The video is up on the Ignite Philly site as well as You Tube. I had a bit of trouble viewing the video at the Ignite site so I recommend the You Tube version. It’s five minutes long and worth a listen if you have the time. What was really encouraging was the hear an […]

Greg La Vardera of LamiDesign and Materialicious fame has been so gracious as to organize an open house at the modern rehab we posted on a few weeks ago. Since that post, the “Vader House” on Fletcher St has been picked up by almost a dozen other modern design blogs and seems to have struck […]

Last night we took part in a great event at Johnny Brenda’s called Ignite Philly. It is basically where a bunch of geeks like us get up and present about their projects. The catch is that you only get 20 slides and they automatically rotate after 15 seconds.

I had no idea what to expect of […]

Two weeks ago we looked at two solar thermal and radiant heating systems by Radiantec. One of the options that Radiantec offers is a very simple diverter valve that allows the homeowner to run the incoming cold water through the radiant floor prior to reaching the hot water heater and fixtures. The diagram below details […]

I just ran across apartment therapy’s fourth annual contest to find the smallest, coolest apartment called Small Cool 2008. The requirements for being considered in the small category are that your home or apartment measure 850 square feet (79 square meters) or less.

Good News:
We have had title issues on the land for the project that have kept us from settling since January. I got a call yesterday that said the key issues have been resolved and we hope to be able to settle on the land in a matter of weeks. That means we will be able […]

I’ve been meaning to create an intro or summary page for the 100K House project for those that are new to the site for some time. Now that there are well over 100 posts it’s not exactly easy for a new reader to get caught up on what exactly this project is all about. I […]

A friend of mine pointed out this modern rehab to me right around the corner from our site earlier this week that is now listed for sale. It turns out that one of our readers, Todd Bennett, is the co-owner of the rehabbed garage and was kind enough to give me a tour yesterday.

In our last post we spoke of a Shuco Slim Line solar thermal heating package that would be used in conjunction with a closed loop radiant loop and a high-efficiency gas boiler to heat the domestic hot water and the radiant loop as needed. This system uses the solar thermal system to preheat only the domestic hot water. The gas boiler then heats all of the radiant system while also acting as a backup for the domestic hot water.

An alternate system is one in which the solar thermal system can heat both the domestic hot water and the radiant loop. A Vermont company, Radiantec…

We have been trying to nail down the mechanical systems to spec out in the house for some time now. We are getting very close, especially after the recommendations from the energy modeling. Our mechanical contractor is having health issues and had to bow out of the project so these may be subject to change […]