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It should not surprise anybody that houses heat up from the south facing sides but I've been paying attention this year to temperature changes in the house through the day and have seen between 50 - 80% of the 24 hour degree increase occur by noon. This just emphasizes the importance of focusing efforts on the 1/3 or the house with the most sun exposure.

I've planted trees on those sides that will shade my windows in the summer and let in radiation in the winter. Until they grow enough I am mitigating the sun in the summer by cooling down my stucco with water and using (fairly ineffective) window shades.

My other local observation is that during our hot months most of the evening and night time cool(er) air comes from the SW -- the wall with fixed windows. This spring I am going to install a window or two that can be opened to improve home ventilation.

My 3rd observation is that home ventilation using outside air is tricky. It is easy to inadvertently cause short circuits where the wind enters the home through one window and exits through a nearby window leaving part of the home relatively unventilated.

My last observation is that screens -- at least the ones I have -- markedly reduce airflow. I have this unproven notion that the drop in airflow is considerably more than the wire frontal area implies. I need to look into this more to find out if screen replacements can improve matters.
 
Dala said:
Thanks! Yeah I charge at 3.3kW, 230V*16A. I upgraded so that I got a 3-phase outlet, so that I can charge with 11kW (3*230V*16A) once I get the upgraded on-board-charger retrofit installed.

Is this on-board charger an OEM model from another (later model) Leaf or your own modification?
 
SageBrush said:
It should not surprise anybody that houses heat up from the south facing sides but I've been paying attention this year to temperature changes in the house through the day and have seen between 50 - 80% of the 24 hour degree increase occur by noon. This just emphasizes the importance of focusing efforts on the 1/3 or the house with the most sun exposure.

Our house faces SE and it's sort of the opposite. It's usually very comfortable around noon but gets hotter as the afternoon goes on. We have pretty substantial western exposure and the afternoon sun bakes that side of the house. There is also an exposed brick chimney on that side of the house which acts like a giant heat sink. I can't wait to remove that but it's going to be a big job since the first floor is built around and on top of it.

SageBrush said:
My 3rd observation is that home ventilation using outside air is tricky. It is easy to inadvertently cause short circuits where the wind enters the home through one window and exits through a nearby window leaving part of the home relatively unventilated.

I agree. I try to create a chimney effect by opening downstairs and upstairs windows. It takes some trial and error to find which windows are best and how much to open or close them. We also run our central air fan (with heat and AC off) with the top windows open and a basement window open. This pulls air in from the North side of the house in the basement and (hopefully) expels it out the upper windows. The houses in our neighborhood are mostly from the 70's and many are very similar and lots of our neighbors complain about the air return causing their AC to not be efficient. In this case I think that helps us. I make sure to close the basement door too to minimize any air return inside the house.

SageBrush said:
My last observation is that screens -- at least the ones I have -- markedly reduce airflow. I have this unproven notion that the drop in airflow is considerably more than the wire frontal area implies. I need to look into this more to find out if screen replacements can improve matters.

I'm sorry to read this since it's a point of contention between my wife and I. She would agree with you and for me, the mosquitoes in the house (yes our house is very open and airy in the summer.....) make any additional air flow not worth the price. She wins, of course, since domestic peace is also worth a lot to me but I'm always happy when the first frost hits and the bugs are gone.
 
Marktm said:
Dala said:
Thanks! Yeah I charge at 3.3kW, 230V*16A. I upgraded so that I got a 3-phase outlet, so that I can charge with 11kW (3*230V*16A) once I get the upgraded on-board-charger retrofit installed.

Is this on-board charger an OEM model from another (later model) Leaf or your own modification?

It's a Muxsan kit (TC-charger). So custom made for the Leaf.
 
Ah so when you power the leaf with 3 phase 230v power it will be around 410v line to line?
 
goldbrick said:
Our house faces SE and it's sort of the opposite. It's usually very comfortable around noon but gets hotter as the afternoon goes on.
I'm sorry to read this since it's a point of contention between my wife and I. She would agree with you and for me, the mosquitoes in the house (yes our house is very open and airy in the summer.....) make any additional air flow not worth the price. She wins, of course, since domestic peace is also worth a lot to me but I'm always happy when the first frost hits and the bugs are gone.
In the afternoon I leave just enough ventilation to avoid poor quality inside air -- it does not take much if you avoid cooking and showering during those those hours, perhaps 1/2 an ACH. That way the hot outside air stays outside.

