text:
In the right situation and location, heat-pump water heaters offer improved efficiency and increased energy savings compared to standard tank-style units. Here's how to tell if your household would benefit from this technology.
Using electricity to run a compressor, a heat-pump water heater (HPWH) extracts heat from air, often in the basement, and transfers that energy to heat water in a tank. It's like a refrigerator, only running backward: A refrigerator moves heat from its interior to the room it's located in. An HPWH transfers heat from the room to a storage tank, and does it with remarkable efficiency. In fact, an HPWH is able to transfer more energy (up to 2.5 times) than the electricity it consumes. Today's HPWHs are much less expensive and more efficient than their predecessors.
A heat pump has three basic components: an evaporator, a compressor, and a condenser. Liquid refrigerant is exposed to room-temperature air in the heat pump's evaporator coil. As it picks up energy from the room air, the refrigerant changes from a liquid to a gas within the evaporator coil. The refrigerant passes into the compressor pump, which compresses the gas, increasing its temperature. The heated refrigerant then runs through a condenser, which is either a coil that is wrapped around the integral tank, or a pumped heat exchanger that feeds a separate water storage tank. As the hot refrigerant gives up its heat to the colder water, the refrigerant cools and condenses back into a liquid and passes through an expansion valve, where its pressure is reduced and the cycle starts over.
By taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the refrigerant, the heat pump can extract energy from the surrounding room air (slightly chilling that air). How much energy is extracted depends on the ambient air temperature and the tank temperature.
This transformation of one unit of electrical energy into three units of heat is the heating advantage that is unique to HPWHs. This increase in the heating effect is known as the coefficient of performance (COP). Most HPWHs have COPs between 2 and 4, depending on room temperature and humidity, and water temperature. By comparison, a conventional electric water heater is considered to have a COP of 1.
The U.S. Department of Energy considers the COP of HPWHs to be about 2, which accounts for storage losses as heat is lost through the walls of the storage tank. The temperature of the room in which the HPWH is housed, the insulation of the storage tank, and hot water usage frequency all impact the HPWH's COP. For our purposes, we are only considering the actual heating performance. However, it is critical that, with any heat source, the heat storage tank be well-insulated to minimize heat loss.
The energy to feed the heat pump can come from passive solar gain, heat from a conventional heating system, the warming effect of soil surrounding a basement wall, or any other heat source. The resulting cooling of the room by the HPWH is advantageous in the summer, but a disadvantage in the winter. If the unit is installed in a basement, the larger the basement, the less impact it will have on the living area. Additionally, in basement installations in humid regions, a significant benefit of an HPWH is that it also removes some moisture from the air, reducing and usually eliminating the need for a separate dehumidifier. Since HPWHs operate as dehumidifiers, a condensate drain must be provided.
Robert , I forgot to mention , I use the 2 50 gal Geo,s HWHP for my potable water and to heat my 1200sg ft home in Burke NY using a open system with radaint floor heat , and i have my Geo,s in my landry room so they work fine all year
Robert Villforth,
In Maine, it will be to cold in the winter for the GE Heat pump water heater to work in heat pump mode. It switches to electric only at about 40F room temp. So it would work in the heat pump mode only in the warmer months when the solar system is supplying more hot water than you might need.
The Nyle system uses domestic water from the tank drain, and a hose connected near the top of the tank, or using a unique replacement drain valve, it can use the tank drain for both inlet and return lines (with a tube within the main tube to return the water). So you could still use the oil system to back up the water heater if required. Also note that the upper tank heat exchanger has been used with the oil heater, and now is not "Clean" and non-toxic. So if one connected a heat pump water heater to that heat exchanger, then the new heating system heat exchanger would also absorb some of the toxic things, such as any possible lead, toxic heat exchanger loop water, ect. Using the bottom drain would work best, and avoid any toxic water from getting into the new HPWH.
Oil heat is extremely expensive nowdays. When diesel fuel was $4 a gallon a few years ago, the cost for 100,000 Btu's of heat output was around $4. While electric heat at $0.15 per KW is 20 KW or about $3. A heat pump with 4.0 COP would only cost only about $1 or $ 1.50 to provide 100,000 Btu's of heat.
You might consider a Nyle cold weather heat pump water heater as it will be the only model that works at 0F ambient temps.
Also by running the pump and upper coil from your solar tank, it will 'warm' the water loop served by the oil heating system, without running the oil boiler. Not hot enough to warm the house on a cold day, but when it is in the 50's outside, it should do the job.
For heating the home instead of using the boiler, a coupe of ductless heat pumps will serve any home well, and lessen the need to run the oil boiler most of the year.
I am guessing that the most economical way to heat the water without oil might include a small propane water heater, or 28 gallon lowboy 4,500 watt electric water heater sold at Lowes for $359. But a careful study of what each fuel cost per 100,000 Btu's would be. Electric water heater would require about 29.5 KW per 100,000 Btu's. Propane is about 1.8 gallons per 100,000 Btu's output. Natural Gas is sold by the therm, or 100,000 Btu's and in a 80% efficient water heater would take about 1.25 therms per 100,000 Btu's output (given some heat loss up the flue). Oil is about 135,000 Btu's per gallon, or about 95,000 Btu's after being burned in a 80% efficient boiler. Some oil boilers are less than 60%. . . .
You can also consider expanding the solar system with a additional 16 tube heater. The prices have come down in recent years, and installing a additional heater inline with the old one might not be that expensive.
I would not yet consider the Nyle Cold Climate (CCHP) unit. We have had an earlier unit in place and have had some significant issues.
These cost in excess of $7,000, are really more for space heating or high use DHW. These are split systems which require a refrigeration technician for installation.
The newly redesigned CCHP is just being field tested as we speak. I will post more as the results come in.
In the original article are some parameters for using a heat pump water heater year round. Being in Maine is not necessarily a problem for using one year round.
I live in Maine. I have a 16 vacuum-tube solar hot water system feeding the bottom coil of a 60 gallon 2-zone highly insulated storage tank. The upper coil of the tank is connected to my oil-fired furnace. The furnace is supposed to also heat the house using forced hot water. But is only now used for the domestic hot water. The tank and furnace are in my basement. I estimate the solar heat system takes care of 60% of my hot water needs. I would like to stop using the oil-fired furnace to heat the remaining water. I am considering buying either a stand-alone heat pump (such as a Nye HP) and connecting it to the storage tank upper coil (replacing the oil furnace connection), or having the existing storage tank feed a small stand-alone heat pump water heater. Any comments?
Hi Robert Villforth, I would buy a 50 gal geo Spring heat pump or a simmler HWHP w tank combintion for the fact it gives you you hot water storeage A Geo can produce 192 gallon HW per day at 8 gallons per hr on the heat pump mode at appox 500watts per hr x 24 hrs at $.10 KWH =$1.20 but you 50 gallons storeage so what i did is I got two of them running on heat pump mode I now get 16 gal.hr HW and 100 gal storeage and now they both run 12 hrs per day still at $1.20 per day . if I had the room like a base ment i would get 4 of them to get 200 gal.storeage and 32gal per hr make up HW . I sure their are other HWHP out their . But I got mine on sale at Lowes $700 each + $99 extra for a lowes 10 year warrrenty so if something goes wrong with one I can still have the other for back up . your would need a small cir pump for two of them .maybe even still need one using your solar set up , not knowing how big a heat exchange it has on it zone .
Hi Robert,
You should call Nyle in Brewer. They have the newest Geyser available.
You can also get an Etech, which is an earlier version unit that the Geyser was based on.
They are on Ebay. You can pick them up in Searsport if you are nearby.
Electric Homeowner,
What is your intention with the heat pump water heater. Do you plan on running it in the summer when it is warm and will work efficiently? or only in the winter when your local temperatures are below 35F. When below 45F, the heat pump water heater will run on electric only, so you would be better off getting a 30 gallon 4,500 watt compact short electric water heater, such as one model at Lowes for $359. The solar system can feet this at full output temperature, and then be reduced at the outlet of the electric water heater with the cold/hot water mixing valve that will regulate it to a maximum output temp of only 125F to avoid scalding. This would allow minimal heat output from the electric water heater, basically it would just reheat the water a little bit each hour, when you are not pulling a lot of warm water from the solar heated tank, and would have about 75F+ water that would require little heating in the winter time, while maximizing the solar tank's ability to provide the most Btu's possible.
On a storage tank with a electric heater element on the tank, then it would warm the top of the tank to 120F all the time to provide a heated supply of hot water to the home.
Another alternative would be a instant 11 KW water heater, that has the ability to provide water heated to the exact temperature that you desire. Look at a website acwholesale.com for heaters, and water heaters. They sell several size electric tankless water heaters. The weight is only 7 pounds for the 11 KW model. The tankless water heater would stay off until inlet water is below the setpoint, such as in the winter during a extended cloudy time.
Hi Fred,
Thanks for your post. We would be feeding the heat pump water heater from our DHW tank, which gets super warm 2-3 months a year (so we put a summer bypass on it to avoid the water heater all together during those months). In the fall/spring/winter the DHW system would not provide adequate heat without assistance from a water heater. At times, the DHW tank is no warmer than 60 degrees. I'm interested in what you're suggesting: just a standard electric hot water tank to take the DHW water and give it extra heat, or even a tankless instant water heater (afterall we have a huge tank already preheated by the sun). My assumption with those is they require a lot of electricity and new circuits installed, and from reviews i've read people say they don't deliver consistently the hot water needed - like for 3-4 showers in a row. But I'm going to look into them more. Appreciate your input on this a lot!
The solar DHW system is already on site and performs very well for the modest investment in electricity.
I would suggest that a tankless electric might be okay.
A fairly sizable instant electric would be 11kw. That would only come on if the solar was not hot enough.
The issue is when the sun is not shining. If you live where there are cloudy months like here in Maine, the electric tankless is apt to not keep up. If you have a household of two or three persons, straight electric back up makes sense.
One thing to remember is that the heat pump is going to dehumidify the space it is in while cooling it.
If that is a benefit to you, then the heat pump makes sense.
