More Finishing Touches

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February 12th

Having purchased some of the bathroom fittings of the minor, but very useful, variety, Chris and Ryan had decided how to attach them to the wall, and this is the result in the ensuite.

Also installed on that day was the hot water tank. The laundry tiling was finished, so the tank could go in. This is a 315 litre tank (looks like about 55 US gallons). The "lump" on the side of the tank on the lower left is the controller and pump for circulating water through the solar collector. The pump, which makes a slight humming sound, only operates when there is sufficient energy falling on the colector to heat the water in the tank. It is comforting to hear it running at times even on overcast days.

The pipe coming out at top right is the over temperature and pressure relief valve. It empties into a drain at the back. The valve is feeling warm, so some solar energy is being collected, even though there has been rain showers from when the tank was installed. The orange spot atop the tee piece with the higher pipe running into the wall is a tempering valve to limit the maximum temperature of delivered water. This is required by the building code to prevent scalding injuries, as the water can reach quite high temperatures.

There is an electric booster element in the middle of the tank. The wire for it is visible on the floor at the back of the tank. The installers are not electricians, so Craig will connect this on his next visit. This is connected to Off Peak 2 tariff, meaning it is a switched load, controlled by the power company. To quote from their web site Controlled Load 2 is for electricity supply that is usually available for a sixteen hour period including more than 6 hours between 8pm and 7am and more than 4 hours between 7am and 5pm.

This electricity shows as a separate item on the bill, currently charged at 9.2 cents/kWh. Regular (time of day) pricing is 6.1/10.9/30.3 cents/kWh for off peak/shoulder/peak times.

February 16th

Today was the day for the installation of the counter tops. Here is the laundry, all finished. Well, except for the actual plumbing connections! They happen tomorrow. This is diagonally opposite the tank above.

The powder room is finished too - with the same caveat as the laundry, no plumbing in the basin.

Part of the CaesarStone crew installing the kitchen counter top. At this time they were filling in the joins, which are very difficult to see once finished.

The kitchen is looking quite finished now, even before the sink and cook top are installed.

The final top awaiting installation. This is for the vanity unit in the main bathroom.


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Updated at 19:46 EST on Thu Mar 5, 2009
Copyright © 2009, Lindsay Harris