Roselea

Category: Phase 1

  • Heat Exchanger module started

    Today we started building the heat exchanger module to transfer the energy in the old “waste” hot air to the clean cool fresh air! The new fresh air is coming from underground via the Earth Tubes we installed last year. This cool air will help keep the temperature down during the summer and the heat exchanger to transfer as much as of the useful valuable energy back into our living quarters during the Winter times.

    We are making the heat exchanger out of thin layers of plastic films separated by 5mm glazing tapes with gaps at both ends for the four connections! It is slow work building up each layer one by one and we are learning the pros and cons of the materials we are using this time around. We realise that the plastic films might not be stable enough for long term use and it is quite fiddly so we will probably switch back to looking to use thin aluminium sheets instead. We were looking for a cheaper material for our smaller temporary exchanger so We will finish this one and put it into operation to learn the results of the heat exchanging efficiency and other factors!

    Tomorrow we will continue the build!

    Heat exchanger half built

    Heat exchanger half built

    Heat exchanger half built

    Heat exchanger half built

  • Header Tank built

    The header tank for the garage and our temporary kitchen, shower and WC is now built and installed on the roof. It is a long box made of OSB boards covered with some left over rubber sheeting to make it waterproof.

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    It is only 400mm (just over a foot) high (the water level) but it is 2.4metres long (8feet) and 500mm (1 and half feet) wide!!

    This gives us a capacity of about 600 litres to allow us to run the pumping of the tanked rain water in a less frequent on and off cycles. This will reduce wear and tear and noise.

  • Toilet is Lit Up!

    Stephen has wired up the high frequency high efficiency low power florescent tube in the WC in the Garage building. It is 1200mm (4feet) long and it is only 28W producing a maximum of 2900lumens output! The controller will allow us to dim this light to various levels too!

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    This light might serve as our “night light” to provide a gentle glow during the night times. At 10% light level, the power consumption would be very low at around 4W (power vs. lumens is not a straight curve)!

  • Sun Corridor Triple Glazed!

    Today we put up two extra layers of plastic sheeting on the underside of the corrugated roof. We wanted to reduce the heat losses of such a large “window”! being only a temporary construction, we use standard builders plastic sheeting which is not absolutely clear and only costs a few pence per metre.

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    Putting up two more layers will hopefully create some additional insulation effect especially during the Winter months. It does cut down on the light level (probably by a third) but it is such a large area (10m x 2m), it is still very bright.

    Now we can install the return-path air ducting to remove the old hot air from the corridor and allow fresh cooler air in the bedrooms and lounge.

  • Garden Room has 4 glass windows now

    The garden room now has four windows fully fitted with their Oak frame and their double glazing units.

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    Just one more on the side wall to complete and that is the Garden Room done.

  • first 2 fully installed

    The first 2 windows were completed today! We simply got on with the installation of the windows in the back wall in the garden room regardless of the fact that there was a very slight hint of rain in the air! The forecast said that it would be dry all day just like yesterday so we got on with it!

    The Oak frame was sealed in using PU sealant, clamped down while six screws were driven in side ways to provide a solid fixing. The glass was then stuck into place using double sided glazing tape. The glass fits just fine! The Oak frame also fitted just fine too! Phew!

    GR First two windows installed

    GR First two windows installed


    GR First two windows installed

    GR First two windows installed

    It is interesting that the old temporary plastic windows were much brighter than the glass but that is because the plastic film wasn’t completely transparent and they glowed in the daylight but of course the glass is so much clearer! The room will now be overall brighter when we have the remaining windows done!

    Two more to go on the back wall. 7 more of a different design to do later (1 left in the Garden Room and 6 more in the front garage room).

  • Electric Sockets installed

    Yesterday The electric mains sockets were installed in all the rooms in the temporary living quarters. There are 13 of them! Each bedroom has 3 and the lounge has 4!

  • Lights for the Garden Room

    Stephen has built the lighting strips for the Garden Room. The concealed indirect lighting channels in the Garden room are much more narrow than what we have in the garage itself. The lighting units are mounted on long strips of timber (38mm by 25mm and 3.9m long! They are wrapped completely up in aluminium foil to provide both an earthing point for the florescent maps themselves, a reflective surface to maximise light output into the room and finally a conductive heat transfer mechanism to cool the controller.

    There are lamps on each end of the strip with the controller unit in the middle. The Mains Lighting circuit will be connected at one end so the whole strip can be disconnected for maintenance.

    Two of these have been made and that will be the total lighting in the Garden room. They are installed in the Garden room such that the tubes on opposite sides don’t line up, this gives the best distribution of light.

    GR Lights installed

    GR Lights installed

  • Sliding doors varnished

    The sliding doors for the WC are now varnished! They have had their 3 coats of clear floor grade varnish.

    WC sliding doors varnished

    WC sliding doors varnished

    Next is to make an Oak “buffer” strips for the two doors to bash together and conceal the layers of the construction. We will put on magnetic strips as well to help keep the two doors closed while the WC is engaged!

  • Half sealed!

    Stephen went around sealing the gaps between the partition walls, using a complete can of expanding PU foam. He only managed to do the lounge and the first bedroom.

    Sealing the gaps with foam

    Sealing the gaps with foam


    Sealing the gaps with foam

    Sealing the gaps with foam


    Sealing the gaps with foam

    Sealing the gaps with foam

    The excess will be trimmed off and covered with white cloth tape.