Just for reference, if your cold water is 40F and it needs to be heated to 110F, a shower will use about 40,000 btus per hour at a flow of one gallon per minute. If you are filling a tub, it can be about 5 times that amount. The electric tankless will not keep up without a major preheat.
The 11 KW tankless electric water heater will work wonderful with over 70F water going into it, and will work fine for one shower and perhaps a sink running at the same time. I would guess that the "Large" solar system would be supplying at least 70F water all winter, except probably a few days a year.
It all depends on location. If the owner is in the very far north, then the heat pump will not work in heat pump mode in the cold winter when it would be needed most. If the heat pump water heater is located inside a home heated by a gas furnace, it would only add additional heat load and require the furnace to run more often to make up for the cold air the HPWH is putting out.
A compact 30 gallon Lowes 4.5 KW electric water heater would be a option, only about 24" tall, and you might be able to build a shelf above the solar water tank, it would only be 65# empty or 300 pounds full. A 120 volt electric heater would be such a small capacity, that even with 70F make up water, it would take hours to reheat the 20 gallon tank after someone takes a shower and used up all 20 gallons.
Yes your input water temp really will change things. If you live way up north, and get 40F water into the solar water tank, it can quickly cool off to below 60F. This will not be good to feed a tankless or tank type water heater. However the compact 4.5 KW electric water heater will heat the water quickly, with a 21 gallon per hour rating from 50F to 140F. Taking in 80F, you could get 42+ GPH at 130F.
Hi, great article thank you! We have a pretty large home DHW solar hot water system. Would that be able to interact with a Heat Pump water heater, either through a circulator pump or simply by providing pre-heated water to the heat pump water heater? I'm not much of a DIY'er so any input on how we would best go about this would be much much appreciated.
I should add we are looking at a 50 gallon HPWH made by Rheem.
We can get $750 in rebates, federal and local utility, so we are excited to make this transition. We also have a 3.5kwh PV system, and supplemental solar power through a community PV farm. Just bought our leaf. Waiting to buy a second one. Loving the renewable, electric revolution!
The most simple approach is to use the solar to preheat to a heat pump heated tank.
You can get more sophisticated (and efficient) by using a small bronze circulator pump to circulate from the solar tank to the heat pump tank whenever the solar tank is hotter than the heat pump tank. This would be controlled by a solar differential controller. It would only operate the pump when the solar tank is hotter than the heat pump tank.
Since the solar system is apt to get hotter in the warmer months, you wind up with additional storage and keep the heat pump from operating when solar input is ample. It should be less expensive to operate than the heat pump.
Thanks for confirming this. I was thinking we could simply feed the heat pump water heater with our DHW tank, which gets up to 135 degrees sometimes, but wasn't sure how this would interact with the heat pump mechanism.
Now i'm wondering if the heat pump feature is really necessary. Perhaps a standard electric 40 gallon water heater (or an instant hot water heater?) would be fine. We just want to get off natural gas.
Also the space for it is a tiny, cramped furnace room (with a heat producing furnace). Definitely not the 10x10x10 space recommended. We could install a fan to bring in air from the adjacent finished basement room however.
But given our very large DHW tank and system (for which we also have a Summer hot water bypass installed), a full on HPWH tank may not be necessary. Though the 750$ rebate sure is appealing.
The CCHP units that Fred mentions made by Nyle are rather expensive, being about $8-9000. They are primarily used for space heating and DHW in motels in the south. We have one unit in use for about three years. They have reworked these Cold Climate air source units that are specifically for making hot water and are currently rolling out the improved unit.
I would suggest that if someone is looking at an $800 repair bill for a HPWH, you are better served to replace the unit. I can tell you that the Nyle units are pretty solid on the refrigeration side. The control side is all hand wired and is simple to repair.
We have also been testing some imported space heating heat pumps that are used for radiant floor heating. Into our second winter, they are working reasonably well. The lower operating temperature is about +5F. We use wood pellets for back up.
The major manufacturers of mini split heat pumps are supposed to be introducing their units for hot water space heating soon.
There are some new older stock stand alone heat pump water heaters here:
You can find a list of qualified HPWH on this website.
I found this information at GE appliances website. Click on 'Get Rebate Information' and it will ask for your zip code.
Yes the 80 gallon tank has a higher energy efficiency ratio, due in part to it's ability to draw 2 GPM for 8 minutes several times before the electric heater will cycle on. If you only have 3 showers per hour for a total of about 6 showers, then the back up heat will not need to come on at all on a warm day. The new GE 80 gallon system is rated for 4 showers before the water dips below 105F, and also 2.7 Northern Climate energy factor.
So while a 1,000 watt resistance heater will put about 3,400 Btu's into the water heater, (per KW used), this HPWH will transfer about 9,180 Btu's per KW of power consumed, or 2.7 times as much heat per KW. It will cool the room it is located in by about 8,000 Btu's and recover some heat from the compressor windings while it is heating the water.
You mentioned a $800 repair estimate for your HPWH. Did this come from a air conditioner company? You might try a refrigerator repair company, and see if you could get a lower rate. It might also help to wait for better weather, and not when it is blazing hot out either, so the companies are a bit slower time of the year.
You might also consider a Nyle water heater, they seem to perform much better in rooms that are less than 30F in the winter. Nyle makes a CCHP Cold Climate heat pump, rated at 30,000 Btu's and will work with 0F inlet air, is mounted outside, with the freon lines piped inside to the water heater tank. You could use any tank, so your HPWH tank could be the tank with the back up heater only used when it is really cold outside.
You should be able to find a refrigerator mechanic that can come out and look at the unit for a nominal fee (say $80 for the first hour) and if there is a port to recharge the system, they could add a pound of freon for another $10 or so. This might restore the system for another 2 years. Fixing a leak might cost an additional $100 or more, depending on how easy it is to fix and if they can even find it. Losing all the freon over 35 months indicates a really tiny leak, less than 1 ounce per month. Look up all the information on the data plate, especially the charge freon type (R-134A or R-410 or perhaps R-417?) So that they bring the right type of freon, and do not need to charge you another hour of time (at $80 - 120 per hour typical shop time rates) to go get the right stuff.
Good luck!
To ouachitaoffgrid2009:
You can disconnect one wire to the electric resistance heater of your HPWH, and make sure it will never use up a large amount of your electrical power.
I like the idea of installing more solar panels and not increasing the battery size. At 600 AH, you have plenty of storage for one or two nights. Remember that the storage battery is always 'Consuming' about 10% of the power that you put into it. So a 600 AH battery system might lose 60 AH monthly to efficiency losses, a 1,800 AH battery will lose three times as much power monthly.
Solar panels are now less expensive so it makes sense to buy more!
Arthur Perrea,
I got my 2 GEO Spring HPWH at Lowes in NY on sale $700 each and $99 for 10 year Lowes warranty I using them to supply my potable water and to heat my home on a open radiant floor system
I alluded to the fact that all-in-one units are throw away once the tank fails. There is no way to re-use the heat pump unless you are a skilled refrigeration mechanic and want an adventure.
The folks at Nyle tell me that they have re-worked the Geyser for slightly higher output and they are going to get an Energy Star rating on their unit with a separate tank. Energy Star, which is required for most rebates, would not certify the stand alone unit, claiming that the efficiency could suffer with a poorly insulated tank. Most electric tanks in 2015 are well insulated, but I suppose they have a point.
Any heat pump with PV's seems like a no-brainer, but as you note, the details make the difference.
Tom Gocze
This is another update on the GeoSpring HPWH that we installed in our off-grid cabin in the Ouachita Mountains in July 2013.
It is my understanding that this unit was manufactured in the USA after GE moved their production back stateside from China.
It continues to work fine (knock on wood!) and provides plenty of hot water in the heat pump only mode. I don't think that it has ever operated in resistance mode so far. If it has, the Trace SW4024 with a 220 volt Trace transformer has handled the load.
In the past year, we have enlarged the battery storage capacity to a total 16 AGM batteries at 105 ah each and added 2,565 watts of PV for a total of 3,725 watts in my combined PV array.
In a very helpful June 2015 Ask the Experts response, Ian Woofenden at Home Power suggested suggested that I add more PV panels to my array instead of increasing the size of the battery bank. He noted that the more PV that I add, the less I'll need a generator.
So, I took his advice and enlarged the array. So far, so good. At this point though, I'm still reluctant to add a generator - because it seems to be at odds with the our original intention of creating our own electrical power, but may ultimately have to do so.
We may have hit the "sweet spot" point of having the appropriate array size, battery bank size and electrical consumption. I'll find out for sure in the next few weeks when the sun is at its lowest point on the first day of winter.
So far, we still have power and the battery bank recharges quickly when there is sun. Thanks for the help, Ian at Home Power!
Long term comment on the GeoSpring HPWH:
Worked great for the first year with significant reduction in energy costs. Saved $300 in electricity over standard electric water heater. After 13 months started getting F-C error code and found that the coil was freezing up. Contacted GE and found out my "10 year warranty" was only 1 year warranty in Canada. Received a quote to repair was $800 for an $1100 unit. I continued using the HPWH as is and performance declined. After 35 months in service the heat pump unit failed completely and now only operates in electric resistance mode only.
Bottom Line: GE is unreliable and doesn't stand by their warranty. Will never purchase GE products again.
Does anyone have any long term experience with the Stiebel-Eltron Accelerate 300 units? I'm interested in hearing about reliability and if they honour their 10 year warranty.
This is another update on the GeoSpring HPWH that we installed in our of-grid cabin in the Ouachita Mountains. The HPWH has now been in place over one year and is still working fine. I haven't yet run the condensation line out from under the crawl space and it is currently draining into a 5 gallon plastic bucket, which I empty regularly. In the past year, there have been several occasions where the PV system shut down due to cloudy conditions. In each case, I either re-started the HPWH manually by re-setting the breaker in the electrical panel or it re-started itself once the batteries were charged.
Overall, it has been great and I plan on installing a 4,000 to 5,000 watt generator soon with an auto start to charge the batteries when needed, so that I can have power in the less sunny times of the year.
