Kriesel's Garage

[Kriesel]

Going to start a thread now, since I recently started to actually do some remodeling in the garage, and this will slowly continue through this summer.

Plan is to add some wiring, insulate, sheetrock, heat, clean up, pretty it up. Pinterest has been a good source of ideas, with many ideas from others on this forum.

So, here are some pics of the garage.

When I first moved to this house in 2012, I had things kinda strewn about, here is the only pictures I can find from that time frame:
unnamed.jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

unnamed (1).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Random working on a tire picture:
247584_10100473583003300_1309398449_n.jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Clocking a turbo:
575577_10100491620725560_1272287655_n.jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Panoramic from September 2014 I think:
IMG_2217 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Was working on the blue car's HPFP during these pictures, September 2014:
IMG_2214 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_2215 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

This is generally the current state of affairs with the deep third stall. I put the air compressor back in the corner, the two tire machines, the tool box, and my mobile bench:
IMG_2216 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Here begins remodeling, purchased some can lights:
unnamed (4).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Lights before cans:
unnamed (6).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

unnamed (7).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

unnamed (8).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Starting to put up some cans, and you can see the old lights:
unnamed (5).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

All the can lights installed, old lights gone. Went from 8 lights before to 15 lights now. I still need more light bulbs, but the cans are all there:
unnamed (2).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Deep third stall went from two lights to three, old lights removed which are the black holes, need a bulb in the middle can light still:
unnamed (3).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Next up is some wiring for 240-volt for the air compressor. Been using an extension cord to plug in to the mud room where the dryer is (which is next to the garage). After wiring, looking at insulation and then onwards to more.

 

[Jay Sco]

I love the look of the can lighting. Keep up the good work.

 

[Kriesel]

I love the look of the can lighting. Keep up the good work.

Thanks!

Spent some more time recently in the garage. First did some reorganizing of the tool area (air compressor, tool boxes, tire machines) in order to find the best layout for what's there. This led to where the air compressor will be, so that I can install the permanent wiring/plug for the compressor. Prior to wiring in the plug, I ran an extension cord to the mud room / laundry room, which is conveniently right next to the garage. We have a gas dryer, but there is dual fuel hookups behind it, and so I'm able to easily use the 240 plug meant for a dryer when needing it for the compressor. But, no more need, as the compressor has it's own plug!

After wiring that in, I started putting up some insulation.

IMG_2335 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_2336 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Also got the LED flood lights in, and now have a bulb in all 15 can lights! So bright in there now!
unnamed (5).jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

Some air compressor talk...

I hate how loud my compressor is. Before about a month or two ago, I worked in acoustics for a few years, now do management. But, I wanted to make my compressor quiet, so I did some random things to it to attempt to get it quieter, and will continue to do so.

I was inspired to do more from Sound & Vibration magazine cover from August 2012:

Initially, I took some sound data with a hand held HEAD Acoustics Squadriga unit. The compressor has a felt filter originally:

This gave me a sound level as such (right and left channels are the right and left mics of the squadriga headset, measured about 1-meter away from compressor, little further than arm's reach):
Normal_Filter by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

I then mounted two of these plastic housing filters:

Onto this mount:

Removed the felt filter, and got the following:
W_Cans by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Comparing the two on one graph, it's easy to see that the felt filter is better than the cheap plastic can filter (numbers corrected for A-weighting):
Air_Compressor_Normal_vs_Canister_Filters by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

My next step I put the felt filter back on, with the can filters, but didn't take sound data yet. Will do that sometime... But it does sound slightly quieter...

So, the next steps lead me to build a housing around the compressor. I initally thought to remove the pump from the tank, and put the tank remote mounted somewhere and just build a box around the pump, but have since gone away from that. Now, I plan to leave the compressor as is pretty much, and build a channeled box over the top. The goal would look similar to this:

I'll build a box using channels such as this quick drawing I made (blue is original compressor, red is additional box, green would be air flow). For ease of understanding, I drew the box pushing flow across the compressor left to right, but I would instead build the box to push air rear to front, which is the direction that the compressor pulley/fan pushes air as well:
air_compressor_concept by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Going to make the box removable, or have a door on it for access to the compressor for maintenance and such. Will remote mount a switch, and hour meter. Want to put fans in line with the air flow to push air through the box, but will put the fans on a temperature switch so that even if the pump isn't running, if the temp inside the box is too warm, the fans will be on.

There, have most of my ideas down on paper now. Now to find the time to go further with it.

