It has been an active past couple of weeks here at the SNAP-Harden Duplex. This was the view from our home a couple of night ago!
First- the HVAC mini-split system is operable and working very well. The temperature takes awhile to stabilize itself in the space, so we need to anticipate when to turn on the heat in order to maintain warmth throughout the evening. We do this by simply paying attention to the weather and asking ourselves questions such as: is it going to be cold for an extended period of time, or is it going to be cloudy (remember our passive system works well too) for a long time? To learn more about our HVAC system, read the previous post.
The next project involving the HVAC system is to design and build screens that hide the air handler, but allows more airflow. Currently, there are wooden panels with 1/2 inch slates blocking the airflow. I will upload pictures of these soon.
Secondly, even with minor rainfall this past week, our rain barrels filled up and are running smoothly. There are two water tanks on the site. One is at the Harden House and the other is located at the SNAP house. Both are on the west facades of the building. They are Norwesco Freestanding Water Tanks (http://www.norwesco.com/page.cfm?menu=36) that have a capacity of 400 gallons each. This is plenty of water for the three garden beds that we are maintaining, and since we have been living here, I have only used the city water for 7 days.
Speaking of garden beds, I spent a good amount of time clearing and pruning the garden bed last weekend, and discovered some intruders- which could be either Cankerworms or a Cabbage loopers http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Vegetables/veg040e/veg040e.htm. My friend, Christi Greene, is a Master Gardener and she suggested spraying everything with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis). I took her advice and will probably need to spray again next week. They sure like our bok choy and spinach. However, even with those varmints in the garden everything is going well. The radishes are going strong and the broccoli is as well.
The final news we have is we now have neighbors at the Harden House. We haven't met them yet, but I have recorded their energy and water consumption data. This is very exciting data because now we can begin to see how these two homes are working together. For those of you who don't know, the SNAP house will be sharing it's electrical generation and solar thermal heated water with the 1930s house at the front of the lot.
Once the solar is generating power, we will really be able to see how a house like ours can help to keep utility bills affordable for two low-income families in the Blackland Neighborhood.
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