Additionally, after installing the generator, it's my intention to add to the size of the solar array and batteries. I suspect that the generator may run only about 5% of the time, but I'll find out when I install it. Overall, the GeoSpring HPWH keeps the water hot and works well for us.
Thanks for the 4-24-14 update on your failed HPWH. I guess GE did not design the evaporator right? A small leak can leak out the pound or so of freon pretty fast in such a small system. Moisture in the system can cause the oil to become very acidic, causing leaks too. I hope that your repairman installed a 8 cubic inch filter dryer, it is pretty standard in such repairs with R-410.
Someone mentioned that tubing was worn thin by the system being acidic, and this can happen just because the original manufacture employee did not pull a deep enough vacuum before adding the R-410. Moisture in the system will turn the oil acidic, and that can eat away at the inside of all the tubing. The heat exchanger to the water tank is expected to hold back 400 - 600 PSI, and I suspect will be thicker wall than the evaporator, with it's 125 PSI running pressure and 200 PSI pressure when the unit is off.
Also you mention that the poor mechanic did not have space to work on the system. (I am 6'4" and would not take that job either). If the room is less than say 400 cubic feet, you will need to duct in air to the unit, or duct out the cold discharge air to someplace else. A 12,000 Btu A/C unit will move about 400 cubic feet per minute, or more air than is located in that closet, and cool it by about 20F each time it passes through the unit. You would be wasting energy if you are cooling the output air to below say 45F.
For those with a wood stove, while it is heating, you could be using a hot water loop and small pump to heat the water in your tank. A solar hot water heater controller can run the pump automatically, and shut it off at say 150F tank temp. You would need a water mixing valve if you are collecting water above 125F for safety of the people in the home.
Read my addendum below. You have to click on "Show all comments" below in order to see it. It is an important HPWH cautionary tale.
I am about to install a heat pump to warm my home in Portland Oregon. It will be 48000 Btu and 14 SEER or collect about 14,000 Btu's per KW in the heating mode.
For water heating, I will recover the freon, then cut the hot gas line, install a heat exchanger to "De-Superheat" the hot gas from the compressor. This will be a 1/2" copper line for the freon inside a 1-1/8" copper line for the water, insulated with 3/4" foam pipe insulation. I will use a standard 3 GPM water pump with solar controller to turn on the pump when my hot water tank is cooler than the outlet line on the desuperheater. This will run upwards of 120F on a moderately warm day in the cooling cycle, or in the heating cycle I can easily warm my water tank to 105F.
I estimate I will collect about 8,500 Btu's per KW in the heating mode (while heating my house while running the water pump) and collect upwards of 12,000 Btu's per KW while in the cooling mode, with a outdoor fan cycling switch that will keep the freon pressures higher to make this system run warmer.
The 4 KW additional power to run my heat pump each day while heating water will be more than offset by the daily savings of running a normal 4.5 KW per hour water heater that has only about 14,000 Btu's per hour output.
I install air conditioners for a living, and desuperheaters where popular in the 80's in commercial applications like a restaurant, where 10 ton A/C systems would warm the dozens of gallons of city water to 105F before going to the hot water heater for further heating. This saved the restaurant about $100 a month in gas or electric charges. Most such systems have long ago been disconnected.
A side note, I installed a Airtemp heat pump water heater at my sister's house several years ago. It was manufactured by the Chrysler Corp before 1979. So they have been around a long time.
This is a follow-up to my GeoSpring HPWH comments in the off-grid cabin referred to below (in November 2013).
I have since added four more AGM Deka 105 ah 12 volt batteries to the power house battery bank and used foil-backed single bubble wrap roll insulation to insulate the entire crawl space (where the HPWH is located) of this off-grid cabin.
In addition, I have since found out that I had a serious loose connection from the battery bank to the inverter circuit breaker/cut-off switch - which my electrician-brother helped me isolate.
As a result of fixing the loose connection noted above and, at his suggestion, I tightened all of the other connections (many of which were loose) in the power house (breakers, a 220 volt transformer, inverter connections etc.) and re-started the entire system.
The GeoSpring went right back into heat pump mode and everything else worked fine.
A few days later, we were warned about and experienced a very severe ice storm in the Ouachita Mountains and were without power in our grid-tied rural home for days.
In preparation for the ice storm, I shut off the HPWH at the off-grid cabin in order to save battery power.
Even though our nearby house (about one mile from the cabin) was without power for days, I was able to use the cabin to charge phones, listen to local news, and even get cleaned up as the water remained warm for several days in the HPWH. Once the sun came back out and we switched the HPWH back on, it went through the usual diagnostics and began heating water again.
It's my understanding that when the air temperature surrounding the GeoSpring HPWH drops to 45 degrees or below, the resistance heating elements will begin operating.
So far this winter, the temperature in the crawl space has not dropped below 45 degrees. Insulating the crawl space has helped reduce the power draw on the HPWH as the temperatures in the crawl space have remained relatively warm during the coldest times. Several nights so far, the outside air temperature has been in the mid-teens, so the insulation appears to be helping.
As my 220 volt system is not designed to handle any more than a surge load for a short time, the HPWH would likely shut down while in resistance element heating mode and that has not yet happened.
However, even though the solar panels and power house that holds all the balance of system components were covered with a heavy coat of ice, the off-grid system continued to operate and power the cabin.
As a result of the ice storm, there were many trees and limbs damaged near the cabin and on the farm and the benefit of running underground conduit from the power house to the cabin cannot be overemphasized!
This continues to be a challenging and fun project and I've also learned the importance of making sure all of the connections are tight!
The heat pump water heater needs to collect heat from someplace.
By insulating the basement that it is located in, and making that space air tight - I am guessing that the heat pump runs a few minutes to cool the basement to 45F and then might be changing over to electric heat mode? The problem with many heat pump water heaters is lack of a defrost mode. Just running the evaporator fan in a 40F area will defrost the coil, however in a situation where the temps are below 25, a defrost mode would be required, such as a hot gas solenoid to send warm gas into the evaporator to thaw it out once in a while This is what is used in walk in freezers. (Air defrost is used in 39F walk in refrigerators).
What might have happened is you are getting more heat from the ground by insulating the basement walls? If your average ground temp is say 50F, then the basement might warm to that temp if you are not taking to much heat from the basement to warm the water. But if your outside temp is say 50F and your discharge air is less than that temperature, then discharging the air outside would make sense. Yes if the outside is 10F and the discharge air from your 55F basement is say 32F, you would not want to blow 32F outside and have 10F follow that air back in.
I am installing a desuperheater on my new heat pump for my home soon. It will use outside air to warm the water, and take advantage of the 48,000 BtuH compressor to heat the water for free in the summer! It will collect about 8,500 Btu's per KW in the winter while running the heat pump to warm my house. In the summer, it will collect about 12,000 Btu's per KW, yet is considered "Free" because the 1 KW is being used to cool the home, the hot water is a by-product of cooling the home, and thus the system runs for only the 38 watt pump running energy and 5 watt solar hot water heater controller energy.
This 4 KW heat pump will replace the existing pair of 10 KW electric heaters that are installed now, while producing about the same amount of heat. The water heating ability will be a bonus allowing me to disconnect the electric water heater and it's pair of 4500 watt elements! and also collect up to about 24,000 BTUH from the heat pump.
My friend and I installed an American-made GeoSpring water heater in our off-grid cabin in July 2013. It is powered only by my modest 1.16 kw PV system and a TRACE SW4024 with a 220 Volt Trace transformer. I currently have modest battery storage with 4 AGM Deka 105 ah 12 volt batteries configured for 24 volts.
The water heater is installed in the crawl space of the cabin (which I am in the process of insulating) and is set to run on heat pump only mode.
This was an experiment to see if it would work in heat pump only mode, as I couldn't find any evidence of other similar installations at the time. I have since found out that similar installations are not uncommon.
Anyway, my net price for the GeoSpring was a little more than $700 at Lowes. I got it on sale and received an additional 10% veteran's discount.
At this point, it works fine; but I am not living in the cabin full-time. My battery storage capacity is woefully inadequate and I am in the process of doubling it - so that I will have a usable capacity of approximately 5 kwh.
Currently, when days are sunny (and they aren't this time of year!), the system will run the HPWH in heat pump only mode and power my small refrigerator, an energy-sucking coffee pot (necessary for life), a submersible well pump (1/2 hp 220 v, 90' deep) and all my fans, lights etc.
I credit my friend, and the system designer and the Trace SW4024 inverter for being able to handle the load - when there is enough sun or when the batteries are fully charged.
As a bonus, the GeoSpring is really reducing the humidity level in the cabin crawl space.
This time of year (November), the Trace SW4024 inverter automatically shuts the system down due to low batteries. On sunny days though, when there is enough power from the batteries and/or the PV panels, the GeoSpring (so far, at least) automatically turns back on and goes back into heat pump only mode. As the tank is well-insulated, the water stays quite warm for days.
Future plans and experiments include more batteries and more PV panels as well the possibility of operating a mini-split heat pump A/C unit off of the inverter in the summer.
The cabin is very well insulated and is less that 700 sf in size.
Other than for the source of power (PV) it is completely wired to code (mostly!) just like a conventional home but with only 30 amp main breaker from the power house to the cabin main power panel.
I'd love to hear from others who have done similar things. It's really been a fun project - and I am pleased (knock on wood) so far. Murphy's Law always applies to my projects, by the way - always, always, always!
Thanks for letting me inform Home Power readers about this fun project!
It seems to me that solar thermal is hard to beat in terms of heat output and cost of operation. My sense is that HPWH are a great backup for solar thermal. My current system is a HPWH with a wood fired system.
We live near the ocean so the HP is wonderful for keeping household humidity under control.
I think there are some very exciting changes coming with variable speed units which will be quieter and more efficient.
Nyle Systems is developing a air source water heating space heater HP that delivers hot water at 100F over ambient for any ambient temperature.
