First few days back

Arizona is getting hit with a cold wave like much of the country except that this place is not used to it. So the temperatures hit 19 overnight very much below usual. Luckily that night I was inside the shed, it is partially insulated with one inch of foam which already make a huge difference. Inside it managed to stay in the low 40s until early in the morning when it actually hit 34 inside.

I've been sleeping with double sleeping bags and that has been working very well I was quite toasty.

I'm doing all the work by myself and so I have very little contact with other people. But Aaron walks by everyday with his dogs and we have a nice little chat. He is an interesting fellow and he keeps bringing me things that I might need such as a mattress bedding and water containers.
I think he is cleaning out his own place, same as I'm doing in Crested Butte.

I am making progress every day but it's going slowly compared to the first two weeks. The problem seems to be that I don't have the right items to get the job done with so I end up driving into town every single day.

After 3 days I now have all the insulation finished and I'm ready to trim out the upstairs.

The night after the cold spell I slept in the car as I usually do because the inside off the shed was a construction mess.

Tonight that mess has been cleaned up and I am completely insulated however the garage door is still out and the big open gap lets a lot of cold air into the downstairs. Even though there is a big opening from down to up it is still 57 upstairs and 34 outside so the insulation and the fact that heat rises does an incredible job.
Can't wait to see how it performs temperature-wise once the new insulated R9 garage door is in and all the trim is in place.

I think it'll be really fun to set up the speakers and the big screen TV and the carpet and it will become home very fast.

I finally found a black bucket, 5 gallons and I put it against the reflective surfaces in the sun. Even in January it managed to heat the bucket to the point where I took a hot shower in the evening free of charge thanks to the sun.

Another item that is free of charge is my electricity which also comes from solar charging it is performing really well, in the morning I was at 34% and by evening I was at 67%. Running the tea kettle cost me about 3% and I'm starting to get a feel for how much I am using and how much I can charge in a day. It's a pretty good balance.Read more