Regarding screens, I'm going to look for screen material that has as large a gauge wire I can find and a slightly larger hole size. That will reduce mesh frontal area, and perhaps also reduce perpendicular airflow and turbulence (or so I imagine.)

I'm with you -- I HATE bugs, particularly those that bite, so I'm not going to trade airflow for bugs.
 
Putting in that coal furnace was the best home improvement idea ever.
It was -8F outside, 70 degrees inside.
I'm one of few people who didn't have their pipes freeze.
The pipes froze on both my rental houses but they have PEX I stuck my little 80,000 btu per hour kerosene fired horizontal shop heater and into the crawl space opening on each house thawed them out fairly quick.
 
I have my solar system in the garage and I've re-done my roof in preparation for installation. BUT :eek: I'm not still quite using enough power to have my utility allow it due to the 120% rule (can only install 120% PV of last 12 months use). I just finished the sauna in the basement I'm crushing last winter's numbers so once I get my next bill I think I'll be good to go. I'm about 125% now and last Feb was 500kWh. That should be easy to top and I think it will be enough for me to get my permit. Otherwise, I'll be charging a lot at home in March. :p
 
goldbrick said:
I have my solar system in the garage and I've re-done my roof in preparation for installation. BUT :eek: I'm not still quite using enough power to have my utility allow it due to the 120% rule (can only install 120% PV of last 12 months use). I just finished the sauna in the basement I'm crushing last winter's numbers so once I get my next bill I think I'll be good to go. I'm about 125% now and last Feb was 500kWh. That should be easy to top and I think it will be enough for me to get my permit. Otherwise, I'll be charging a lot at home in March. :p
My Colorado Co-op waived the 120% over 12 months rule for me when I showed them new loads -- in my case, an EV
 
Well, it turns out after unpacking everything that one of the panels is ruined so I'm going to re-submit my application for 11 panels instead of 12 (385W). I need to contact the shipping company but I'm not optimistic since it's been almost a week since delivery. I waited until the weekend to unpack the panels so I could have a helper during the day so that's on me. What really burns my britches though is that they damaged it and then tried to hide it. Something fell across the top panel and must have bent the side rails a bit. Then this panel was restacked on the pile upside down to hide the damage the side rails were straightened out. I saw and photo-graphed the damage to the rails underneath (on top after the flip) but didn't think it would cause an issue. It wouldn't but that damage was actually from the rails buckling under the load to the other side. Someone was careful to get the sides straight again since I sighted down them when looking for damage. What I didn't do is lift the panel off the pile to see if the glass was cracked (it's a mess).

Hopefully others can learn from this in the future and I will certainly be less trusting in the future.

The good news is that 11 panels will fit better than 12, I'll be under 120% so can continue with permitting while giving the shipper hell, and I'm planning more panels in the future anyway.
 
My "Mr. Cool" mini split has been performing above my expectations this Winter. I installed the 240 volt, 20k BTU (?) version despite only needing the 120 volt, 12k BTU unit for cooling for just this reason: to have adequate heat almost all of the time in Winter. I don't need to supplement the unit with separate resistance heat until the temps fall into the single digits, and I don't need to turn it off because it's providing virtually no heat until the temp drops to below 5F. I welcome the winds that come with Nor'easters, because they provide the outdoor half with more heat to extract. I've made my own washable pre-filters to extend the filter cleaning time to 6 months from one, because that job is a PITA. Now if only it had a decent thermostat...
 