Carrier built a 3 piece heat pump many years ago (95 - 99?) and it had a outdoor coil, indoor coil, and compressor unit with de-superheater to warm the hot water. In operation, it could cool with the indoor coil, or heat with it, or run just the outdoor unit and heat hot water.
My sister has a 1970's Airtemp heat pump water heater. It is designed to run from a existing tank, so you remove the water drain for the cold water supply to the HP, and remove the pressure relief valve to install a tee for hot water return to a standard 40 - 80 gallon electric water heater tank. Heat pumps are not new.
I am in the process of installing a desuperheater to my central heat pump in my house. It will use a solar hot water controller to run a pump when the hot water coil is warmer than the tank is.
Anyone with a wood stove heater can basically do the same thing. Mount a 50' long coil of un-insulated 3/4" tubing behind your stove, and then install a solar hot water pump and controller. Anytime the hot water tank is cooler than the coil of tubing, the pump comes on to warm the hot water heater. Of course insulate the water lines between the stove and water heater to prevent heat loss on the way.
I have two GE Geospring HPWH's and they are using 1kW or less per day as per my dedicated kWh meter that feeds one of them. In the winter I have to switch them to conventional heating element mode due to low indoor room temps. In the conventional mode they use 3kW per day each which is a little less than the 10 yr old water heaters they replaced. Luckily, I don't have to switch them to conventional very often here in San Antonio, TX. I am very pleased with the dehumidification function and room cooling as well. They do make some noise but they are in smallish utility closets so the noise is about the same as the air handlers for our central air conditioners. Our utility closets are smaller than the recommended room size so I just crack open the door when they run if I'm home. I'm pretty sure these units are reducing my central A/C usage. I looked at SHW but due to our house being set up for two separate heaters it would have been difficult and expensive (our house is long). We do have a 6.5kW GT solar array to power the two HPWH.
Update 4/24/14: Well, after 14 months of use one of my Geospring water heaters stopped heating water in heat pump mode. I had GE send a repair person but he only told me what I already knew: it wasn't working. The conventional electric heating elements were working fine so we still had hot water. After three visits, the heat pump has a new evaporator and seems to be working fine. The drain nipple on the cheap plastic condensate drain pan also broke and was replaced at the same time.
GE was not initially willing to cover anything but parts on this unit. I had to pay $98 for the first service visit which only confirmed what I already knew. I did convince them to cover the evaporator and drain pan replacement labor. So far, I had saved about $90 in electricity with this unit so I'm not saving anything really yet (saving money was not my reason for buying it though). GE was less than satisfying to work with considering that I had bought two of their water heaters and was barely out of the full warranty period.
Another very important thing I want to mention is that when you install any heat pump water heater you should think about how you are going to make it accessible for a repair person should repairs become necessary. Initially, my repair person told me there was no way on earth he was going to be able to fix the evaporator without the whole unit removed from the smallish utility closet. This would have cost me $400 to R&R the unit if I had a plumber come out and do it since it is so heavy and awkward and I'm not a big guy:) What I did as a workaround for access was to partially drain the tank and rotate the whole unit to where the evaporator was accessible. I also had to strip all of the sheet metal shroud from the top of the unit in order to take and then text pictures to the repair guy to convince him it was worth a shot in fixing it in situ. He went for it and commented he had OK access after the repairs were made. SO, to make a long story even longer, be thinking about access in case of repairs, read reviews before you buy and think twice about extended warranties. The Geospring water heater has a record of failed evaporators just out of warranty. You'd think they would have figured out how to spec a reliable 5000btu air conditioner to sit atop their hpwh but I guess not...
All in all, I don't regret anything for this project. Parts fail. I am still saving a bunch of electricity. I like the "free" air conditioning, too!
James, You might consider mounting a grill in the door to let in more air to the utility closet that the water heater is located in. Then also blow the discharge air out of that room. It will allow running the HPWH more efficiently and extend the time it can be run in the heat pump only mode.
Several supply houses sell room to room fans. They look like a bathroom fan, but have a 10" square grill on both sides of a 4" thick wall. You will need to run a power cord down the inside wall on the utility room side of the wall to power it. I would leave it on a timer, or else a thermostat to run it when it is below say 60F in the utility room. But would not need it running at all if the A/C system takes air from the same utility room to heat and cool the house.
Same here. I had one sensor of my energy monitor on the HWH for a while and during that time it averaged only 1.7 kWh per day (so about 10% of our non-heating usage). I have the HWH set to only 115 degrees and it is in a partially-conditioned (basement) space.
We also switched from gas to electric HW knowing that we were getting PV solar panels. I didn't want to have two different solar systems.
While I like the idea of preheating water using a solar thermal collector, lower PV module costs are making PV + HPWH a more attractive solution. Isn't the cost of installing solar thermal, when you include collectors, pumps, storage tanks comparable to installing a few more PV modules and a Heat Pump water heater? I would also expect PV modules to be more durable and reliable than a solar thermal installation. What do you think?
Hi Marc,
Michael is right, the question is coming up a lot recently, and the jury is still out. Besides the fact that results will depend on a lot of variables, including site and climate as well as water use habits, it's also good to remember that there may be other advantages of SHW over a grid-tied PV system of the same cost. E.G. it's pretty easy to create a SHW system that will continue to provide hot water even in the event of a grid outage (assuming that other parts of your water supply aren't grid dependent). But the cost and complexity of having a GT PV system provide power for hot water when the grid is down is much greater. It's not always about cost. SHW systems are simple and reliable, and that direct thermal energy path has a grace to it. Personally, I want both.
Hi Marc,
Michael is right, the question is coming up a lot recently, and the jury is still out. Besides the fact that results will depend on a lot of variables, including site and climate as well as water use habits, it's also good to remember that there may be other advantages of SHW over a grid-tied PV system of the same cost. E.G. it's pretty easy to create a SHW system that will continue to provide hot water even in the event of a grid outage (assuming that other parts of your water supply aren't grid dependent). But the cost and complexity of having a GT PV system provide power for hot water when the grid is down is much greater. It's not always about cost. SHW systems are simple and reliable, and that direct thermal energy path has a grace to it. Personally, I want both.
Hi Marc. We have been hearing the same rumor: that PV has become as cheap as solar thermal for heating water, though as of yet the jury is still out. I talked to a SHW friend who said he did quick calcs showing that PV will cost double what SHW system would cost for heating water. Toward that end, we hope to have an article in the works which will take a very close look at the comparison.
One concept that is interesting is that once your water is hot, a solar thermal system sits there doing nothing, but if it was grid-tied PV instead, it would keep contributing to the grid.
I will look forward to reading a comparison between solar PV heated water and solar thermal collectors. Using grid tied and a inverter is one way, and once the water is hot, then excess is used to lower the grid costs, so it will keep the PV working full time. By using HPWH and grid power, you get a lot of Btu's per KW.
Yet a evacuated tube system is also simple, can heat water on a freezing day, and will work well when tilted correctly, and can prevent overheating in the summer if almost upright. I would be installing a 80- 100 gallon solar hot water storage tank, then feed a 30-50 gallon HPWH in this case, to act as the back up heater. Or if I would be getting nearly 100% from the solar system, then a tiny 10 or 15 gallon 240 volt water heater to lessen any heat loss, and provide the increase from the 100F pre-heated solar water to what is needed in the home at the time.
I have been considering installing a SHW system at a rest home, that uses hundreds of gallons of hot water per hour during the day. It comes in at around 50F, and pre-heating it to just 85F will lessen the demand on the gas water heaters. However capitol outlay is kinda expensive when you have to pull permits, call in union plumbers, and can not save labor costs by doing it yourself. In that case, the PV system and 48,000 Btu heat pump dedicated to warming the 100 gallon pre-heat water tank might work very efficiently, to preheat the water to 85F before going to the gas tanks.
One of your long time advertisers is selling PV panels near $1 per rated watt. This will make a simple system, such as a 120 volt 4,000 watt heating element connected to a series of solar panels without a controller work well to pre-heat water in a tank. Then it is only shut off when the tank temp is over 155F or something. One could install any number of panels in series as long as they did not exceed either the 120 volt or 4,000 watt limits, and run the heater to pre-heat the water. If the PV system is large enough, you could run a standard 240 volt heater with PV power, say 7 panels in series at 30 volts output each at 7 to 10 amps. This will not exceed the electric heating element's ability, and will not go over it's maximum voltage rating. Once the heating element is at 145F, the system will shut off automatically. Using a simple solar controller that will accept 220 volts input and will be switched on when the hot water tank is warm can cause it to either feed a existing onsite grid tied inverter, or charge some batteries, or do something else useful with the power once the water is hot. One suggestion is charge 12 volt battery bank to power LED exterior lighting.
De-superheaters have been installed on air conditioners for a long time. I saw some that had been disconnected on the roof of a restaurant back in 2006, because the system started leaking due to age. Basically the air conditioner is running 12 hours a day while they are open (it was in Scottsdale AZ) and dumping 60,000 Btu's into the outside air (that can by 110F during the day in summer). By preheating the incoming 65F fresh water to 120F they saved money by running the compressors cooler, and also pre-heated the domestic water for free.
My sister's Airtemp heat pump water heater was built by Chrysler Corp before 1979, so they are not new either.
Very informative article - I like the chart comparing daily average energy usage of different heaters. I've read somewhere that the 80-gal Heat Pump water heater is more efficient than 50 or 60-gal version from the same manufacturer. Why is that? Could it be that the same Heat Pump is used on both sizes, but the larger water tank, somehow, makes the 80-gal more efficient than the smaller tank? Another question: If changing the anode rod is recommended for longer life, how much space above the tank is needed to replace the anode rod without having to move the tank?
Copyright © 1987-2019 Home Power Inc. All Rights Reserved
Terms of Use Privacy Policy Community Terms of Use


