Photos of the Nob Hill Haus

Finally a little time to take a couple of good day and night shots of the house. We borrowed a good camera and spend a couple of hours on Saturday to get a few deserving impressions of the house. Enjoy!

It never rains in California-NOT?

Our cistern wasn't even dry for a 3 weeks when the first rain of the season hit and filled almost half of it. The 1.5 days of slow rain have brought us about 3-4" of water- 1/4 of the annual total. The water is also very clear as the picture shows.The drop in temperatures also helps to keep the moisture of the rain longer in the ground and we could turn off the irrigation system on Monday. (Did YOU turn off yours, too?)

Cistern finally run dry

Last weekend we used the last remaining rainwater (from the rains in March- half a year ago. Frank went down into the cistern and scooped up the rest of the water (not fun). There were no leaves or conifer needles in the tank, but a thin layer of black slime at the bottom -most likely from the soot of L.A.'s air (same stuff as the one we washed off the solar panels earlier this month
We hope the remaining moisture will evaporate over the week so that we can vacuum the bottom of the cistern and get it ready for the next rainy season. We'll also get a finer mesh filter, maybe that'll help to keep some of the dirt out. As a summary of our first rainwater watering season, I have to say, that it was a full success and that the water lasted longer than anticipated. We are still taking data of our water and energy use and will be able to provide more detailed information of this year's consumption at a later point in time. Currently, we are on average 50% below a "standard" single family home. But that data was only for the summer, the main irrigation season. The usage should drop more when we enter the rainy season- but keep in mind, the summer was not a very hot one this year.

Solar Wash

Yep, even solar panels need a good scrub every now and then. In order to keep the electric output at optimum levels, the dust and soot from L.A.'s notorious air need to be washed off every now and then- and today was a good time for that. So we went up and hosed and scrubbed the dirt off to make'em shine again. Since the system got turned on, we have produced over 2,400 kWh with an excess of 1000 kWh. The mild summer along with the other energy saving features of the house helped a lot to keep actual power usage low for us. But we have not been in the house for a whole year and it is a bit early to make predictions about the overall performance.

Guerilla Tomatoes

Yes, nobody saw them coming as they grew out of the shade on the West side of the house. They didn't get any love, water, or fertilizer- yet, they started to bloom and grow taller and taller- Our guerilla tomatoes.
They came either from some dropped compost, more likely though from a tomato dropped by a construction worker while devouring his hamburger. And they are a welcome addition to the garden!
They've grown bigger in the meantime and I gave them a pole for support and some extra water on the weekend. I'm excited to see them bear fruit!

Nob Hill Haus received recognition by City of Los Angeles

Recently, the Nob Hill Haus has received a certificate from the city of Los Angeles, for "outstanding creativity in architectural and sustainable design" - We are really proud of the recognition and the attention that the project has received and hope that this will further the thrive for water and energy conservation. Our natural ventilation systems work like a charm- and during the heat wave last weekend, we had to turn on the A/C for only 2 hours a day (for the first time this year) i.e. from 2PM to 4PM- then we could turn it off and do the rest with natural ventilation (while our neighbors' A/C systems were still running for a few more hours). Especially the fans prove to be a great help to move air around the building. We then use the night-venting effect to cool down the building components before the heat of the day hits us again. In the garden, our little fig tree is producing fruit like a maniac- The tree was a stick, less than 3 feet tall when we got it (and we seriously thought about returning the sad thing) - but it is carrying more fruit than all the other trees combined- Amazing!

4th of July at the Nob Hill Haus

Yesterday we had an amazing spot to watch the independence day fireworks- the official ones at the Rose Bowl- and the many more unofficial ones that kept going from 8PM to way after midnight. The deck was an ideal platform to enjoy the spectacle with a glass of wine or two.