One Year Out

It's been a year since I built the container house on NE 42nd Street. Shorty after the Build It Green tour the housing market collasped. The tour was my best chance of marketing my skills here in Portland, my timing for this was off. I rented the house to a nice couple that are very happy living in it. They are amazed how quiet it is inside even living on a busy street. They also share the information from their electric bill, which I'm happy to report, is very low. I've had no issues related to the construction aside from the need to install and run a dehumidifier during the coldest part of the year. Two human beings can create a lot of water vapor just by breathing. The house is so well sealed that it was necessary to either install a heat exchanger that cycled outside air in or rely on dehumidifier to remove the water vapor. The fan in the bathroom that I was counting on to this couldn't draw new air into the structure so I decided to go the other route for the time being and remove humidity mechanically.

I found a heat exchanger design with a good cubic feet / minute rating in the August issue of Maker Magazine that I'm going to build and install this fall. It uses two 12 volt computer fans to circulate air without much heat loss. These can be run continuously with very little energy input and should alleviate the need for the dehumidifier which is much more power hungry and requires service to empty the reservoir. I should note here that we haven't noticed any mold in the structure and that our efforts along these lines are proactive. It will also help the bath fan improve it's function.