 

[Kriesel]

Before I sheetrock and blow insulation into the attic space, I wanted to remove a lot of stuff from the attic, but also wanted to create a small amount of storage space up there as well. I don't plan to keep anything heavy, and only a minimal amount of items. So I made two shelves in the attic, in the "w" of the trusses. They are mounted high enough that I will have an adequate amount of space below them for blown in insulation, and will be good for things like christmas lights and whatever random things I need to store long term... I have a few more items to remove from the attic that are currently not on the shelves. After that, put up some plastic, sheetrock eventually, and blow in some insulation. Oh, and an attic ladder as well, whenever I find a decent one at a decent price.

Panoramic view:
IMG_3533.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

West shelf:
IMG_3528.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

East shelf:
IMG_3529.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Crappy view from bottom up:
IMG_3527.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

I decided to upgrade my air fittings.

I purchased an airline kit from Northern Tool:

When it came in the mail, it had a lot of 1/2" npt fittings, and so I thought I would not skimp and buy smaller fittings, so I looked around at various fittings. Prior to this I thought I would just use v-style couplers, but I stumbled upon g-style couplers, found a relatively well-priced place to buy them, and so I ordered a bunch of couplers!

Here are some comparison photos of my M-style couplers compared to the new G-style couplers I got in the mail:
IMG_3589.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_3643.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_3612.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

And now tearing apart and switching the majority of my air tools to the new couplers:
IMG_3644.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Finished up:
IMG_3645.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

I don't have the blue air line kit up yet, but the fittings are mostly changed out. Need to switch the tire machine, and a couple other tools yet.

These fittings, when everything is switched over, should create a compressed air system with less pressure drop from start to finish. The G-style fittings flow 99 scfm, whereas the M-style fittings flow 40 scfm.

 

[Kriesel]

I adjusted the image sizes to a smaller-and-easier-to-view size... Was bothering me that they were so big. Sorry to those who had to also deal with it thus far. No more of that, I promise!

 

[Kriesel]

Put up plastic on the ceiling for the vapor barrier. Sheetrock or something will go up next summer, but plastic should help keep some heat down out of the attic space. I don't need sheetrock because there is already a line of sheetrock between the house and garage to meet local codes, so I may do something else, but haven't decided yet.

IMG_3804.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

Put in an attic ladder over the weekend. I can now get into the attic for the small bit of storage I have up there, mostly seasonal things...

I placed the ladder so when it is down I can still park the truck in the garage as well.

Eventually I'll build a small insulation box above the ladder so that blown-in insulation doesn't fall into the ladder, and get some sort of insulation blanker or something for the ladder opening as well.

IMG_4175.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

I had to break down and take apart the carb on my International. It wouldn't start, and I figured out I had fuel up to the carb, but not any fuel after the carb.

I forgot to take a before pic of the dirty carb, but here is a shot of the truck:
935340_10100488592494160_306424226_n.jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Random trailer pic taking it out of storage:
223202_10100307713487140_2135459753_n.jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

And to more recent news, taking the carb apart. It's a Holley 4360 which is mounted to a Chevy 402 big block:
IMG_4363.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

I found the bowl empty when I opened it up, which meant the valve was probably stuck. Sure enough, it was seized up pretty good, and I had to use a pliers to open the valve. The carb kit I have contains a new valve though, so in the metal recycling bin it goes. I'm holding the float valve:
IMG_4364.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

And the carb cleaned up and put back together. Will mount it back on the truck tonight and see what happens...
IMG_4367.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_4365.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_4366.JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

One of my kids working on his car while I work on mine:
14937213_10101894330089750_5153608040290772211_n.jpg by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

Realized today that google photos took a big downward spiral since getting rid of Picassa, and no longer allows photos to be posted to forums... So, my thread here looked like I was a crazy person.

I've switched to flickr, and am in the process of reposting the images i've done up to this point... sorry about that.

 

[sean Buick 76]

I just found this tonight and it is super nice to see someone doing up cool vehicles as you are... I like the drop down stairs!

 

[Kriesel]

I just found this tonight and it is super nice to see someone doing up cool vehicles as you are... I like the drop down stairs!

Thanks, you have some cool vehicles as well!

I'll need to post more about my vehicles actually... Been so concentrated on my garage "build" on this thread, I haven't really discussed my vehicles much haha

 

[Kriesel]

working on finishing the diesel jeep swap at the moment.
Some history, had a Cummins A2.3T (a-series 2.3L turbocharged) that I originally swapped into a jeep wrangler:
DSCF0006 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

DSCF6474 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Random picture looking up inside the engine, with the oil pan off:
DSCF7082 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Moab:
DSCF0077 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

After the wrangler started to show it's age/abuse, I decided to upgrade a little and swap the drivetrain into an XJ. Took the running 4.0L and auto trans out, and swapped in my manual trans diesel. I started the project 4 years ago. Got slowed down by life, kids, masters programs, work, blah blah. Finally taking the time this summer to finish it up.

