About Steve
Celebrated 30 years married to
Lisa! Ready for 30 more.
Steve manages HEA's amazing technical & energy
coaching teams to keep our HomeIntel service
running as smoothly as possible, while dealing with the vagaries of the energy utilities we work with.
The latter challenge consumed much of Steve's time in 2019, causing much [unnecessary] frustration.
He continued volunteering locally to promote "beneficial electrification" -- the shift from
gas cars to EVs, and from natural gas appliances to more efficient electric heat pumps.
This is an urgent global challenge, but we saw good progress in 2019 related to
all-electric "Reach" codes for new CA buildings, and increased interest in electric vehicles. Yay!
running as smoothly as possible, while dealing with the vagaries of the energy utilities we work with.
The latter challenge consumed much of Steve's time in 2019, causing much [unnecessary] frustration.
He continued volunteering locally to promote "beneficial electrification" -- the shift from
gas cars to EVs, and from natural gas appliances to more efficient electric heat pumps.
This is an urgent global challenge, but we saw good progress in 2019 related to
all-electric "Reach" codes for new CA buildings, and increased interest in electric vehicles. Yay!
Guest lecturer for two Stanford classes.
Also
invited to judge engineering projects at both
Stanford and Foothill (local community college)
invited to judge engineering projects at both
Stanford and Foothill (local community college)
Amateur electrician: Here disconnecting a 220V generator with Eric at Nan's ranch in Texas so we could sell it. (Measure voltage thrice, cut once)
WVO Smudge Pot Firepit pioneer! Achieved over 900F.... but not all kinks quite yet worked out.
Avid trail runner, but now shorter &
slower.
Completed his last (?) 35k trail run in Woodside,
far behind Justine -- who did the 50k version
Completed his last (?) 35k trail run in Woodside,
far behind Justine -- who did the 50k version
Lots of biking this year; below doing some
adventure biking during the first of two fun trips to
Fort Bragg about 4 hours north of SF
More odd biking methods during mountain biking
trip along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Trying to avoid driving.
Steve's fashion sense really becomes
apparent during wet biking weather
Challenge: New garbage fees if trucks have to come up the driveway. Rejuvenated EV to the rescue!
Dad taught me there's a tool for every task.
This one's used to figure out where to drill a hole
through the roof of Justine's car for the bike rack
Installed a new Heat Pump Water Heater,
replacing the old natural gas one.
Amazingly efficient with a COP of 3.5
Hired experts to install a new Heat Pump Space Conditioner, replacing the old gas furnace & AC.
Amazingly efficient: produces 420 BTUs of heat for every 100 BTUs of electricity it consumes (!)
Refurbished clothesline holder & a new "can't get
the stump out so it's now a table" in the back yard
Touring Mendenhall Glacier outside Juneau,
after driving to Alaska with Justine
Steve drove the new Tesla 8,000 miles, much of it with Lisa, and another portion with Eric
Did you know you could sleep in a Tesla?
And if you add a hitch you can tow a trailer
(thought cutting a big hole in the body panel
is scary... measure 10 times, cut once)
during his 40th reunion in Massachusetts
Got to visit big sister Liz near St Louis
The high Sierras are one of Steve's favorite places to bushwhack
(Another 30 years? Sign me up.)
Steve continues to worry about Climate Change, but has made stunning reductions
in his personal carbon footprint (see below) while still leading a pretty amazing life (see above).
This gives him hope.
