Office Ceiling Finished

The office ceiling was finally finished, and the lighting fixture/fan was installed.

The completed ceiling with light/fan (and smoke detector)

View from the other side 

Plumbing Fixtures in Master Bath

Now that the water pump was moved and everything is hooked up, we can finally get the last of the plumbing fixtures installed. We had a delay when the plumbers changed their minds about how to install the tub filler and drain for the bathtub in the master bath. Initially they said to have the tile installer install the entire floor, and they would drill through the tile for the tub filler plumbing. But after the floor was done, they decided they couldn't drill through the tile, so we had to get the tile installer back to remove up the tiles where the tub filler and drain for the tub will be installed.

Tiles removed and holes drilled through the floor 

The tub filler and tub installed. The tile installer will have to come
back again to re-install tiles around the filler and the tub drain.

The wall-mounted toilet with in-wall water tank

Wall-mounted faucet

Running water!

Solar Hot Water System Operating

The solar hot water system is operating. On a sunny day, the water in the 100-gallon tank can increase by tens of degrees. Today, the water started at about 110 degrees and reached 130 a few hours later. The system will continue operating until the temperature reached about 150 degrees. It uses only a small amount of electricity to run a circulating pump.

Initial temperature

Temperature a few hours later

Water Pump Relocation

This is the pump and pressure tank that pressurizes the water from the catchment tank. The tank is pressurized so the pump doesn't have to run whenever the water is flowing.

The pump and tank were installed in a small shed behind the guest house, but we decided to move it into the shed behind the main house because the pump makes some noise when it runs and it makes sense to have it with the water heater (to the left).

The white pipes are the intake (from the catchment tank) and supply lines (to the guest house). These will be connected to the pump. The copper pipes are the cold (supply to the solar panels) and hot (from the solar panels) for the solar system and the hot and cold water supplies to the main house.

One this pump installation and connection work is done, we can turn the water on in the main house and run the solar system. We planned it so the work would be done in one day, so we still have water in the guest house.

Lunar Eclipse

A few shots of the lunar eclipse that occurred today.

Total eclipse 

Another Lava-Caused Brush Fire

There was another brush fire caused by the lava flow to the south today. The wind was headed in our direction, bringing the smoke and some ash.

Smoke plume drifting towards us

More smoke later in the day

Ash on the roof