Started with this:
IMG_0486 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Diesel going in:
IMG_0588[1] by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_0679[1] by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Took the tires/wheels off the wrangler and put them on the XJ. Also added a 2" budget lift:
IMG_1270[1] by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_2186 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

I'll take some more pics tonight and show more current progress.

The big push to get the jeep done is so that I have something to drive while I work on the next project. I recently brought home another project for the summer, a 2006 duramax for the suburban swap. Bought the Surbuban with full intent to swap engines at some point. Bought it a few years ago, and have been driving it with the 6.0L, and I'm not impressed... haha! Slowly been watching for a duramax donor, and a good friend of mine found this donor near his place on craigslist, so we went and picked it up. I'll scrap out and sell what I don't need, but need to finish the jeep project first.

IMG_4194 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_4197 by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[forAK]

Why they never offered the Duramax in a burb always boggled me. That should be a fun project!

Better get the little man a set of jack stands! lol

 

[Kriesel]

Changed the jeep from auto to manual. Here's a pic of the clean install of the shift lever and it's boot. It's so nice that it just fits perfect in there:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Some of the turbocharger plumbing, had to reorganize after clocking the turbo different than original. I also plumbed it into the XJ's oem air filter:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

This image shows more of the turbo plumbing. Also the heater hose across the top of the engine. The gauge at the firewall is the fuel pressure supplied to the engine, and the regulator next to that to adjust fuel pressure. I have the oem fuel pump in the jeep still, and the regulator takes the pressure from about 90psi down to about 10psi for the diesel. Excess pressure is relieved via a second return line back to the tank. I also installed a bulkhead fitting on the tank for the second return line.
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

AC compressor mounted:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[brawls43]

Where did you source the G style air fittings?

 

[Kriesel]

Milton's website with part numbers, and then seach the internet for cheap prices.
http://www.miltonindustries.com/couplers-and-plugs/g-style.html

Opentip.com for the 1/4" male plugs, Milton 1855

Opentip has a good deal on the 3/8" plugs too. Milton 1859

Here are opentip's 3/8" female bodies; Milton 1813

The Milton 1814 is a little more money, but good for certain locations in the plumbing

Milton 1820 I wish they made this fitting in 1/4" but they dont.

Milton 1815

Milton 1816 and at Newegg too

I bought some from amazon, ordered packs of five, but only received singles, and got money back from some places.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O2ZYC2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Ordered some on ebay too.

 

[Kriesel]

Here's a project I did a while ago in the garage. I had been using a Foscam IP camera for a baby camera for a while now for our second kid (and now third kid as well), and then decided to get another one for using in the room of the older toddler. But, the lights have a faint red glow at night, and the toddler was getting spooked by new red lights, like a freaky Johnny Five:


So, I decided to swap light bulbs from 850nm to 940nm bulbs. 850nm have a red glow, but 940nm are supposedly near zero glow. Hopefully this will freak out the kid a little less. Starting to get to the stage of thinking there are monsters under the bed, and don't need red glowing lights to add to this paranoia...

In order to do so, you have to crack open the camera (voided my warranty big time haha), and I found the following video showing how to do so, even though the video is doing a different task in the end, it shows the teardown pretty well:

I then tore down my own, un-soldered the bulbs, re-soldered the new ones, and put it back together. I didn't get too many pictures before teardown, but here is the start of unsoldering, and then followed by putting it back toghether:

[/url]IMG_2503[1].JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr[/IMG]

IMG_2504[1].JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_2505[1].JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_2506[1].JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

IMG_2507[1].JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Camera works great still, and now the kids can't see the lights.

Here's the view through an un-modded camera:
IMG_2512[1].PNG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

This is the same view through the modded camera, about 5 seconds after switching the lights in the room off:
IMG_2513[1].PNG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

This is the same view, after waiting about 20 more seconds for the camera to auto-adjust to the light level:
IMG_2514[1].PNG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

It seems that with the new bulbs, the camera takes longer to fully adjust to the light in the room. Instead of switching off the main light in the room and the brightness of the camera's view being adjusted in about 5 seconds or less, its now taking 30 seconds. For a baby monitor, I don't care. If I were using this for something else, like a security camera maybe, then possibly that delay in adjustment could be an issue, but not really. Once the brightness finishes auto-adjusting, it's just as good as it was before.

