It is deffinetly something I am working towards but one of the reasons I really want to buy a house is so I can make it as energy efficient and self-sustaining as possible.
For example a NEST thermostat. Read more about them at NEST.com
Fire, Finally
I was posting the progress on Instagram (@kyle_with follow me!) as I built the fireplace in my backyard but now it is complete.
Having always wanted a fireplace in the house I lived in I saw my new residents in downtown Yellowknife the perfect opportunity. You can’t just have a fire in your backyard though. We may be accustom to the bush life up here in the north but there are still rules one must follow when in city limits.
Firstly I researched it and land on this page on the City of Yellowknife website, which gives you a downloadable document of the requirements of fireplaces. I then had to ensure my backyard was fit for the pit by measuring it all out.
Once I had found the place that was evenly away from anything combustable and the power lines I started to dig down. I dug aways down and then filled the area with sand.
For constructing the pit I purchased 14 interlocking bricks from the local hardware store and a grate to cover it. 7 blocks made a ring and the first ring was half into the sand making a strong base and the next ring contained it all.
Having constructed the pit I needed to get the guys from the Fire Hall to inspect it to ensure it safety, which took another 4 days as I had to (which I found out after 3 days) get the property manager to sign off on the pit. Finally this afternoon they came by and I was good to go.
Now here I sit perched feet away from the fire in a blissful state. Enjoying the outdoors, the summer and the fire.
Who is coming over to roast marshmallows?
The Smell of the house
Do you think the occupants of a house make the smell for the place or does a smell come naturally. My apartment still smells the same as it did when I moved it, I think. Same with the new place I’m going. It has a distinct smell.
Many things could mask a smell of a house itself. Bad BO, good BO, air fresheners and of course food.
So is a smell occupant made or natural?
At Home At Ikea
I guess I forgot to post these photos from my trip to Edmonton a couple weeks back. We of course did the northern thing and visited Ikea, we actually did get a boardroom table for our office. I always enjoy walking through Ikea and dreaming of the possibilities and then looking at prive tags and going “THERE IS NO WHAT IN H*LL” I can afford any of this.
Either way, some of the rooms are neat. They are clean, elegant and modern, something I so desperately want in a home someday. I envision a house – apartment – condo to have all hardwood flooring, stainless steal appliances, a gas stove and to be full automated. That is the big ticket for me, I want to have a highly efficient – green if you will – home that I can control from my phone.
I will get more into my dreams of a home some other time, but for now tell me what your favourite thing to do in Ikea is.
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UPDATE: Fire in the Apartment
Well this is interesting. 12:20am on Thursday I wake up to a fire alarm going off in my apartment. Time to evacuate.
I’m sitting in my truck, on my computer, waiting to see what is going on.
UPDATE: Okay Time for the whole story, since it is 1 AM in the morning now. This evening I decided to stay at work, and finish projects I was doing. This wasn’t totally unusual, but I haven’t done in a while. I didn’t actually arrive at home until about 11 o’clock. At which point I wanted to do a little more work and watch couple videos, while falling asleep. So then comes 12:20 AM, where I’m half asleep.
I see flashing, if there is one thing I am sensitive to it is light, and I start to wake up. as I start to wake up, thank you the noise. It is the noise of an annoying fire alarm. At first I don’t take it seriously, I sit up, I think about it, and I realize I can hear other people moving outside. That’s when I jumped up and put on a shirt, and pants. And I think, by the way I’m being a really bad example for this, should I take my computer? Well of course, so I quickly grabbed my computer bag which already had my computer in and left the building. First thing I do, jump in the truck and jumped onto twitter.
In about 15 min. 2 fire trucks, fire rescue vehicle, three RCMP and one ambulance were on scene. People were wandering around everywhere wondering what was going on. I sat my truck, blogging and twittering.
Eventually after 20 min. of watching the firefighters go up and down the stairs and through apartments they let everyone go back in. As I was walking back in, I asked one of the firefighters what it was. Turns out someone forgot they were cooking stove and it was a cooking fire. I would like to stress the point that it was 12 midnight, when most are either ready for bed or are at work.
So thanks to some other people in this apartment, I’m now going to be extra tired tomorrow. Good night.
UPDATE 2: According to EnergeticCity.ca the alarm was triggered by someone who forgot about their hot dogs on the stove.
