DIY Energy Efficient Home

Chip and the gang are ready to put the final touches on their new energy efficient home they are building themselves in northern Wyoming. I have posted here is monthly updates and photos. Check out other pages on www.tipsbytom.com for past photos and updates. Hope you all enjoy! And that these posts have encouraged you to venture out and DIY!!!

Greetings,
WE have been busy hanging and taping drywall. We should have the garage taped, textured and painted by the end of next weekend. The idea is to finish this area out, get the mechanical, heating, and water going (close the door and pretend the rest of the house is done).
Will work our way through the rest of the house from here. We have 300+ sheets of drywall coming our way for the rest of the house. Aldrich lumber will start stocking the stuff today, beginning with the second floor.
Greetings to All,
We keep plugging away. We have been fortunate with the weather. The snow has mostly kept to the higher elevations. The recent views of Carter mountain and the Absarokas have been spectacular. We have been keeping the inside of the house toasty with our Binford 500 – Super Turbo – Tornado- Jet Fuel Heater. You can actually carry on a conversation and listen to NPR when it has shut off.
About all of the plumbing rough in is done. All that is left is to pressure up the Pex pipe and check for leaks. First impression is that the Pex along with the compression fittings are really a slick deal for hot and cold water. -Will let you know other wise when, and if we find lots of leaks. -Will cut hole in the roof in fair weather to install our four large solar hot water arrays. We fired up most of the electrical that we have done just prior to drywall. This weekend we hung all the drywall in Katies bedroom, hung the ceiling in Dans bedroom, and sound insulated all the second floor parting walls. The kids are really psyched to finally be working on “their space”.
Last Friday I caught up with Peggy at the Buffallo Bill Historical Center during her painting class with M.C. Poulson. Enjoy the photo of Peggy in front of the Thomas Moran she is painting. I was humbled that she is studying with such a renowned artist, and proud of her work.
In other news, I was informed on Friday that a $35,000 Energy Education grant I submitted for Cody High School came through! We will be doing bio-diesel, solar, wind, and energy audit education with the funds. Kids will get to play with a seed press, and diesel engines as they make fuel directly from camelina, sunflower seed etc. Will also purchase some thermal imaging equipment for energy audits here in the Cody community.
A great week to all.
Cheers! Chip and the gang.