taco device provides a relay control system for the valves for the piping into the floor. This controller is initiatted by the smaller controler below which gets all of the signals through the red wiring from each thermostat. The in-floor tubing in this picture are only for the 2nd floor rooms. The others are on the wall to the left (not visible in this picture).

December 2, 2001 - The flow of heated water into the tubing is provided by pumps for each zone. Each pump has a main shut off switch at the top of the picture. To the left side, with the black foam pipe insulation, is the future in-take for the solar water heater which will be mounted on the roof on the south face. The solar water heater will minimize the electrical energy required to heat the water. On the far left in the backgroun is an electric hot water tank used for the bath, shower and sinks. This system is separated from the in-floor water heating system.

December 2, 2001 - The utility room for the entire homes heating system is located on the 2nd floor north of the bathroom. This picture shows the entire mechanical room.

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