Latest House Update

It's been a while since I have updated the progress on the house. We are nearing the end, but Hubster thinks it will be the end of January before we are able to move in. I am hoping for the middle of January, maybe even sooner. College girl is home and I would like her to be able to spend at least one night in the new house before she returns to Franciscan on Jan. 10. That may be wishful thinking.
The carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and heating guys are all almost done. "Almost done" means that there are about a million and a half little details that still need to be attended to. The big stuff is done, but the little stuff has my head swimming and sends me to 'overwhelm' mode quickly. I just think, as I look around, about all of the painting and staining and polyurethaning I will have to do on all these "details." Yikes!
I don't think I have mentioned the heating system we chose for this house. We are pretty excited about it, and it turns out that we are sitting at the cutting edge of the home heat industry!! Cool, huh?! We ended up going with the Acadia Heat Pump. Now, people who live in the south know all about heat pumps, but this is a very new thing (like only a year old) up here in the cold north. These heat pumps are built in Maine, so they are designed especially for our New England winters. Heat pumps take energy (heat) from the air and convert it to heat for the house. Apparently, there is heat in the air even when it is cold (something about absolute zero being -459 degrees F, when molecules stop moving....) Well, until now, this technology would not work if air was cooler than 20 or 30 degrees F (which is why heat pumps are only found down south), but the folks at Acadia have designed a heat pump that will work in temps down to -30 degrees F!! It really is a breakthrough (and it really does get that cold here sometimes!) The best part is that it is a "green" product -- energy star rated and it qualifies us for some tax credits. It runs on electricity (and we get a special discount from the power company because of its energy efficiency) and we will never have to buy heating oil again! It is 300% efficient and should cut our heating costs in half! Oh yeah, and in the summer, it will cool our house --- yes, that's right, we will have central air conditioning!!! I do not know anyone in this area (and I've lived here all my life) who has central air in their house! We are pioneers.
Life here at the "cutting edge" is pretty interesting. No one really quite understands what this heat pump is all about. Neither did we when it was first described to us.
"Oh, you mean a geo-thermal heat pump?"
"No."
"Does it run on propane?"
"No."
Blank stare...
The poor heating man was very patient with us. I think he must be used to it, because we get the same reaction from everyone we tell about it. I have one uncle, who keeps regular tabs on the house progress, who is quite perplexed about the whole thing. He keeps asking my dad questions, but my dad is pretty unclear about it also. We'll have to give a tutorial once the house is done!
We have super insulated the house, and are looking into On-Demand hot water, which is also an energy star rated product. My new washer is also energy star (not to mention super capacity and front-loading...I am so excited) So, we have made some efforts to be "green" about the building of this house. Eventually, we'd like to add solar panels as we can afford it, to move towards greater self-sufficiency and energy efficiency. It is a really good feeling.

Anyway, here are some pics:This is the side you drive up to. See the mudroom peeking out on the left side.The back, well, I guess front, of the house with the dumpster in the way :) The beam showing is where the deck will go (next spring)The main entrance into the mudroom with the new little porch. Isn't it cute?!
The former front, but now back of the house. It will have a little deck here also.Our new wooden stairs. (the old stairs were carpeted) Aren't they great!This is the kitchen peninsula. I had the overhead cabinets taken out and pendant lights will hang from the two holes in the ceiling box, there. The two cabinets sitting on the counter top will be hung next to the microwave range hood. There will be a new, wider countertop also, so that we can put stools there.
The Hubster, insulating the basement wall in my school room. Thanks, honey!