text:
Read it elsewhere
January 28, 2011 § Leave a comment
It's link time, again.
- Egypt initially blocks Twitter and Facebook and now cuts off all access to internet but Egyptians are still tweeting for freedom –guardian/bbc
- it has happened. During the holidays kindle books outsold paperback books on Amazon – dvice
- 15 free, non-pirate, Hitchcock movies online – openculture
- you already knew that the Martin Luther King "I have a dream" speech was brilliant, but now there is the infogram to prove it – fastcodesign
- apparently you can now earn a degree at The Beatles – ctv
- this, below, is a photograph (of soap bubbles), not an illustration; see more psychedelic images in science – discover

subset: commoncrawl


text:
After three weeks, Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry Executive Director Jean Heyduck is adapting quickly to the nonprofit organization.
LVL's goal is to increase adult literacy in the greater Beaufort County area. With the help of Sun City residents and other volunteers, LVL can help adult students through two programs, basic literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages.
After Heyduck's husband Chris Protz was hired executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry, the newly married couple moved to Bluffton in March 2012. Heyduck spent 10 months searching for a job, before the doors opened at LVL.
With previous experience as executive director of the Gateway Technical College Foundation and director of communications and marketing for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Heyduck wanted to continue wotking with nonprofits.
"I've worked with corporations before but I really wanted to work with another nonprofit where I believed in their mission," Heyduck said. "It's easy to work when you're doing something you enjoy and know that what you're doing is benefiting others. It's very fulfilling."
Heyduck is a marketing and communications professional with a master's in Speech Communication from Eastern Illinois University. She first discovered LVL through reading about the organization in a local newspaper. Since Nancy Williams was retiring in early February, the executive director position became available and Heyduck's 10-month job search was over.
"Jean has plunged into her new position with great energy and enthusiasm," said Dodi Eschenbach, LVL's associate director of development. "I feel confident that Jean has the leadership qualities and expertise to help the organization meet the challenges it will face over the next few years."
One challenge Heyduck faces right away is the lack of space to meet with the students. LVL student enrollment is up by 46 percent from 2011, and there are students on a waiting list. While Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church in Hilton Head provide classroom space along with other locations in Bluffton, LVL has more students and needs additional staff.
"I'll be working in the next few months to gain more donations to fund operational expenses," Heyduck said. "We weren't anticipating the growth so there was no money to pay for more staff… I'll work to make sure we are prepared in the future."
In order to fund staff, LVL relies on the few events they sponsor throughout the year. On Sunday, the seventh annual Cooks and Books event will offer the chance to sample food prepared by 18 area restaurants, mingle with 17 Lowcountry authors and buy autographed books, and watch a heated chefs' competition.
Heyduck looks forward to participating in the event for the first time.
"I've had my friends say this is an event they never miss," she said.
As she continues to adapt to the responsibilities of LVL, Heyduck is happy living in the Lowcountry, helping the organization improve adult literacy. She continues to make new friends and enjoys the warm weather instead of the snow of Wisconsin.
"Everyone is so welcoming. I think since a lot of people here are transplants, you're only a new person for three minutes before someone else is the newbie in town," Heyduck said. "I've really been accepted in the community and at LVL."
Education: Eastern Illinois University
Age: 53
Family: Husband, Chris; daughter, Amy, 23; son, Brian, 20; stepson, Matt, 35; stepdaughter, Kaitlyn, 20; and a Golden Retriever, Dixie, who is almost 12.
Last book read: The Favored Daughter: One Woman's Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future by Fawzia Koofi
What: Cooks and Books event
When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa.
Cost: $15 in advance, $20 at the door
Details: To purchase tickets, go to www.lowcountryliteracy.org/cooksbooks


text:
Saturday, October 1, 2011
I need to go home...
"So yeah, I really think that Utah is a rising state, we got all kinds of events"
(to driver) "I don't see any basements, don't you have any basements here in Maine?"
Driver: "We do, but they're usually under the houses"
Utah Lady: "Oh, that's why I haven't seen any!"
I need to go back home...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
8 comments:
- Chris said...
Believe me...the driver was surpressing a "WTF??" as much as you :)
- October 1, 2011 at 10:46 AM
- BiggerInJapan said...
my, what a moran!
- October 1, 2011 at 7:03 PM
Yeah, that driver was clueless. -"... usually under the houses"?!
When have you ever see a basement on top of a house? :-P
- October 2, 2011 at 9:23 PM
Not that some Australians aren't dopey, but, damn, I am very glad that my ancestors chose to come here instead of the US.
- October 3, 2011 at 11:06 AM
Welcome to Maine! It's leafpeeper season, and the visiting southerners and the locals can barely communicate, especially when both sides have thick accents native to their states. Utah woman sounds leafpeepery to me.
- October 3, 2011 at 2:17 PM
- Mr. Salaryman said...
Chris - Yep and this just reinforces what I always thought - NEVER EVER go to Utah!
BiJ - Indeed a moran!
Martin - It does make me wonder how they build their basements in Utah...
Aimless - Well, since Australia was founded by rapists and thieves, it does imply some cunningness and intelligence (although they did get caught) ;)
Sarah - I found it to be quite pleasant indeed in Maine, and I guess I should be grateful as long as I don't have to go to Utah!
- October 4, 2011 at 4:58 AM
True, if they got caught they probably weren't master criminals.
Ironically, most people are now proud of any convict ancestry they may have. I'm not sure what that says about us... but at least I probably don't have any convict ancestors (or at least, none that the family admits to).
- October 4, 2011 at 3:47 PM
- Rydangel said...
in the southern part of the States basements aren't true basements but walk- out basements. they aren't completely underground but one side opens to the outside. I'm from the midewest where tornadoes happen regularly and even apartments have underground basements. but when i moved to the south,basements were optional and often of the walkout variety. so you can see them from outside. I've been in the south for 15 years and still can't get used to it. also they don't build sidewalks here in the south(Georgia) either. weird.
- January 11, 2012 at 4:44 AM


text:
STRATHAM — The gloomy weather couldn't dampen the spirits or enthusiasm of Atlantic gymnasts as they captured first place in the 17th Annual Winter Carnival Invitational. The two-day event, hosted by Gymnastics at Brentwood Commons, included approximately 1,100 gymnasts from 33 gyms in the region and included competitive Levels 4 through 10. More than 60 Level 4 gymnasts participated in the event held at the Stratham Cooperative Middle School.
In the Penguin Division, Grace Hanson of Kittery achieved first place on beam, a seventh place finish on vault, seventh place on bars and fifth on the floor exercises earning her an all-around third place finish in her age division. Teammate Madeline Brandt of Portsmouth placed first on vault, ninth on bars, fifth on the balance beam and third on floor exercises earning her an overall fourth place all-around finish.
The Snowflake Division's Amy Benson secured first place in the all-around by achieving a first place finish on both balance beam and floor exercises, a third place finish on the uneven bars and an eighth place on vault. Sinead Dolan attained a seventh place overall finish with a solid performance on both the balance beam and the uneven bars placing seventh and eighth, respectively. Gabriella Verno succeeded with a fifth place all-around finish taking first place on bars and sixth on beam and eighth place on floor. Ellie Zielfelder took third all-around in her age division with a third place finish on both beam and floor exercises, ninth place on bars and fifth on vault.
The Polar Bear age division was lead by Mia Cheney who not only achieved first place in the all-around but, had the highest all-around score for all Level 4 gymnasts in the competition. Miss Cheney placed first on beam, floor and bars, and third on vault. Anya Bakin achieved ninth place overall taking fifth place on beam, seventh place on floor, eighth place on bars and seventh on vault. Teammate Zoe Rahn impressed taking second place on vault and sixth on bars resulting in an eighth place all-around finish. Lana Stutts was recognized for her achievement in a solid performance on the balance beam resulting in a ninth place finish.
In the Icicle Division Atlantic gymnasts achieved third, fifth and eighth place finishes. Atlantic's Francesca Toracinta captured third in the all-around capturing fifth place on beam, bars and vault and added a stunning third place floor exercise. Teammate Madison Zadravec achieved fifth place all-around taking second on bars, fourth on vault and ninth place on beam. Grace Howard impressed with an eighth place finish in the all-around which included a first place division finish on vault and third on beam.
Atlantic Gymnastics coaches Jennifer Pelland and Matt Yellis will continue to work with the young gymnasts as they prepare for the Northeast Invitational hosted by DGS to be held at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. on Jan. 20.


text:
EDIT: My purpose in this post is to help you build well. I still consider myself a noob, but far from it. To build for Blender (also make a mean Gimp machine too), I've had both Quadro and Geforces GPUs before, and Pentium D, Core 2 Quad and as of now, i7 CPUs, standard sata and Raptor hdds. All on Blender, so I've seen how Blender has behaved throughout several hardware platforms. I try not to be a fanboy or bias to any brand, but I dont have patience for bogus hardware, I like what works and works well, without spending a boatload of cash. "This post is a work in progress"
Build it yourself and keep it lean and mean(that's upkeep).
This is a rewrite of a post that I wrote last year, explaining the follow up threads. I'm compiling into one group, and trying to help the new dude or gal build their own system and or upgrade a system. The way this economy is, we need to do more things ourselves, and get the best bang for our buck
With me its three key things when building: "Heat, BIOS settings(mainly memory) and GPU drivers, or the GPU itself"
TIM(thermal compound) and applying it. I myself add a grain of rice worth of TIM to the CPU and let the heatsink spread the TIM, on a flat HSF(heatsink) base. If ya have a DHP(direct heat pipe) heatsink, see link. After the system is built, do a temp check and then if temps are good, run Prime95 for a few days to stress test. Find out what your idle and load temps are and keep them under thermal spec, each CPU's thermal spec is different.
Watch your CPU temps:
Other temps:
Stress test:
Know your BIOS:
EDIT: Ill get to this one later:
Know your cpu:
And your memory settings in your BOIS:
Set your memory settings manually to your memory manufacturer's recommended setting,
Edit: Ill get to this later.
Make a memtest86 ISO CD (Memtest86 is also included with most flavors of Linux):
GPU and GPU stability
EDIT: Ill get to this later
Trobleshoot your GPU drivers and proper installing(and uninstalls) of that driver.
This is nowhere near done guys, please be patient.
(Some editing for spelling and grammar by SPARTAN-001, at Shane's request.)
If ya would provide a screen capture of what your working on, that always helps.........


