House Update #2

Last week, we had two big projects around here. One was putting in the tankless water heater, thanks to my wonderful father who came down and taught Kyle how to plumb in three days time.

We went from this:

To this:

Why? Well, first of all, we have a tiny laundry room and needed more space. The tankless takes up maybe a quarter of the space that the old water heater took up.

Beyond that, the tankless is extremely efficient. With most water heaters, 40 gallons of water sit in the tank and are heated up again and again when someone uses hot water. With the tankless, the water that is being used is drawn directly through a coil of copper pipes and heated up as needed. So it uses less water and less energy, and therefore, is more environmentally friendly and less expensive to run.

On top of that, if you put one of these suckers in during 2007, you get a $300 tax rebate. That, coupled with the savings we will make on our utility bills, made it a smart move economically. (But oh, what a taxing weekend it was, putting it in. That thing is complicated!)

Then, there is my office, which I painted. It tried taking a picture of my desk to show you what it looks like now. The picture doesn’t exactly get the tone of the green, but you get the idea:

The thing on my screen desktop, by the way, is Keri Smith’s How To Feel Miserable As An Artist list, which I am really feeling this week.

Next projects! Finish the closets, fix the fireplace, and start painting the guest room. Remodeling can feel endless sometimes.