Here are the two cameras side-by-side, both with the IR lights "on", and as you can see (or not see), the new bulbs don't have a red glow. In person, they do have a slight red glow, but you almost have to put your face up to it to see it. The kids have slept great since, not having a red glowing monster in the room!
IMG_2516[1].JPG by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[madoc1]

interesting stuff. what is your masters in? keep us up to date on the latest engine swap if you can. you know gj guys love mechanical stuff. your shop will look great with a ceiling and new lites.

jim

 

[Kriesel]

interesting stuff. what is your masters in? keep us up to date on the latest engine swap if you can. you know gj guys love mechanical stuff. your shop will look great with a ceiling and new lites.

jim

Bachelors in automotive engineering, masters in engineering management.

I'll keep updates coming. Thanks for the interest!

 

[Kriesel]

Went to a local u-pull-it salvage yard and got some stuff. I needed a seat for the back of my Jetta (had some problems with the threads of the seat coming apart at some point). In the same car, I noticed it had steering wheel buttons, so I nabbed those, and the controller for them, to swap into my car. I had been eyeing them up on ebay for a while, and so I'm glad I found them in the junk yard instead.

Needed another brake switch for the jeep to use on the clutch for wiring the neutral safety switch. The jeep was originally and automatic but I swapped in a manual trans, and so the jeep won't start unless the automatic transmission is in park/neutral. I need to run some wiring from the plug (which is no longer plugged into an automatic trans) into a brake switch activated by the clutch pedal, so the clutch pedal will simulate the neutral/safety function.

I paid $9 for all the stuff from the yard... awesome! Just the buttons for the steering wheel add up to about $200 for everything on ebay! So exciting!
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

Welding away, and putting the jeep back together...

Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Updates inside the jeep:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

I started labeling some things inside the engine bay with a paint marker. There are a couple items in there from a jeep wrangler, and some cummins stuff, and then the rest is jeep cherokee. I wanted some things labeled, so that it was easier in the future to identify things when/if needing to replace anything...

 

[Kriesel]

Have been working on a duramax swapped suburban the last couple months in my garage. I'll try to post some more details if people are interested, but here is the first start of the engine after the swap. Still some bugs to work out, but generally good to go.

 

[Kriesel]

Just filled out the build thread for my suburban duramax swap over on DieselPlace.com:
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-gm-diesel-engines/374-frankenstein/938378-kriesel-diesel.html

 

[Bulldog13]

Awesome...always had a few XJs in the family---never seen a diesel swap ! Bravo to you sir

 

[Kriesel]

Some pictures of the duraburb swap in progress:

Getting ready to remove the 6.0L:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Both engines on the floor:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Duramax set in place in the suburban for the first time:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Cooling package installed:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

New license plate bracket:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Had to install new idler pulleys and a new tensioner. They were making all kinds of racket...
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Have driven a little over 5k miles since finishing the swap. Running great!

 

[Kriesel]

Well, sold the house to move on to a different one. It was sorta sudden, and so the work in this garage was in vein sorta. But, I have a new garage and shop to play in now. I'll get some pictures and such once I'm more moved in.

So, this thread will continue, but in a new physical space for me.

 

[Robey5]

Wow. Someone has a luv for glow-plugs!

I had an XJ some years back; had the 4.0L/AT combo, and after I turned 230k miles on the odometer I gave it away to a non-appreciative person to get them back on their feet. Though I am sure that it was helpful at first, I am sure that the person later sold it for a couple bucks to get something more "user friendly" and/or pretty.

Anyhow, that is quite a few big projects that you tackled in a space that the kiddos I am sure got to witness first hand. Kudos to you for turning a wrench and seeing things through. I am sure you have much to teach those little ones.

Coming from an ME + MBA/Finance guy: why the love for the diesels?

 

[JustinS]

Neat diesel XJ

 

[Kriesel]

Wow. Someone has a luv for glow-plugs!

I had an XJ some years back; had the 4.0L/AT combo, and after I turned 230k miles on the odometer I gave it away to a non-appreciative person to get them back on their feet. Though I am sure that it was helpful at first, I am sure that the person later sold it for a couple bucks to get something more "user friendly" and/or pretty.

Anyhow, that is quite a few big projects that you tackled in a space that the kiddos I am sure got to witness first hand. Kudos to you for turning a wrench and seeing things through. I am sure you have much to teach those little ones.

Coming from an ME + MBA/Finance guy: why the love for the diesels?