text:
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (AP) Tiptoeing at high speed around a rain-slicked track under the pressure of a two-lap overtime, Brendan Gaughan handed away the lead to Chase Elliott. Then he snatched it right back a few corners later.
He'd still have two more drivers to hold off on the final lap - including a last-ditch charge from Alex Tagliani, the man who appeared to have the race all but won with a little more than a lap left in regulation.
Gaughan already had gone sliding off the track a couple of times earlier. Oh, and his team forgot to bring a windshield wiper to install on his car. Through all that, Gaughan held on to win a rainy and wild NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America on Saturday.
''I love racing in the rain,'' Gaughan said. ''It's fun. And when you're good at it, it makes it even more fun. I haven't smelled blood in a long time. That's been something I've been lacking lately is that killer attitude. When it started to rain, even without the wiper blade, I started to smell blood and said, `I'm coming.'''
Gaughan won for the first time in the series, breaking through in his 98th career start.
Tagliani was second, followed by Kevin O'Connell, Elliott and J.J. Yeley as NASCAR drivers got a rare opportunity to race in the rain. It was the third time in Nationwide history that grooved rain tires have been used in a race; the previous two were in Montreal. NASCAR only uses rain tires on winding road courses, not on oval tracks.
The rain added a tense new dimension to racing at Road America, a four-mile road course where the Nationwide Series already had shown an ability to put on a good show.
''As we showed today, you can put on a hell of a race in the rain,'' Gaughan said.
After watching his chance to win the race in regulation fizzle out, Tagliani - who was leading when a late caution came out, ran out of gas and refueled his car - nearly charged all the way back to the lead when his crew put him back on slick tires to attack the drying track.
''It was pretty intense,'' Tagliani said. ''The wet was tricky, but obviously we were good. So I don't know. Maybe I threw a bad spell on myself because I was saying, `It's impossible that I'm going to win this race. Something's going to happen.' On the white flag, something happened.''
Added Gaughan: ''(Give) Tagliani one more lap, the track was dry enough that he would have probably got to us. It worked out in our favor.''
It was an impressive finish for Elliott, an 18-year-old rookie and the son of NASCAR icon Bill Elliott. But he wasn't exactly patting himself on the back after the race. He missed most of Friday's practice after missing a shift and causing his crew to change engines, briefly slid off the track earlier in Saturday's race, then felt like the threw away a shot at a win.
''Failure No. 3 on the weekend for me,'' Elliott said in a radio interview. ''Missed shift yesterday, ran off the track, and then couldn't get the job done. I'm going to have to step up.''
The race started a little more than an hour late, as NASCAR officials waited for a slightly damp track to dry out; the grooved rain tires are designed to work best in full wet conditions.
Slightly heavier rain then began to fall just before the race's halfway mark, causing the race to go under caution for a few laps before instructing teams to put on rain tires - resulting in a rare test of NASCAR drivers' skills in the rain.
''It was ridiculous,'' Elliott said. ''It really was. It was a handful.''


text:
Welcome Back
In today's post I will be reviewing; Joanna Sheen's; House Mouse Stamps
Product Details
- Manufacturer/Brand; Joanna Sheen
- Item number: JSHM051
- RRP at time of writing: £9.99
Reason For Buying
I've adored House Mouse stamp range for ages. Then when this Get Well Soon set came out I couldn't resist it. My best friend was due an operation and poor DH had a lot of dental work and these stamps looked ideal to cheer them up.
- Super high quality
- Very detailed stamps
- Lots of stamps on each sheet
- A range of sizes of images, little uns for the inside of the card/ back of envelope as well as large main image ones
- Adorable designs drawn by Ellen
- Unmounted stamps are nice and easy to store
- Haven't got any
Build Quality
Excellent. These are deeply etched and very detailed images. They stamp out perfectly.
Value for Money
Excellent. There are several images per stamp sheet. Had these been wood mounted you would have paid more for a single large image than you do for the whole sheet. Many of the images mix and mingle across the House Mouse range, giving you many options for all kind of creative projects.
Would I buy it Again?
Totally. There are LOADS of House Mouse stamps on my wish list, especially those with birds and budgies in the sets too.
Summing up
Joanna's stamps are superb quality and I'll definitely be buying more House Mouse stamps in the future. They are always getting into such mischief and you have just as much fun making projects with them as the people get when they open their cards.
- Joanna Sheen website/forum and online store
- Joanna Sheen Challenge blog
- Joanna Sheens Country Days Blog
Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon
Billie 🙂


text:
Today (Wednesday, January 23) is the last day for runners to claim their guaranteed entry to the Popular® Brooklyn Half. General Registration will open on January 30.
Pick up your bib and other race items, check out course maps, and more!
Stand out in the crowd with exclusive New Balance and NYRR apparel, available only at the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the New Balance Run Hub.
Swing by the NYRR Running Lab and meet our coaches, learn course strategy, and get invaluable tips.
Take a look through NYRR history with memorabilia bringing you from our founding in 1958 to present day.
New York Road Runners' mission to help and inspire people through running has been brought to life in a new community running center. The NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the NB Run Hub serves as the new location for race number pickup, conveniently located at 320 West 57th Street in Manhattan, southwest of Columbus Circle.
In addition to serving as the spot for number pickup, the NYRR RUNCENTER is home to the 1 for You 1 for Youth program. For each pair of shoes purchased at the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the NB Run Hub, New Balance will donate a pair of shoes to NYRR's youth programs. New York Road Runners will give the shoes to a participant in the programs*.
The NYRR RUNCENTER showcases the latest in running education, training, and innovation. It serves as a meeting place for all members of the running community—youth, adult runners of all ages and abilities, and club teams—to come together to improve their health, fitness, and overall well-being.
The NYRR RUNCENTER also hosts a variety of running-related events and programs, with a schedule of programs listed on the right side of this page. The NYRR RUNCENTER is also the headquarters for NYRR's runner services, which includes distribution of bibs and souvenirs for NYRR's weekly races, course strategy, and NYRR Group Training.
Located just off of Columbus Circle and easily accessible via multiple subway and bus lines, the NYRR RUNCENTER is just a short jog from the running meccas of Central Park and the Hudson River Greenway. The RUNCENTER's location is aimed to inspire the surrounding community—as well as those coming to run in NYC—to get moving in the city's parks and streets. Lockers are available for those looking to store their belongings while out on a run.
The NB Run Hub in NYC is the pinnacle expression of New Balance Performance Running, offering the most innovative gear and exclusive programming, like Test Run. Through the Test Run initiative, runners have an opportunity to try out the latest NB running gear and technology, often before it launches anywhere else in the world.
Location and Hours
|NB Run Hub
|Number Pickup and Community Space
|New Balance Retail Store
|7:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
|10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
|8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
|10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
|10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
|11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
If you'd like to propose an NYRR RUNCENTER program, or to contact our Programming Team, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.
*In 2019, for every pair of shoes sold to a customer at the NYRR RUNCENTER, New Balance and NYRR shall donate a pair of shoes to a New York Road Runners supported youth program, up to a maximum cost of $300,000. For more information about New York Road Runners visit www.nyrr.org.


text:
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Crystal Ball Gazing: SoybeansTweet
Did you increase your bean acres after the March 30 USDA planting intentions report? A significant swing in market prices has benefitted soybean production. Fundamentals include the South American shift to corn and fewer bean acres, China's aggressive buying of soybeans, and fewer US bean acres for 2012. Ag economists report there was a $48 advantage for corn on March 1 which has evolved into a $78 advantage for beans on May 10. Most farmers were planting corn for the revenue opportunities, but what is the market opportunity for soybeans?
The La Nina impact on South America reduced the global supply of soybeans by reducing yields in a year that many Brazilian and Argentine farmers shift away from soybeans to more corn acres. However the recent USDA World Supply-Demand report indicated a larger US soybean crop would make up part of the shortfall. Following that report, the USDA's Oilseeds Outlook report indicated that despite a 3.2 billion bushel crop, the carryover would be historically tight and still nearly half of the crop would be exported. Looking toward the South American production season beginning in six months, USDA expects production to increase 15% to 271.4 mmt. USDA says there are brighter prospects for South American expansion.
Domestically, soybean production is expected to produce a 43.9 bushel average yield on 73 million acres, lower than many years because of the larger 2012 crop acreage for corn. In 2011 the crop was trimmed to 41.5 bushels from the hot dry weather of La Nina. Even with the lesser acreage, the higher yield would make the 3.205 billion bushel crop the third largest. Good planting weather in the US has allowed soybeans to be planted much earlier than usual, and so far twice as many soybeans have been planted compared to the normal amount.
With an early maturing crop, which had the potential for satisfying immediate needs, there may be an early boom in export sales. However, with higher prices, diminishing domestic stocks, and an expected large South American crop, the pace of US exports could decline early in 2013. USDA says a competitive export market will draw soybeans away from crushers, which are expected to use 1.655 billion bushels, 150 million more than the export demand. At the end of the marketing year in August of 2013, USDA is forecasting only 145 million bushels, a 4.4% stocks to use ratio, well under the 5% traditional floor. That is one of the reasons for the expected season average price range of $12 to $14. Markets will be sensitive to any weather threat against the good production scenario, as well as any other supply or demand disruption which may occur.
Currently, new crop soybeans are above the $13 mark for November and January delivery, but quickly erode to the $12.80 to $12.60 range for the period when South American soybeans should be available.
The South American soybean crop is expected to lead a strong worldwide recovery in soybean production beginning in 2013. USDA projects a 15% crop output increase, but there will be low South American soybean inventories in the meantime, with some rumors that Brazil may have to tap US soybeans to fulfill its domestic needs. During the period of shortfall, USDA says the US share of the global soybean market would grow from the present 40% to 42%.
USDA says a good US crop is needed in 2012 and good crops are needed in Brazil and Argentina next spring to satisfy the global demand for soybeans in the 2012-2013 marketing year. During that period a 7% increase in global imports is expected, with much of that coming from China. Record high prices for soybeans in Brazil have spurred increased production for the coming year, with a switch back to beans from corn.
USDA economists report, "A favorably strong price ratio could expand soybean area in Brazil by 6 percent to 26.5 million hectares. On that higher area, the soybean yield trend for Brazil suggests a potential crop of 78 million tons, up from this year's drought-reduced harvest of 65 million." Comparatively, for Argentina, USDA economists report, "Argentine harvested area for soybeans is anticipated 11 percent higher to 19.7 million hectares. Late last year, extreme heat and drought devastated soybean yields throughout Argentina, slashing the 2011/12 crop to a 3-year low of 42.5 million tons. Assuming that Argentine soybean area and yields rebound, production for 2012/13 could increase to 55 million tons from 42.5 million this year."
The increased global demand for soybeans is a function of the increased feed demand in China, which USDA says may continue to grow unchecked, while other importers, such as Europe, may ration their supplies due to prices.
Soybeans have a significant story to tell with a growing demand, but with supplies that are struggling to keep up with the demand. A return of better production weather will be needed to produce a good soybean crop in the US this summer and in South America six months later. While the US crop is limited by the need to share acreage with corn, substantial increases in acres for soybeans are anticipated in South America due to higher prices. The primary demand for soybeans will be coming from international feed demand, primarily China.
Posted by Stu Ellis on 05/13 at 11:43 PM | Permalink


