For fun, I did plug in a dehumidifier through a Kill-a-Watt energy meter, to see how it went. The unit took water out of the air, definitely, but also took 500W out of the wall, which totally blows my energy budget, no question. If it ran for four hours, it would use half the energy I expected to last me for 24h. No bueno!
It did occur to me, though, that the Heat Recovery Ventilator was on low and maybe cranking it up would have an effect. The day I did that, it seemed like the condensation on the windows (and it was on all the windows) started to recede, but at the time it was inconclusive. I left it running for two days after that where I’d be away, so obviously not adding any moisture to the air by cooking or respiration. If the HRV was going to dry out the house, this was its chance.
It worked! I returned to dry windows, dry skylights, and no water on the wall or the bolt, and almost no condensation at the foot of the entry door, either. Progress! Next question is how would it do with me living there, adding moisture to the air through respiration and daily activity? Well, it sure looks like it worked. It hasn’t been quite as cold outside as it was for a while there, so the experiment is still ongoing and pending a sharp cold snap to really test the condensation question, but with a +45F temperature difference between the house and the outside, only minimal condensation was seen on the two coldest windows. The skylights had only trace amounts and definitely the former mold colonies were not coming back. I think it may be cured, but time will tell as it gets colder out and the forces which drive condensation push harder. Still, I’ve gone from nearly raining in the house, with soaking wet windowsills and doorsills to dry sills and minimal on-glass condensation, so I’m calling that a win. Oh, and for the curious, the HRV is this unit here: Vents Micra 60.
Meanwhile, I have installed doors on both sides of the office partition of the W.O.G., and now that this whole volume is insulated, I can actually meaningfully turn on the heat there and be far more comfortable as I finish the wallboard job and then paint and otherwise prepare the space for use.
I am QUITE eager to get this space operational, as it will allow me to much more efficiently do my day job (currently I build and break down my office in the BeDiLiA every day) and its completion is also a prerequisite for getting the power system for the W.O.G. running, too, because it must be prevented from freezing, which thus requires a closed, insulated, and reliably heated space.
Speaking of day jobs, my company has a yearly shut-down the last week of December, so that’s a free week off I can use to move construction along considerably.
I am also eager to unpack my home goods – especially kitchen stuff – but because I need to build some shelves to accommodate these things (the cabinets exist, but the shelves do not), I need the workshop and power to my table saw. I did manage to extricate the table saw from the mountains of boxes and such, but there’s no direct way to connect it to my generator. I have a plan (and the parts) to address this, but haven’t had the time to deal with it yet. And anyhow, the focus is really on getting the office partition done so I can get my proper power system in place and instead of frankensteining a solution to energize my table saw, I could just plug it in to the real power system and use it the way I always meant to. Seems like a superior solution.
Somehow, though, I have managed life on one plate, two bowls, one skillet, one knife, fork, and spoon – though I can’t really “cook” per se. I can heat stuff up and prepare mixes okay, but no meaningful creativity, nothing that requires a spice cabinet or tools. Today I cut a chicken breast up with a table knife. It worked, but my santoku would have done it faster and better. I have no idea where my knives are! I mean, sure, they’re with all the other stuff, but which box? No clue.
This weekend I’m back in the W.O.G., hopefully with the heat on, working toward getting the office partition done. I don’t expect to finish it, but do hope to get the first course of tape & joint compound applied, at least, before the weekend’s out. There is also some lumberjacking to do – I’m running low on firewood.
In an ideal world, I would be harvesting firewood over the course of the warm months, gradually, as I found deadfall or standing dead trees, etc. But I moved here in early November and have been focused on the W.O.G. build out and getting otherwise acclimated to life here, so not so much time for lumberjacking. So far, it’s been just-in-time work, but that’s gotta stop, since once the snow hits for real, it will get much harder to harvest wood.
I think the best plan at this point is to identify deadfall of interest, cut them into logs, drag those logs into the W.O.G. so at least they’re in reach and won’t get frozen to the ground, etc. Then I can process them into firewood as needed. This makes a lot of sense, except for how full of other things the W.O.G. is right now! As soon as I can unpack those boxes, there will be much more room everywhere, but I can’t unpack until until until… so everything is in a bit of a holding pattern til I get that office ready.
So, six weeks in, how’s things?
My address still isn’t in most of the databases that are used for validation, though one bank today actually did let me change my registered physical address to what it really is, so maybe it’s finally starting to propagate through the mire. Not all the things I wanted to update could be updated, but one more than zero today, which is (a little) better than nothing and it is evidence that it is likely to resolve more broadly. I don’t have a proper road sign yet anyway, and probably won’t have one installed til spring at this point, but I’ll probably order the parts soon (and have them delivered… where?! ha!) and keep them handy in case there are a few nice warmish days when I could actually set a sign post in the ground before spring.
Internet remains problematic, as the original LTE solution I had turned out to be a bust (20GB/mo cap is way too small) and without a valid physical address, I couldn’t order wired service if I wanted it (and anyhow, I’d want it to go to the W.O.G. which doesn’t have power yet!). I ordered a hotspot with a 100GB/mo plan from another carrier but that unit they’re not even promising until late Dec/mid Jan, so I needed to do something in the interim. The answer is a proxy app on my phone, which lets me use the phone’s native unlimited data plan (using it in hotspot mode, contrast to proxy mode, has a usage cap of 15GB/mo) but that makes it hard for certain internet devices to do their thing. My work laptop complains. My digital picture frame just can’t even. A hotspot is a better answer, but one with a huge data plan is essential. Hopefully soon. I also put in a reservation for Starlink satellite service, but they’re not even promising til mid next year and already said “oh, and we’re having supply chain issues just like everyone else, so, um, mebbe not?”. Sigh.
Those are really my only remaining challenges at present. With water seemingly under control and life generally moving along okay, things are okay. I’m not lonely, I’m not going crazy in my tiny house without even having my workshop to retreat to just yet. Life here is dirtier, too – heating with wood tracks in dirt, as does living on a dirt (shale, really, but dirt) road, in the woods. I don’t mind the dirt. It only takes me 45 seconds to sweep the entire house and anyway, I’m not afraid of dirt. It’s just dirt.
For now, laundry happens at a coin-op place about 12 mi away. It’s not so bad and a nice time to catch up on magazines and Netflix shows while I wait for the machines to do their business. I might eventually opt for some kind of on-site laundry process, but really, the coin-op doesn’t cost much, is easy, takes so little effort, and gives me 90 minutes to just chill -> my motivation to find some other solution is pretty low 🙂