The farmhouse is cursed with horrific well water … not bad, not terrible, HORIBLE! The water residential water goes through a pH balance, water softener, and deodorizer before entering a large pressure tank. From there, it is either served as "cold" water or goes through the geothermal preheater and then the electric hot water heater tank.

This setup is far from ideal but is the fact. The problems are numerous. First, there is no such thing as cold water in the summer time because the nice cold water from the well ends up sitting in a 30+ gallon pressure tank in the utility room which on a typical summer day is between 75-80 degrees F. The tank is needed for the pressure flow toilets. Given that the tank ends up with warm water in the summer and there is a geothermal preheater in the winter, I should have installed an instant hot water system. But, the holding tank was a last minute fix. Alternately, the pressure tank could be a lot smaller. I only need about 2 gallons since the toilets are the only "high rate" consumers and they are 1.5gpf.

If this were not complex and strange enough, I noticed that, even with the high capacity deodorizer, the hot water still smelled of "well aged eggs". I was not sure who to call – the well contractor who installed the water treatment system, the HVAC contractor who installed the geothermal preheater and the electric hot water tank, or the plumber who hooked everything up ? I started with the well contractor. They said the problem was with the hot water tank. The plumber agreed. The HVAC contractor agreed to. So, who do you think had to fix the problem ? The home owner !

All three contractors said the same thing, "it’s the anode in the hot water heater – we don’t know why but that’s the problem". All three contractors gave the same solution, "just take out the anode and cut it off". So, while the anode has a good purpose, the bad water wins hands down.

Anodes are not installed to be removed even though they are meant to be replace – figure that one out. They are torqued in so tight, it is all but impossible to remove it without the hot water tank turning and busting off the in/out feeds. So, I turned off the water and released the pressure in the hot water tank. then I rotated the tank into an open area of the utility room. Lowered the 1-/16" socket and extension; attached the ratchet handle and about 3 feet of pipe and began yanking on the thing until it started to give.

The extracted anode was gross – after only 6 months ! I cut it off so all that was left was the threaded head and about 1/2" of rod. I reinserted this "spud" with some plumber’s tape and tightened it all back together. Since the in/out feeds were CPVC, I trimmed where I had cut and glued on socket fittings (my new favorite part) so i can decouple the tank without cutting and splicing the next time. I shifted the tank back into position and connected up the feeds before turning the water back on. I run all the hot water out of the tank and filled it with cold water before turning the electricity back on. – this let me know I was starting with a clean slate. Once the water was back up to temp, i tried the shower since it was the most prevalent "offender". it was the first "refreshing" shower in months!

I may order a new anode rod that is meant to not cause the odor problem (aluminum/zinc/tin) but then again, as I am serious about the tankless system, I may just leave it and see how many years i get out of a defenseless hot water tank. <cruel intensions>

The faucet, the vessel sink, and the wash cabinet have all come together and the results are pretty satisfactory.  I did need to fabricate a rather large "shim" to accommodate the slope to the floor. Eventually, I will add a mirror to the back.  What’s not visible in the picture is how I dealt with the piping. The hot and cold lines were routed as close to the back as possible. The drain was not as convenient. I modified the two drawers with a 4 inch channel. The result is that each single draw has a small narrow "draw" on the right and a 18 inch "draw" on the left.

A man’s bathroom should not have a "vanity"! I’ve said enough on that subject.

In the wetroom, I am installing a "vessel sink". Finding the right sink has been a task I’ve deferred for quite a while. I couldn’t put if off any longer. I did a little scouting and found an aluminum fruit bowl at one of the local antique /flee markets. I took it back to the shop and performed surgery on it.

1. drilled a pilot hole in the middle of the bowl
2. inserted a 2-1/8" hole saw in the drill press and set the depth to 1/8" from the bottom
3. drilled the bowl, creating a recessed ring
4. flipped the bowl bottom side up
5. inserted a 1-1/2" hole saw in teh drill press
6. cut all of the way through the bowl
7. ground out the metal between the outer circle ring, and the inner circle hole (using my "Rotozip turned monster Dremel")

Here are the before and after images.

Eight months ago I railed against the cost of the HVAC system going into the farmhouse project. Now that the system is actually getting installed, I am realizing the high cost is not the fault of it being geothermal (and to be honest, I pretty much said that back then too).

Within the project, there are multiple systems that all were combined into one contract price. First, there is AC for about 2000 sq-ft of living space. This system has an add-on to provide hot air for 1000 sq-ft of living space. There is a separate radiant floor heat solution for about 1000 sq-ft of living space. There is another radiant floor system for the 3600 sq-ft shop. And finally, there is a geothermal driven super efficient domestic hot water system rated at a 15 minute full recovery and less that 1 degree loss per 24 hour cycle. Totaled, these systems use eleven geothermal wells, eight circulators, seven pairs of manifolds, six thermostats, three heat exchangers and one air handler.

If you wanted to be green and use geothermal and you had to keep your budget rock bottom, you would only need one of the systems described above. The AC system described can provide both AC and hot air for a typical 3 bedroom house. That would be just three geothermal wells, one circulator, one air handler, and one pair of manifolds.

The board is about 60% complete in the photo. The red/black objects are circulators and there are still four ore to go in. There is also all of the copper hookups to go in. To one side of the board, there is the water tank and two heat exchanges. Above the equipment room is the air handler and most likely the final heat exchanger (there is a small change it will fit inside the equipment room).

FYI – At the end of the project I hope to interview the primary contractors to get their opinion on the cost of a modest green construction project. It will be helpful information for anyone who has been scared away by the complexity of the farmhouse project.

The concrete slab pours (yes, plural) are about to start. This means the drain lines for the bathrooms – current and future – need to be roughed in. This series of pipes represent the first floor toilet, the shower drain, the outlet for the washing machine, the bathroom sink drain, a stub for a future upstairs bathroom, a trap for a shop side toilet, and a shop utility sink. I know that clustering the plumbing and stacking the bathrooms simplifies things but this got a bit crowded !