text:
Watch Movie God's Not Dead HDWatch Movie God's Not Dead Full Movie HD with duration 113 Min and released on 2014-03-21 with MPAA rating is 44.
- Original Title : God's Not Dead
- Movie title in your country : God's Not Dead
- Year of movie : 2014
- Genres of movie : Drama,
- Status of movie : Released
- Release date of movie : 2014-03-21
- Companies of movie : Pure Flix Entertainment,
- Countries of movie : United States of America,
- Language of movie : English,
- Durationof movie : 113 Min
- Average vote of movie : 6.4
- Youtube ID of movie : bMjo5f9eiX8
- Translation of movie : EN,RU,EL,ES,HU,PT,DE,KO,
- Actors of movie :
- Kevin Sorbo ( Professor Radisson )
- Shane Harper ( Josh Wheaton )
- David A.R. White ( Reverend Dave )
- Dean Cain ( Mark )
- Willie Robertson ( Willie Robertson )
- Korie Robertson ( Korie Robertson )
- Hadeel Sittu ( Ayisha )
- Paul Kwo ( Martin Yip )
- Trisha LaFache ( Amy Ryan )
- Cory Oliver ( Mina )
- Benjamin Ochieng ( Reverend Jude )
- Marco Khan ( Misrab )
- Cassidy Gifford ( Kara )
- Jesse Wang ( Martin's Father )
- Lenore Banks ( Mina's Mother )
- Russell Wolfe ( Dr. Stevens )
- Alex Aristidis ( Fahid )
- Lisa Arnold ( June Wheaton )
God's Not Dead Synopsis:
Play Streaming God's Not Dead Radisson finds the topic of religion painful because his Christian mother died when he was 12, though he had prayed and begged God to spare her life. This may be what led him to study philosophy so in depth that he ultimately became a philosophy professor, but his desire to now avoid the topic of religion does not mesh well with his career as a philosophy professor. His anger at God has him requesting his students quote Friedrich Nietzsche and, in exchange, he promises to allow them to skip the chapter on religion. This is not the only clue the movie makers give that they have read atheist material extensively. Radisson tells Josh that if he won't reach a consensus with the class, he must prove God is not dead. Radisson had already explained this was a metaphor and, taken in the context of Nietzsche's point, Josh does an excellent job of proving this. Download God's Not Dead Full Movie
You can watch God's Not Dead Online Streaming in HD Now. Watch and free download God's Not Dead online movie with single fill out the form by clicking on the image of the sign up button. Enjoy all the albums new movie with all Faves Movie Streaming In ! Just play it God's Not Dead full and free online movie. This is truly spectacular and could one of those rare amazing. The quality was great all around. Management, images and visual effects were all very innovative and brilliant. The pleasure of the script, often humorous and has a lot of heart for all his characters are all very well developed.
Director : Harold Cronk, Story : Hunter Dennis, Story : Chuck Konzelman, Co-Producer : Jarred Coates, Executive Producer : Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis, Producer : David A.R. White, Producer : Russell Wolfe, Producer : Anna Zielinski, Music : Will Musser,
Yes, now you can Watch Movie God's Not Dead Full Movie Streaming and get the link to God's Not Dead In HD


text:
Here we are in our first Iowa winter, with plenty of time to consider whether or not to plant our "field" of an acre and a quarter in tomatoes. The nearby Heinz cannery promises profits of up to $1,000 . . . if the crop is good. In spite of an advanced education in horticulture, however, I have a black thumb, and all my garden successes are tempered with failures. True, back in Ohio it was only once in many years that the tomatoes flopped, but even once is enough to make us cautious.
"Wait and see what the new soil and climate are like," suggests my family. "Find out what problems we have in the garden before you commit us to a summer's work in the fields . . . maybe all in vain." Reasonable enough. I certainly didn't expect to have as many problems raising tomatoes as I did.
February 13: The Caro Red seed arrived. This is our favorite tomato: not quite red but darker than orange . . . meaty, delicious and low in acid. Since many varieties can be purchased as plants from the local greenhouse, we'll concentrate our meager resources on Caro Red . . . which can't be bought around here.
Back when we had a greenhouse, this was Tomato Planting Day. The seedlings—grown cool, with no setbacks—would be sturdy plants with tiny fruit by May 15. But here in Iowa it's 20 degrees below zero, with snowdrifts over our heads, and all the growing space we have is a sunny but frost-covered window. Now is the time to wait.
February 25: A neighbor called to ask if it was time to plant tomatoes yet. "We ought to wait," I told her. (Then I thought, "Maybe I shouldn't have said that if she was in the mood. Seed planting and watching is cheap therapy and—winter-weary as we are—we need it now.") "Plant petunias instead," I suggested.
March 27: Planted tomato seeds today: put them in a clay pot of soil with an inch of vermiculite (sterile medium to guard against disease) on top and covered the whole thing with a plastic bag to keep in moisture. Maybe I waited too long . . . even March goes fast.
April 1: No fooling, the seeds are sprouting! I took off the plastic bag and moved the pot from the warm table to the brightest spot on the windowsill. The later the planting, the quicker the tomatoes come up.
April 15: It rains every day. The seedlings look leggy.
April 21: The tomato plants are all stem and pale green. The roots haven't penetrated the soil enough yet. I fed them with liquid plant food.
April 24: The plant food helped. I should transplant the seedlings to grow at least two inches apart, but where could I put them? There's no sunny spot in Iowa. It's a mistake to let them get stunted like this. If worst comes to worst I'll have to buy whatever plants I can get.
May 5: Voila! Sunshine! I set the tomato plants out in the cold frame for the day. Easy now. . . that's quite an adjustment. I'll bring them in at night.
May 15: This is supposed to be Setting Out Day. It's still not warm, though, and the wind is wicked. I think my plants have given up . . . they're short and stunty and just not growing at all.
The soil in the pots dries out in a few hours. To alleviate this I've planted the seedlings right in the cold frame and surrounded them with a plastic "fence" to protect them from the winds. I think it's too late, though. I'll hope a few more days, but the tomatoes look bad.
May 20: Another call for information from my neighbor. "Put the plants outside in a very sheltered spot for just a little while every day until they've hardened off," I told her. "It's really too warm and dark in the house . . . that's why your seedlings got so tall and spindly. And right now it's too cool and windy outside, We need a happy medium, a real covered cold frame to bridge the gap until the tissues toughen." I'm so good with advice and theory . . . and meanwhile my own plants just sit there and look at me, refusing to die or to grow.
We're going on vacation in a week. I'll give them until we get back, but I already know there won't be any early tomatoes.
May 21: I bought a dozen tomato plants and set them out to shiver in the wind. I've put some in black plastic mulch (very hard to work with, but supposed to be effective. I'll see.)
May 25: Something is eating my bought tomatoes, especially the ones in the plastic. Even though I never had cutworms in Ohio, I should have taken precautions. Better late than never? Anyhow, I put orange juice cans around the bases of the plants, half in and half out of the ground.
May 28: It wasn't cutworms. It was rabbits. They eat tomatoes out of a can, too. I give up. I'm going home to my mother.
June 6: My home-grown tomato plants are home but not growing. I planted the four biggest in the garden and bought a dozen and a half more (the only ones left at the greenhouse were very tall but fairly sturdy).
I have a friend who puts in tomatoes with a posthole digger and has very good luck. Me, I'm too lazy to dig holes two feet deep. Instead, I set the plants horizontally in trenches about six inches deep . . . with the roots spread out, most of the stem covered and only the top foot of foliage bent up above ground. Roots will form all along the stem now. I mulched the area well with old hay, because that whole row is no place to be hoeing from now on.
Of the dozen bought plants I set out earlier, six survive. The three in the plastic are starting to grow . . . the others are just sitting there. My mother suggested blood meal for the rabbits. Since they're vegetarians, the smell is supposed to keep them away ... and the stuff is also an excellent source of organic nitrogen. I took her advice and dug some into the surface soil around the tomatoes.
June 12: At last the plants are taking off (the ones in the black plastic are definitely doing better). Either the blood meal works or the rabbits are full . . . at any rate, there's no more damage. The rest of the garden looks great.
In Ohio we used to get our tomato stakes at the dump, but the local facility is an "off-limits" landfill. They raise tomatoes in fields around here without any supports. It should work . . . I think I'll just let the vines lie on the mulch. Nevertheless, I'm pruning off the suckers from the roots and pinching the side shoots back after the first set of leaves.
July 4: The plants are going wild! I can't prune fast enough. The ones in the plastic are growing more quickly, becoming regular shrubs. They're blooming, but have no little tomatoes yet. I wonder if they got too much nitrogen? Time to pick peas and beans . . . the tomatoes are on their own.
July 20: Only a few little tomatoes on the shrubs in the plastic. Never saw such plants . . . all foliage and no produce. There's definitely an overbalance of nitrogen in this soil and the blood meal made it worse. It's too late to correct the problem this year, but we'll apply rock phosphate and granite dust in the fall and be more careful in the future. Canning beans and beets like fury. Too busy to worry about tomatoes.
August 1: Now we are starting to worry about the tomatoes. Lots of blooms, even a batch of small green fruit, but nothing to eat.
August 8: Fair time! We had our first try at showing vegetables, and did very well. Hardly anyone has tomatoes: Too many cool nights, they say. A few of ours have ripened, but something else got there first. I'm bringing everything pink or better to the kitchen windowsill. I don't mind sharing, but the bugs can't have it all. Besides, water sits on top of that plastic and causes rot in spots.
August 20: Sometimes in Ohio we didn't start canning until now. Here we're just starting to have enough to eat. Sliced tomatoes in every sandwich and more for supper . . . they do taste good! This is the only way to live.
We have one plant of little yellow pear-shaped tomatoes at the back door, and it's really loaded. The fruit is sweeter than green grapes . . . we eat some every time we walk by. I made a batch of preserves with them. Delicious, but what a lot of peeling!
September 8: Plenty to eat but not enough to can. Winter is coming and I'm running scared. I bought a bushel of tomatoes, added whatever we had extra and got 20 quarts of juice.
My purchases were a canning variety with a thick, tasteless, colorless skin . . . probably bred to resist handling, and no doubt treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. I was afraid to ask. Desperate as I am, though, the difference between these and our home-grown product was remarkable. I haven't bought tomatoes in years and certainly don't recommend it.
September 16: This is ridiculous! Frost could come any time and I have nothing to lose. I made my way up the row and pulled the vines firmly away from the piles of fine tomatoes — most of them still green—that really are hiding underneath. Now they can get some sun. I broke off yards of greenery, everything above the last set fruits. Any blossoms that are coming along now won't have time to ripen and will only sap the strength of the plant away from the ripening produce . . . so I was ruthless.
September 27: Wow! Like bad children, those tomato plants only needed discipline. Every other day I pick tomatoes by the five-gallon bucketful, spread the not-quite-ripes on the hay pile and make kettles of juice. We like a drink something like V8, so I put in all the celery leaves and stems, onions and carrots I feel like cleaning — plus a bit of kale, basil, comfrey and chard — and then fill the pot with tomatoes, red and yellow. I strain out the juice with a food mill, add seasoning and a touch of sugar, boil the brew and seal it in my weird assortment of jars that aren't strong enough for the longer cooking of other vegetables. This makes a thick, delicious juice which I use in any recipe that calls for tomatoes, sauce, paste or whatever. If you add a little soda to counteract the acidity, it even makes a good cream soup. I know of one family that cans the pulp left in the food mill for vegetable soup, but we give ours to the pigs. They grow fast in canning season.
September 30: Sixty quarts of juice now . . . that should do us. I've started canning the thinner top liquid to drink, adding chili pepper and oregano to the thick part and cooking it down for pizza sauce (12 pints so far). I even gave away a bushel of tomatoes!
October 3: Light frost has slowed the plants down, but not stopped them.
October 10: Light frosts every night now. I picked a box of nice green tomatoes and spread them out in the cellar where they'll keep ripening until almost Thanksgiving. Either we've had our fill by now, however, or they don't taste quite so good. I used as much unripe fruit as I could in mincemeat and made green tomato pickles and relish. The jars and shelves are almost full.
October 25: Now that the snow is melted, I pulled out the vine by the back door and dragged it to the compost pile. From one root it strung out five feet in both directions.
I'm glad I didn't plant the field in tomatoes. It was best to size up the climate and soil first: I've come to terms with the former and praise the Lord for the latter. I'll practice in the garden for one more season, I think, before I try a cash crop. But it wasn't such a bad year for tomatoes, after all.