Hopefully my three kids will appreciate and learn from my attitude of "if you can read you can cook", which is said often and applied to more than cooking. Also, if something's broken, why not take it apart to try and fix it, can't break it any worse that it already is... haha! The kids have come to think that "dad can fix anything". But yeah, my kids love being out in the garage with me, but it does slow down progress, which is ok. My oldest at 6 has recently shown more interest in actually wanting to learn how to do a brake job for example. Good stuff!

As for the love of diesels, it probably started when I got a job at Cummins. Worked there for a number of years doing diesel engine/generator development of sorts. I had a YJ that the engine blew, and a guy at work had a Cummins engine in his garage, brand new on the pallet, so I picked that up from him. The rest is history. But, the art of engine swaps and working on cars didn't start with Cummins, it started with a childhood filled with Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, and a car-guy-family and a grandpa who said my first word was chevy. Cars were always a big deal in my family. So there ya go!

Neat diesel XJ

Thanks! It might go through a major change in the coming future... I'll update that when I actually put it under the knife out in the shop.

I took this picture this last spring and joked that the only non-diesel engine was the snowblower... for now...
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Robey5]

I love the conversions to the diesels. Quite involved, and apparently the glow plug engineering has proven itself productive - as many of those diesel engines are designed for torque and long term work. I'm sure that some of them out there are not as reliable as others, but I'd love to have a diesel in the JGC if it were an option back when I ordered it.

 

[JustinS]

Updates on the diesels!

 

[Kriesel]

I love the conversions to the diesels. Quite involved, and apparently the glow plug engineering has proven itself productive - as many of those diesel engines are designed for torque and long term work. I'm sure that some of them out there are not as reliable as others, but I'd love to have a diesel in the JGC if it were an option back when I ordered it.

I would love to have a diesel grand cherokee too! Maybe someday. Our Jetta is being outgrown by having three kids, so maybe we'll end up with one someday.

Updates on the diesels!

Incoming!

This summer was spent moving from one home to another. I'll update the shop as I get to that at some point. Been cleaning and organizing, but nothing really worthy of putting up pictures about...

With the suburban, I put a duramax badge on the back finally:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

I also got an HD bumper cover painted to match:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Then I got an HD grille painted as well, and put smoked headlights in place:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

Now the front 2" lift is not noticeable anymore.

I put some new bump stops in the front of the suburban, supposedly GM designed them to be part of the suspension travel, and are always in contact with the suspension arms. The pointed part changes the level of interaction/shock travel. It definitely changed the feel of the ride:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

We got a bunch of snow yesterday. This was the truck at the end of my work day:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

This was about 9pm after the snow stopped, looking at the deck off the back of the house:
Untitled by Jacob Kriesel, on Flickr

 

[Kriesel]

Haven't updated in a while.

Moved to a new home last year. After moving in we had a furnace fail. Since we have two, and they were both the same age, we opted to replace both. On top of replacing both, we combined them into one unit, switched around the HVAC ductwork, added some zone controls, and also installed geothermal out in the yard...

This ditchwitch digging the lines in the ground. Six 300' lines in the ground for the "field" of the geothermal.

Bringing the main supply/return into the house:

The two 2" supply return lines being pulled into the ground:

They go all the way through the basement, up the stairs, out into the driveway:

After pulling them through the ground back to the ditchwitch, they cut the excess:

Out in the yard, here is the hole they dug to access all the connection points:

The mess inside the hole:

This is where one of two outdoor AC units stood:

No more second furnace:

New larger single geothermal unit, 6-ton waterfurnace:

Pressure testing the geothermal field:

Connection at the pump after pressure tested for a week:

All plumbed up:

So far I've been keeping track of how my utility bills are doing in comparison to previous years. I think it's helpful, but it's not apples to apples since we actually went from two zones to four zones in the house, the fourth zone was such that it was never actually heated/cooled with any HVAC in the past. One level of the home was finished, but had no HVAC. We ran new HVAC to that zone, and tied it in, so now it's much more usable, like turning a three-season porch into a four-season porch, only it wasn't a porch.

 

[Kriesel]

Another project in the home was to remodel one level of the house as well.

Before, we had a large area with a projector and such:

After, a more usable shelf with a normal TV, picture of it sometime during construction:

Moved some walls, moved some plumbing/electrical a little, sheetrock and paint, new tile and carpet in the corner bedroom. I don't have any pictures on this computer of the final product, but here's some before afters. A lot of work, and a big change to update this space:

 

[Kriesel]

I put up pallet racks in the garage. Tires and other misc stuff... The hay baler in the pic is gone now.

 

[captain14]

Curious about the geothermal system.

How many bids did you get and how far apart were they?

What is the payback time or is there a state/national incentive?