January 2018 doings...

After a cold start, it's turned nice.  Temps are 65/42F and the solar house is working beautifully.  inside temps exceed 85F with curtains open and no indoor fires. But when it gets cloudy, it's downright cold inside: 

A solar house without sun really sucks.

The 12ton Trombe wall holds latent heat for about 2-3 days without the firestove going.  I usually fire up the stove on the 2nd day without sun and that keeps things warm.  Over the years I've been able to 'train' my body to be comfy down to 45F.  There's a snow workshop back east where people are trained to stand barefoot in the snow -- the first day they last 5 minutes, after 5 days of 'hardening up'  they can stand barefoot in the snow for 30+ minutes.  The body adjusts...
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Last summer, the big project was building an RMH (Rocket Mass Heater - see other blogs) in the bedroom - which is heavily insulated in all six areas.  I continue to be amazed at how one pine cone can roar like a jet engine and generate 500F temp for 5 minutes.  The really, really cool part of the RMH is no more wood splitting and minimal ashes.  Small branches are ideal - and there's plenty of those around!

It's taken me a while to figure out how to fire it up smoke free.  Not being able to find a wind proof chimney cap for under $100 has been a pain.  I'll be raising the chimney top higher soon - that should increase draft and prevent some of the windy back-drafts.
The main Trombe wall's (12ton granite) fire stove continues to smoke incessantly.  Something changed inside the flue in the past year - it never smoked before!  So this summer I'll be getting a brush into the top and bottom of the chimney, and may even take the whole lower stove pipe out and permanently obstruct the fireplace chimney - that's where the smoke backdraft is happening.  Besides, the fireplace is horrifically inefficient - 90% straight out, and was used only a couple times the first year the Trombe wall was done.

Spring and summer Plans

Lotsa GREAT things happening.  Can't wait for spring and everything to really POP.  The raised beds have been redone.  Blackberries are mostly gone following Mollison's advice on burying old carpets, old anything that's impenetrable.  The blackberries are too abundant!  100's of them... and all because in 1987 I relocated one little native plant from 1/2 mile away.
We are looking to hire a couple interns this Spring, and will kick off the AirBnB rental unit - PR1.  That's the major project going on right now - drywalling (yuk!) and then earth plastering the walls and ceiling.  It'll be the only high-end room on the property.  
Also working on the construction of a hi-end AV room in the dome.  Hope to have some holotropic breathwork sessions here either this year or next - besides I like playing Moody Blues music at high volume!

small home project
A separate small unit will be built right outside the main WinSol door, set back 100' from the property line.  It'll be 120sqft. per county codes (no permit required).  Rather than building a fancy tiny home up on top - which is still being planned - this one will be uber simple and very easy to build.  It'll also give interns/helpers another place to stay when the AirBnB room is occupied - and it could double as another AirBnB rental.

Logging
The loggers finally arrived - after 8 month delay.  They came in and started by cutting the biggest and tallest  matriarch trees - ok, maybe a few smaller ones too.  I feel the pain when these beauties go down.  Their buddies will keep supplying them with nutrients for decades to come.  And now the loggers have stopped because the USFS managers are furloughed.  We'll see when the big equipment comes in and starts making the road into a super highway for their trucks. 

water status
All tanks are filled to the brim.  It's water party time.  Testing of systems, discovering leaks, experimenting, etc are all possible without regard to water 'conservation'.  But when April arrives it's strictly water use reduction time... until the next rain.  And that can occur anytime or in November.  Three years ago all tanks were bone dry:  there wasn't a drop of rain between March to November!

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Snow history

As i get on in years, I like sliding over the cold white stuff - shoveling and walking in it, not so much.  The first snows are always amazing!!  a winterwonderland.   And then the task of driving through it, planning on whether to park by the road, slipping and sliding away.  
One of the big benefits to snow at WinSol is using it was cold food storage. 


Having lived through three decades of winter here - the last 12 years full-time; I've noticed a few changes.  Back in the 80's and 90's the normal pattern was 5-6 snowfalls each year mostly 3-8" with a couple big ones measure in feet.  The biggest snowfall ever at WinSol was back in 2002 when over 6 feet fell.  I remember it well because the snow slid off the roof and then doubled back!  The hill behind WinSol's roof was sloped and there wasn't a whole lot of room for the snow to slide down into.  I also remember panicking after that snowstorm and my son helping me shovel some of the snow off the roof.  One of the pictures shows the depth of the snow we dug into.  The next couple years we shaved off a large part of the sloped ground to give sliding roof snow room to collect.  The next phenom that was (and still is!) very cool, when the snow slides off it forms an interior frozen pipeline.  Next time that happens I'll try to post pictures. 

Climate change being redundant (climate always changes)... we now have more rain than snow during winter months.  But when it does snow it could be extreme - like the 5 feet a couple years ago that isolated everyone.  So far this winter there's been three snow events, each one 1-8" deep and all melting within a week.