People keep asking me what is most surprising about living in the city?
Lots of things are different, surprising, and new but one of the most challenging is living vertically.
When we lived in Raleigh, NC we had a ranch style house – one floor living – which was easy and
efficient.
Out in suburbia we had two stories – living on one, sleeping on another – which was convenient and made for lots of private spaces. Using the stairs were part of the sleep cycle – up at night, down in the morning.
Here in the city the house has 5 stories of narrow living space so the day is full of stairs. It may be that we don’t
need the YMCA anymore but the verticality is taking some time getting used to.
It is also taking some time to sort out the house’s operating systems.
- The gas hot water system generates very hot water but the delay in delivering it to the upper rooms was very long – wasting fuel and water. We are reviewed a number of solution options and decided on the recirculating pump that is working like a champ.
- The HVAC system is challenged to keep up with the house. It is comfy on floors 1-3 but 4 and 5 struggle to stay warm. We have been looking at various solution sets and think that we will end up with a ductless mini-split system for the upper floors.
- Light is different in a vertical environment. We chose a house that runs east-to-west and has a south facing light shaft. This brings light down throughout the house especially in the summer. Even with that, sunrise and sunset are wonderful at the highest levels but the lowest levels might not even know those events happened till an hour or so later. We are a little sun deprived but are working on solutions that include more opportunity for sun, gardening space, views and breeze.
- Air sealing. The house is mid-block so there are townhouses on both sides. The side walls are brick, covered on the inside with drywall. There is no way to ensure the brick is air-sealed but there is a way to air seal the drywall. Energy Score ran a BPI training class at the house and the blower door testing showed we have a long road ahead to make the house even semi-sealed.