text:
My daily walk to work takes me past a rarity here in Georgia's most densely populated city—an open lot in a residential neighborhood. There's a house there, but it sits almost invisible way back off the street, and the expanse before it could reasonably accommodate another house entirely. It won't surprise me at all when the lot is split and construction starts.
But for now, the lot is the province of the wild and green, though someone at some point had a vegetable garden there. I know this because every spring about this time, a few stalks of asparagus shoot up. It's nestled amidst a thick, ancient border of monkey grass crammed up against the sidewalk, but there it is, a persistent perennial that has thrived despite what I am guessing is decades of neglect. I like to think of it not as Euell Gibbons's "wild asparagus," but more of a feral asparagus—once domesticated, now a resourceful, clever survivor.
Some of the gardening smarty-pants say asparagus can't really be grown in Georgia. It's too hot here, too humid. The plants will be too slender, the harvest season too short. But my friend the feral asparagus and I, we know better. For years I have waited to see that perfectly formed stalk shoot up. And for years I have been tempted to harvest it when I know it has reached its tender, crisp perfection and stand there on the sidewalk and eat it raw. But I'm more curious than hungry. I want to see what it will do—how tall it will grow, how much it will fern out, whether the red berries will form then later turn yellow, whether anyone else will notice that that's an asparagus, for crying out loud.
The feral asparagus inspired me, so I decided last year to try to grow some for myself. It made sense to me that one should plant the crowns in the fall, to give them a cool-season chance to muster up their energy in the earth before the first big show in April. So last September, I did my level best to find some. I googled, emailed, called around, but there were no crowns to be had in the autumn. I even received a stern email lecture from one source about how no asparagus crown grower in his or her right mind would ever sell in the fall. So I waited, chastened, until February, when the seed catalogs arrived, and I ordered myself a batch of twenty-five Jersey Knights.
They arrived in March, looking like a tangle of squid that had been beached for a few days. I got seventeen of them into the ground (the rest I gave away to neighbors) in a couple of choice locations with just enough sun and loamy, well-drained soil. I dosed them with heaps of good compost and long, regular drinks of water.
The first skinny leg poked through about ten days later. It is so hard to resist harvest, but asparagus needs time. A few years of it, in fact. So once again, I find myself waiting and watching the asparagus grow.
In the meantime, I'll continue to pay my daily respects to my feral friend, with gratitude for the lesson in what can be done.


text:
Display panel delivers two separate parameters
Red Lion Controls, Inc. announces the PAX2A Dual Line Display Meter, which can display input, total, minimum, maximum, or setpoints on a 0.7-in. high, six-digit main LCD display.
The main display offers three programmable colors — red, orange, and green — and color change can be tied to the setpoints to give operators a visual display of changing conditions in the application. Updates can be made up to 160 times per second. The panel meter also features a second display line: a 0.35-inch high, nine-digit green LCD display that can also be programmed for any of the above parameters, plus a three-digit programmable custom unit indicator is also available.
The dual line display meter provides universal functionality, and accepts as input dc current, dc voltage, process signal, thermocouple, and RTD temperature sensor inputs. PAX2A also supports universal power input, from 50 to 250 Vac or 21.6 to 250 Vdc. Built-in Modbus communications in addition to field installable option cards (RS232, RS485, DeviceNet, and Profibus) allow communications across a multitude of protocols. It also has a built-in USB port for simple connectivity.
Red Lion
– Also from Control Engineering:
Red Lion communication gateway for online monitoring
3-color displays viewable 600 feet away
– Edited by Renee R. Bassett for Control Engineering, www.controleng.com


text:
Committed to Protecting Privacy
United Advocates for Children and Families is committed to
protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you
the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of
Privacy applies to the United Advocates for Children and Families
Web site and governs data collection and usage. By using the
United Advocates for Children and Families website, you consent
to the data practices described in this statement.
Become a member today and join our statewide network of parents,
families, caregivers, and professionals dedicated to improving
the lives of children and youth!
Membership Application
Visit our Resources section for more information on how to
understand your child's IEP, how to contact local legislators, or
for help with locating a treatment facility in your neighborhood.
AB 3632 is now AB 144. What does this mean for your child's
Sign up to receive the latest information, training, and UACF
If you or a loved one is in immediate crisis, please call 911
or visit the nearest emergency room.
The UACF Hope Line is a message system for parents and caregivers
that provides resources and connections to individuals in your
community that may be able to assist you in finding appropriate
support services for your child's mental health needs. Feel free
to leave a message on the UACF Hope Line and your call will be
returned as promptly as possible.
Hope Line: 1-877-ASK-UACF (275-8223)


text:
Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog
Take that, Gower!
Buye The T-Shirtes of the Blog
Ich do Tweet
vendredi, août 23, 2013
8 Comments:
- said...
NOthing clever to say: just yeay, love this.
- Emrys Eustace, hygt Broom said...
Bravo, signoro Chaucer!
- said...
Bweeee! Thyn versicle vppon Philippa's chyding made muchel laughyng burst fram myn lippes and gave grete startlement vnto min cattes.
Truely, all thyn poesie sendeth me ynto a swoon of love-longyng as hath not been sene synce the daies of Troylus & Cressyde.
Maistre Galfridus, thou rulest (in ever-ilke fashion that been yn no waye treasounant vnto thyn Most Puissant Kynge, verily)!
Ich remayne, yn all adoracioun, thyn grete admirour,
- said...
Took me back to two great semesters with Professor H.O.White at Boston University as he led his graduate students into GC's works. What a trip that was.
Enjoyed the little woolen hat and it's excursion.
- arby said...
Glad I still have a functioning RSS feed reader, I might not have seen this for weeks or months. Always a pleasure to see "*Geoffrey Chaucer Hath* A... (1)" show up. Yay!
- Dr. Virago said...
A wonder and a marvel! Delightful!
- Stephanie Gehring said...
This is absolutelee wonderfulle. It maketh mee enormouslie happe. Mercee for deciding to wryte these blogges (and thees poeme in particulier) and for doing it swych excellentlee!
- Soozcat said...
For thine excellent poesy this day I dub thee Emperor of Ice-Cream.


text:
Feb. 14, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - The MIT men's volleyball team defeated Lesley University, 30-9, 30-7, 30-11, in the inaugural meeting between both squads on Tuesday night. The Engineers (11-3) established a new Institute mark for aces in a match with 24.
Kenneth Rosche paced Tech with 11 kills while Scott Pollom was perfect in his attack with eight kills on eight swings. Alex Borschow also contributed eight kills as Steve Ray finished with seven kills and six aces. Jordan Wan and Ryan Dean split setting duties with Wan totaling 12 assists in the first game while Dean closed the contest with a career-high 24 assists. Dean added a team-high seven aces as Rosche and Borschow each notched four.
The Lynx (0-8), in their first season of varsity competition, were led by Clayton Janer with an ace. Tim Blake and Derek Perentau each posted one dig.
The next match for MIT will be on Wednesday, Feb. 22 when it travels to Rivier College.