Solar Hot Water Heater

We recently made the switch from our dinosaur electric hot water heater to our spiffy new modern solar hot water heater. Can I tell you how smart I felt by doing so?

It all started back in May when Leon and I discovered a leak coming through our fairly newly installed IKEA light fixture over the kitchen sink. As new home owners that don't know anything about home repairs, we went into a state of panic. Our one saving grace was that our "miracle leak" occurred right over the kitchen sink. You really can't ask for a better spot to have a leak. We felt blessed.

We consulted with a handful of contractors, roofers and handymen. The first thing we did was pull the entire seal off our roof to determine what kind of crack we were dealing with. Well....let me tell you, one doesn't realize one has a leak until it's rainy season in the tropics. One also doesn't realize how bad the leak is until one has no seal on the roof.

Once the seal was removed and we discovered enough cracks to break my mothers back. Our miracle leak turned into multiple miracle leaks. We got another one directly over the bathroom shower, and another one over our kitchen cabinet that just so happened to have a chip and dip platter resting directly beneath it. I was finally able to prove my point to Leon that the platter would someday be used. Chips it hasn't held, water is has.

We finally got a break in the weather and were able to seal the roof with Crossco 8500, a product that seems to be working ok and is available at Home Depot. The following day we had PR Solar Products come out to install the solar hot water heater. We purchased an 80 gallon tank with three panels. Basically we have enough hot water for our entire neighborhood to take showers, do laundry, wash dishes and do whatever else one does with hot water. It took less than 2 hours for the entire system to be installed and we had scalding hot water immediately.

The best part about it is that we get a 50% tax credit on the total amount paid ($2000). If we had installed it last year we would have received a 75% tax credit. Now our electric bill should be reduced significantly. I'm actually looking forward to receiving our next electric bill so I can see the reduction. Not only will we be saving money but other added values of the solar hot water heater are reduced CO2 emissions, added value to our home, free hot water and we can feel good about being environmentally friendly.

Streetlights - Neighborhood Planning

One of the most critical decisions in planning the Dos Ceibas neighborhood was the placement of the road. The undeveloped land was a 4 acre parcel with a ridge running down the center of the property -the only access to the site was along the southern border from road 413. With the exception of a few foot trails, most of the site was covered in thick vegetation and was difficult to navigate. Figuring out the ideal location of the access road was one of our first tasks in the design of the master plan.

After walking every inch of the site with machetes, we evaluated the possible options. The road would provide access to each of the lots, but would also be the service spine for utilities (water, electricity, cable and phone service) AND have to be lit by streetlights to comply with municipal codes. We constructed a 3d model of the site topography to test the extents of the light pollution from the anticipated streetlights. Below are the images from preliminary designs A and J.

Design A locates the road on the top of the ridge - roughly dividing the property in two. While this seemed like a straightforward solution to vehicular access, the downside was that half of the properties would lose their ocean view and all of the lots would experience nightime light interference.

Design J locates the road to the west, below the ridge - allowing all of the houses to occupy the ridge and taking advantage of the elevation for ocean views. This also located the streetlights in such a way that the natural topography of the site helped to contain the light pollution. We determined that Design J would be the basis of our master plan.

Underground Electric Rincon

The development at Dos Ceibas strives to be conscious of all of the elements that go into building a neighborhood. During the planning phase of the project one of the decisions we were confronted with was how to provide municipal electric for each lot. Standard practice on the island is to run wiring from the closest pole to each house, creating an above ground network of wires crisscrossing the property.

This standard solution seemed problematic on a couple of fronts. First, we wanted to preserve the spectacular view without interference. Second, above ground wiring can be dangerous in a hurricane or high wind storms. Exposed wires are vulnerable to falling branches and debris, and if damage does occur, residential lines will only be serviced after the main municipal line are working again. We made the decision to underground all of the electric lines for the neighborhood. Timing was coordinated with the cutting of the road, so we dug a trench parallel to the road to lay our lines.

The gray PVC piping carries the lines to a junction box on the property and from here the lines are run to each lot. This strategy facilitates later construction by ensuring that each lot has direct access to municipal power, and helps to deliver a consistent attitude within the neighborhood. The image below shows the local termination for a lot - once connected to the house the electric runs will be entirely underground!