The Elysian Fields

Well, that's a deceptive practice... all these music videos, and then I use the name of one of my favorite bands as the title of a post that has nothing to do with music...

I was kind of surprised to see that the ice storm ~ that made things slippery here, but not much more than that ~ took out power to so many just off the western edge of the state. It wasn't so long ago that bits and pieces of New England was similarly laid low. Go back a bit further, and there was that ice storm that did so much damage to the mid west, and quite a few others to boot.

I don't know if the reporting is better, or the internet just makes the information more accessible, or because I am in contact with so many more people from such a wide ~ world wide, really, although this particular trend is more national in nature ~ area, it makes it personal and I care more... but it seems to me that ice storms have been knocking out more power for more people more often.

Now, I'm not sure if there's more of a tendency for ice storms to arise with the weather patterns we have in stock these days, but my gut feeling ~ which isn't even based on a cursory glance at statistics ~ is that ice storms happen, and before that, many moons ago, they also happened, and they most likely will happen again.

Maybe its an aging infrastructure.

I mean, as I said, ice storms will happen. The damage associated with a heavy layer of ice ~ from slip and falls to cars tangling around trees or each other to trees dropping limbs or their whole selves ~ isn't going to go away.

Since ice storms happened, why does it seem the lights go out more now?

Excepting areas seriously troubled by earthquakes, you'd think more lines would be "going up" underground. They can't escape the disruption caused by an uprooted tree, but they're a lot safer than the lines that are catching and supporting fallen trees above ground. It costs more to get them in the ground in the first place, especially if there's no convenient way to route them through existing tunnels that creep all Lovecraftian-like under the bigger cities. I'm not sure how much more it costs, but is it significantly more than the cost of replacing them whenever there's some moisture and the temperature drops? Really, you don't even need ice to bring down some wires and knock out power.

There's a bigger price to factor in, but it's spread amongst the customers in an indirect fashion. What price does the (literally and figuratively) power-less consumer have to face? What's the cost when power is out for a week? While you're not paying for electricity that's nowhere to be found because that meter is just not spinning, there could be costs for fuel for the generators of a few. Perhaps the costs of having to temporarily relocate to a place with running water and heat, or to put up without showers and to layer up.

I know if the power goes out on us we're good for maybe six to eight hours when temperature is not an issue. Hotter, we'll be throwing out food. Colder, this house is insulated only slightly better than a roadside bus shelter, so that won't work. Longer, we're done ~ no electricity means no running water and no flushing toilets in addition to no lights, heat, or other usual useful things.

Beyond the convenience annoyances, there's also danger. When the power goes out on some folks, for whatever reason, bad things can happen.

Getting cables underground will prevent some of the problems, but I'm sure it has other issues of its own beyond the monetary cost. There's an environmental cost to ripping things up and burying cables. Running a trencher to lay just a handful of cables is enough to destroy tree roots, making it more likely that you'll see some toppling within a few years. It may not take out power lines, but the loss of an otherwise healthy tree is a serious hit on the local environment as well as an outright hazard to the health and property that might happen to try to break the tree's fall.

The best solution would be to have less reliance on ~ or, dare I say it ~ get rid of the grid all together.

Of course, this transfers the cost to the property owners and away from a centralized utility. Of course, that has good points and bad points. Of course, that's less likely to happen than having all the electric companies of the world decide all local power lines will be moved underground posty hasty.

Still, it's something to consider.

Then again, that storm may drop ice-forged lances that shatter your solar array, freeze your waterwheel until Spring thaw, and topple your windmill...

For my own reference and planning (mostly):

( HVAC and Plumbing Issues )

( Electrical Issues )

( Justin's Room )

Progress reports are in the comments!

The Home Improvement Planning thread was updated last night. The list of 16 problems in the HVAC and Plumbing area has been reduced to 7 items, most of which are pending either a "wait-and-see" situation (#2, #8) or a "wait-for-the-right-time-of-year-and-see" (#13, #15.) #6 should actually have been mostly completed today - portions pending some more work on Justin's room. #11 will probably fall to an electrician rather than an HVAC guy, and #16 will be considered when the generator is installed - which is in the "wait-and-see-if-money's-left" category.

I really need to add a "complete HVAC ductwork" item to the list of tasks for Justin's room.

Unfortunately, we discovered that our half-bath sink has a leak where the pipe gozintah the wall. Some brilliant, penny-pinching accountant decided metal to plastic to metal to plastic to pvc pipe was a cost-saving good method of installing sinks. I'm afraid of what the other plumbing fixtures - particularly those hidden by wallboard - are like if this one is already showing the failure of material A sealing properly with material B.

Speaking of short-term failure, I hope to have pictures - or links to pictures - that show exactly how monstrous the issue with the fiberglass ductwork was. The house was built slightly more than 4 years ago, and we've been there slightly less than 4 years. The airflow contact surface of the fiberglass ductwork was pilling (picture a cheap semi-shag rug with enough foot traffic to tear things up but not enough to pack it down flat) covered with a measurable accumulation of dust - far more dust in those ducts than snow on the ground this entire season (look in the back of your computer at the fan - yes, more dust than that.)

Air Dynamics will actually be presenting slices of our ductwork at a coming tradeshow, and, I believe, will also be featuring them on their website.

Looking at that ductwork, it's fairly easy to understand the breathing problems that almost all of us have had - 3 out of 5 of us have been prescribed one or more inhalers or allergy medicines since we've lived here. Prior to that, 0 out of 4 of us took any such medicine (disclaimer: I took OTC allergy meds as a kid, but had pretty much outgrown them.)

If you have fiberglass ducts, I would insist, as a friend, you do one (or more) of the following:

1. have the ductwork replaced with galvanized steel and lined flexible ductwork
2. move
3. buy full-face masks and alternative air-supply tanks

Evil stuff.

I won't even begin to mention the mold I found starting on the one random panel I picked up to show Deb, or the ductwork made less efficient by an excess of blown in insulation that filled it...

Anyway, progress on Justin's room will be reported later tonight or tomorrow, as I will be scheduling that work - and maybe some of the electrical in addition - tonight.

They are also cheap bastards. There were quite a few things that the guy from Air Dynamics pointed out as not being quite right - from the obvious (like putting in radon reduction at the time of construction) to the not quite so obvious (like sealing a pipe in a return vent, forgetting to cut through both obstacles to air flow, and not sealing aforementioned pipe, so that instead of returning air from the living space as the system should, it sucks cold air from the attic.)

There's also a very measurable negative pressure. Not only does this pull radon from the ground, but it pulls it into the whole house.

Anyway - first up:

• Replacing fiberglass & 2/4 returns with steel ducts - this will actually allow the air to flow instead of starving it, and it will prevent the fiberglass from disintegrating and flowing into the house. It will also provide a *cleanable* surface, as mold and mildew can get a hold into the fiberglass and live quite happily there.
• Installing a radon remediation system to reduce the radon levels below the foundation.

I will also be considering replacing all the fiberglass ductwork, installing a whole house air filter to improve the air quality, re-routing the condensation pipe from the heat pump to a water pump to have it exit the house, and including a dehumidifier into that drainage system as well.

He's also going to have a contractor call me about finishing Justin's room, and an electrician call me about the other work. If these guys actually return calls, I'll be more than happy to have them do the work than the others that *haven't* called.

Okay, so it was a call-back just to verify what I needed, and the electrician himself still needs to call to discuss in details, but hey, it's progress!