Raines Home
August 16, 2010
I got the call today! We are winners in the Cool Green Home Contest with The Trail 103.3! It’s unbelievable! Ross Radamacher called me on my cell, which I know I’m not supposed to carry with me at work, but I knew they were going to be announcing the winners and I didn’t want to miss anything. Anyway, first he left a message saying that he had really exciting news for us. Then when we finally connected he said that we were winners and we would be getting SOLAR, new insulation, and possibly windows. I tried to remain calm during the call but as soon as I hung up I started jumping up and down and generally going crazy and scaring my co-workers. And of course, I had to call Mike as soon as possible, which led to more jumping up and down and scaring more co-workers.
August 20, 2010
The sign is up in our yard announcing that we are a Cool Green Home! It’s beginning to feel real now…sort of. Mike said the other night that it really wouldn’t be real to him until the construction actually starts. Ross and another station employee came by today and set up the sign and gave us a little more information on what we’ll be getting: Solar, windows, insulation, and an appliance or two.
August 22, 2010
We met with the first of many contractors who will be working on the house today. Whitney from Clawson windows and Jim from Straight Edge Construction came by today to measure all of the windows in the house so they can figure out what they want to do in that area. It looks like they are going to replace all the windows on the main floor of the house. Yeah. And they might replace the back door and the French doors too. That will be so great. I really wanted both of those doors gone and it looks like it will happen. I am beside myself again. Every time I think I am as excited as I can be something else happens to push is right over the top again.
October 25, 2010
Because of the extensive nature of the installation at our house, nothing happened for awhile. But now, it’s all back in motion. Our windows are ready to be installed and our solar panels have arrived from the manufacturer as well.
October 27, 2010
I can’t say enough good things about Jim Schafer and Straight Edge Construction. Jim and Caleb were efficient and methodical and they cleaned up after themselves every afternoon. I think my house was cleaner when they left than when they started. How often can you say that in conjunction with construction? Our new Clawson windows are not only triple-paned and as efficient as they can be; they also completely changed the character of our house. Who knew that wood windows with solid wood trim could so utterly change the look and feel of a house? I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
October 30, 2010
And here comes the solar. Dan, Josh, and the rest of the team from Sustainable Business Systems (SBC) arrived with our solar panels. In order to get the solar system up and running correctly, Peacock Electric came in to install an upgraded electrical panel that will accommodate not only the control panel for the solar but also any additional electrical needs for our house for the future. They did great work, all of them.
November 2, 2010
Josh and Dan from SBC came by today to turn on our solar system!! We have not yet had the power company here to install our net meter, which will allow us to get credit for the power that we generate, but we don’t care. We want to start generating electricity. The sun is out and it’s a beautiful day to generate power. And it worked!!! Our electric meter, the old one is running backwards. That could be the best feeling in the world. Unfortunately, our net meter will be digital and we won’t actually be able to see it run backwards.
November 10, 2010
We have now had 8 days of electrical generation. The weather gods are smiling on us.
November 15, 2010
Well, the weather gods didn’t keep smiling on us. It’s been snowing for a few days and the panels are covered. Who knows when we’ll start generating again, but we did have a few good days just to see how it was going to work.
January 31, 2011
It’s been three months with our new insulation, windows, appliances, and solar panels. We are still waiting for the installation of a Clawson sliding glass door and a piece of furniture from Bluebuck Woodworking, but otherwise, we are enjoying our Cool Green Missoula Home. The process took longer than anyone anticipated but it has been well worth it.
With the addition of the insulation and energy efficient windows we have been able to lower the thermostat in our house. Normally to be warm we kept it set to 69-70 degrees. Now we can lower that temperature to 67 and still be completely comfortable.
One of the best things to come out of the process however has been the monitoring of our own energy use. We watch the solar control box to see if they are generating and also keep a close eye on our electric meter to see if we exactly how much energy we are using on a regular basis. It turns out that our regular energy use is much lower than average and with just a few changes we can do even better. I would like to thank everyone who made this opportunity possible for us and the other four families who won during the 2010 Cool Green Home contest and I can’t wait to see what is next for the 2011 Cool Green Home.
