Free electricity is affordable
I’m so glad Fine Homebuilding is talking about domestic solar electricity (“The New Age of Photovoltaics,” FHB #192 and online at FineHomebuilding.com). Since going solar three-plus years ago, I’ve become a great fan of this simple way to make electricity at home.
Unfortunately, the article perpetuates the myth that solar is only for rich people. So long as they live someplace where the sun shines regularly, an energy-conscious family of four shouldn’t need the $36,000 PV system used as a model. Middleclass folk with some energy awareness can do quite well for much less.
Four years ago, our two-adult household decided to go solar. We’d already made modest energy improvements (like compact-fluorescent lights where they made sense) and were in the habit of turning off lights and the TV when not needed. We sized our grid-tied system to provide 90% of our “conserved” electricity usage on an annual basis. Total cost, after a state rebate and a small state tax credit, was $7400. (Federal tax credits were not yet available.)
This system runs our electric meter backward when the sun shines, and it lets us use commercial power the rest of the time. In effect, we use the utility as our electric storage battery. Once a year, we settle with our utility for the net power we use. In three years, our total net utility usage has been zero.
To say we are thrilled to have been able to do this for the cost of a used car is an understatement. I hope others are encouraged by this story, and also that those who think they need a $36,000 system will rethink how they consume electricity.
—Richard Schmidt, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Cooking with gas is more efficient
In general, I applaud your efforts to enlighten the building trade and homeowners about energy-efficient building practices and appliance choices. But Alex Wilson’s claims of the energy efficiency of gas versus electricity (“The Energy-Smart Kitchen,” FHB #191; also on FineHomebuilding.com) make it sound like he is working for the electric-power industry, not a green-building firm. At best, electricity, which for the most part is derived from burning oil, gas, or wood, is about 33% efficient. In Europe, they are doing better, but the average there is still only 35%. Sure, an electric cooktop might get close to 100% of the energy coming to the appliance into the pot, but 65% of it was lost at the generating station. That is why electricity costs three times as much per Btu as do oil and gas. Right now, the biggest contributor to carbon emissions in this country is electricity generation, followed by transportation.
—David Gibson, Kittery Point, Maine
You need an engineer
I read the article “Ceiling Remodel: From Flat to Cathedral” (FHB #192; also on Fine Homebuilding.com) and would like to answer the question posed in the sidebar on p. 88: “Do you need an engineer?” As a structural engineer whose primary focus is on the design of new and renovated residential projects, my answer to your question would be a resounding “yes.” Through my 16 years of residential-design and -inspection experience, I have learned that roofs are one of the most misunderstood components of residential framing.
Here are the structural items that I would consider for this project:
• Design the structural ridge beam. The roof will behave differently once the ceiling joists, which serve as rafter ties, are removed. My rough calculations conclude that the pair of 2x12s installed as a ridge beam might be overstressed by approximately three to four times.
• Design the supporting columns. The columns need to support each end of the new ridge beam, making sure that each load is ultimately carried down to the soil. Does the interior column bear directly above an existing Lally column, or does it bear onto the main carrying beam between Lally columns? The main carrying beam, Lally columns, and footings must all be considered in this situation.
• Analyze the existing rafters. The rafters were likely sagging because they were undersize for the applied roofloads. It seems that sistering a new member to each rafter would be helpful in strengthening the existing rafters, and as an added bonus, it will help to level off the ceiling. The new false ceiling in the living room now introduces a point load onto each rafter, which induces more stress on the rafters.
• Reinforce the gable-end wall to prevent a hinge effect at the wall top plate. A horizontal plate in a wall will be unstable under wind loads. Either fulllength studs (running from the floor to the roof rafters) should be added to this wall, or a beam (turned on its side) should be introduced at the horizontal plate to resist any wind loads. The column in the end wall that supports the new ridge beam must also run full length from the beam down to the foundation without a splice at the wall plate.
The question I pose is: “Should contractors take on structural-design responsibilities?” This is something generally outside their expertise, licensing, and insurance coverage. There are professionals for this exact need: the analysis and design of structures.
—Arthur LeBrasseur, Newton Centre, Mass.
Questions the value of inexpensive solar
After reading Roe A. Osborn’s review, “Solar Hot Water in a Box” (FHB #191, Fixtures & Materials, p. 30), I think it might be time to take “the most-trusted building information” moniker off your Web site.
The Fafco system depicted in the article will underperform virtually every other solar domestic hot-water system on the market. An unglazed panel will only pick up significant heat in the summer and usually only raise the fluid temperature a limited number of degrees above ambient temperature because of its heat loss, being uninsulated and unglazed.
Additionally, solar equipment pays for itself over several years, and its big advantage comes from it being long-lived equipment. Although the system will heat water on hot summer days (a hose on the driveway will do that as well), the plastic panels sold as part of this system will not last long enough for the homeowner to realize fully the potential savings inherent in quality equipment.
The Fafco system described in your article is the first of the low-budget, buyer-beware systems that show up whenever there is the public interest and the tax credits that draw the “make a quick buck” artists into an industry.
—Wayne Appleyard, via email
Author Roe A. Osborn replies: The Fafco solar hot-water system was not touted to outperform a glazed hot-water system. It is meant to be an entry-level system that can be installed by a homeowner, quite an innovation when you consider the complex and expensive installations required for most glazed systems. It’s also meant to supplement a home’s hot-water system.
As far as your implication that Fafco just showed up to “make a quick buck,” the Fafco company has been in the solar water-heating business for over 30 years. And the claim that the plastic panels won’t last is mere speculation on your part. The Fafco system carries certifications by the SRCC (Solar Rating and Certification Corporation) as well as FSEC (Florida Solar Energy Center). The system has a 10-year warranty, and given the reasonable price for the system and recently soaring utility prices, it’ll probably pay for itself long before the warranty expires.
Diamonds are a cook’s best friend
“The Smart, Small Kitchen” by Dana Moore (FHB #191; also on FineHomebuilding.com) is a breath of fresh air. Finally, a kitchen designer who acknowledges the counter area where food is prepared.
If more kitchens were designed using the four-point work “diamond” of sink, counter space for food preparation, stove, and refrigerator, then kitchen design would be greatly improved. When an adequately sized counter space for food preparation is located between the sink and the stove, a true kitchen work “triangle” is formed. The refrigerator, which is the fourth point of this work “diamond,” should be located outside the true kitchen work “triangle” as is illustrated.
—John Rutledge, Goderich, Ont., Canada
Venting a tankless water heater
Your Kitchens & Baths issue (FHB #191; FineHomebuilding.com) featuring “Water Heaters: Tank or Tankless?” arrived the very same day as my tankless water heater, which I intended to install in my home. Imagine my concern when I read, “… I think tankless installations are best left to the pros.”
Of course, I pushed ahead and did a first-class installation. Installing a tankless water heater is similar to installing a tank-type water heater. Gas and water lines might have to be moved a bit, but it’s the same technology. And you have to run a low-amperage 120v AC line, but that’s routine.
The big difference is in the venting. The key piece of advice I would have liked to have read is, “It’s a virtual certainty that you will have to install a completely new vent system.” Why? Tank-type water heaters use old galvanized or masonry flues that allow combustion by-products to make their lazy way to your roof by natural convection.
Tankless water heaters are huge blowtorches that use fan-forced combustion to wring the heat out of combustion gases. This water-rich, still-warm gas has to be forced out of your furnace room in a corrosion-resistant, stainless-steel sealed vent. You really have to run a new vent system. It may be easier to go out horizontally rather than cutting out your roof. That’s what I did.
—Paul Sagues, Ross, Calif.
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