Mini-splits are rated for their output relative to temperature- we have a Fujitsu 18KBTU mini-split in a rental aprtment which claims to be able to provide its rated output at 13 below and this has proven true- it provides all the heat necessary for the last 2 years, even at below zero temps. Our region has not recently seen 20 below, not sure even this unit would work.... keep small electric heaters on hand as well.
 
dmacarthur said:
Mini-splits are rated for their output relative to temperature- we have a Fujitsu 18KBTU mini-split in a rental aprtment which claims to be able to provide its rated output at 13 below and this has proven true- it provides all the heat necessary for the last 2 years, even at below zero temps. Our region has not recently seen 20 below, not sure even this unit would work.... keep small electric heaters on hand as well.

What manufacturer and model? This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.
 
goldbrick said:
dmacarthur said:
Mini-splits are rated for their output relative to temperature- we have a Fujitsu 18KBTU mini-split in a rental aprtment which claims to be able to provide its rated output at 13 below and this has proven true- it provides all the heat necessary for the last 2 years, even at below zero temps. Our region has not recently seen 20 below, not sure even this unit would work.... keep small electric heaters on hand as well.

What manufacturer and model? This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.
You may wish to x-reference the capacity data with COP, or you may be just looking at a big resistance element.

The blue-blood winter heat pumps use CO2 as the refrigerant. They are considerably more expensive and the installation cost can be sobering.
 
I went for the cheap Mr Cool unit because it was the only one that came pre-charged for home installation by the purchaser. All the rest had to be charged by a certified HVAC tech - or at least someone with those tools. That was a job I'd never take on again. I did come up with a technique for cutting a large hole through a lathe & plaster wall without filling the house with dust, though.
 
goldbrick said:
Well, it turns out after unpacking everything that one of the panels is ruined so I'm going to re-submit my application for 11 panels instead of 12 (385W). I need to contact the shipping company but I'm not optimistic since it's been almost a week since delivery. I waited until the weekend to unpack the panels so I could have a helper during the day so that's on me. What really burns my britches though is that they damaged it and then tried to hide it. Something fell across the top panel and must have bent the side rails a bit. Then this panel was restacked on the pile upside down to hide the damage the side rails were straightened out. I saw and photo-graphed the damage to the rails underneath (on top after the flip) but didn't think it would cause an issue. It wouldn't but that damage was actually from the rails buckling under the load to the other side. Someone was careful to get the sides straight again since I sighted down them when looking for damage. What I didn't do is lift the panel off the pile to see if the glass was cracked (it's a mess).

Hopefully others can learn from this in the future and I will certainly be less trusting in the future.

The good news is that 11 panels will fit better than 12, I'll be under 120% so can continue with permitting while giving the shipper hell, and I'm planning more panels in the future anyway.

I added a new solar system over the summer / fall, and when I my equipment arrived via XPO, it looked fine.
Luckily my son and I decided to unpack it anyway. Sure enough, the bottom panel of the stack of 20 was shattered.
So just a few hours after XPO had come and gone, I was on the phone with the company that I had bought the package from.
I paid a bit more than doing the system piecemeal by getting it from a well known solar warehouse here in CA.
The next day they had a replacement panel on its way to me.

Funny thing is, I later tested the damaged panel and it worked fine. My guess would be even shattered it was putting out 90% or more.
I have it stowed in my shed to use for something later, maybe some off grid stuff, for a greenhouse, or the shed.

ALWAYS, ALWYAS check all the equipment. I think the company I worked with said I had 2 days to report shipping damages.
 
SageBrush said:
goldbrick said:
dmacarthur said:
Mini-splits are rated for their output relative to temperature- we have a Fujitsu 18KBTU mini-split in a rental aprtment which claims to be able to provide its rated output at 13 below and this has proven true- it provides all the heat necessary for the last 2 years, even at below zero temps. Our region has not recently seen 20 below, not sure even this unit would work.... keep small electric heaters on hand as well.

What manufacturer and model? This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.
You may wish to x-reference the capacity data with COP, or you may be just looking at a big resistance element.

The blue-blood winter heat pumps use CO2 as the refrigerant. They are considerably more expensive and the installation cost can be sobering.

The Fujitsu XLTH - has the lowest temperature rating at which it can still provide heat that I have heard of- and it does not have a resistance element but it DOES have a resistance unit to keep the tray from freezing up with condensate. There are independent reviews of cold-weather mini-splits.....
 
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