hi bruuunooo we live just down the road in kaukauna. you should frame it with with 2 x 6 then put 2 x 4 strapping across them to give you a 7; thick wall. this will elimenate the thermal bridging. then fill it with spray foam.. walls and ceiling. you will be glad you did even though it costs more. fiberglass insulation lets air filter through think of it as a great stock investment but it will payback with lower heating/ cooling bills for lifetime. also get triple pane windows, skylights are terrible heat wasters but solar tubes are great. make sure you put in a 90% or better heat ecovery unit. make sure your builder is enegy star listed make sure you have some roof facing due south for solar panels put solar water or hot air in, you will love it. go to builditsolar.com this site is great, lots of info on renewables and home construction. also next weekend june 20-22 is the MREA energy fair in Custer (stevens point). go to it, there are lots of people will ro answers lots of your questions o energy and building.,,,, mrea.com good luck gary

Joy--the tile like that in the "no cab" option was just a software issue. I wouldn't do that, but doing something that looked right would take some thought. Your idea is interesting. Buehl--yeah, #2 just looks lonely, huh? You made me LOL too! Brianandarnell--I've been starting to feel weighed down by the decisions. Someone else used the term "decision prison" recently (Fori maybe? Marcolo?) and I yelled "that's me!" when I read it. Very good description. Oldhouse--I've always liked the look of a cab sitting on the counter too. I struggled with finding the right granite (loved Bianco Antico), but have settled on some 4cm Carrara for at least part of the counters. I'm back and forth for exactly what to do. Today I'm leaning towards a wood island counter with Carrara perimeters/peninsula. I've decided to focus on one issue at a time instead of getting jumbled up in so many things that need to be decided. Thanks for the encouragement. Flwrs--I like the hutch for those reasons too. Thanks for the vote on the finishes. Isle2isle--I do have a lot of counterspace there, huh? I'm SOOOOO excited! A dark island does make sense, but am wondering about it being trendy. Oh well, you can't NOT be trendy somehow or another. I'm planning on doing my final storage inventory this weekend now that I've decided on the two windows and less uppers on that wall. If I don't have enough storage for dishes and glasses (which I don't think I do), I'll go for the glass front hutch to the counter. Ohhuuuhhh....just thought of another decision. One door on that hutch or two???? Prison bars closing in.... ;)

nancy - it's great! the first morning tho I forgot about it being there and was confused not to see the sky out my window! I was half asleep still (still in bed) - my curtain in the bedroom is always partially pulled back. if you know the cost of the product - and the price of it being put down then you'll know what you are being charged for the carpet pull up and plywood. maybe someone could do it for a better price (the carpet and plywood). I'm sure you'll love it with the carpet out - that's what I'm hoping to do. depends on the prices tho.

Agreed Bry, that's a great point. In renovation or replacement comparison situations when a household is consistently using the baseline allowance, using the next tier rate up would be more accurate. It's also tough figuring out how much of the minimum monthly gas fee to include. I would guess the water heater may account for ~50% of usage so more accurate water heater gas costs would be somewhere near $302. Much tougher figuring the added comfort and space conditioning benefits of a HPWH and if the gas combustion appliance is naturally vented, there is probably added moisture and potentially health costs involved. For new construction, not knowing specific situations I think average kwh rates are where to start, and it's only the most energy intensive homes that would recover new infrastructure costs. Those outliers might be wise to improve the design. An energy rater would be helpful for plan specific comparisons. Mr. Fudd's Tier 2 kicks in at 202 kwh, lower than baseline allowances I saw digging around on the PG&E site. It must be an energy intensive area because most Tier 2 levels I saw were higher. This suggests the averages I linked to are close. Most tier talk for PG&E (serving a third of CA households according to this page) is about to be irrelevant as they are transitioning to Time Of Use rates for everyone. This makes sense for the increasingly renewable electric grid. For example, it will encourage electric vehicle owners to charge during off-peak hours and will keep electric water heating costs competitive with gas, even for replacement situations and even in places of high electric/ low gas rates. This requires the effort of putting a timing control device on a tank water heater, something those with basic electrical skills could DIY. Tying this back to topic, new construction skipping air-conditioning could use electric resistance (or heat pump) radiant floor heating during off-peak hours. The floor mass releases heat during on-peak hours of the day and an efficient envelope would keep it in. No combustion inside home necessary and cost effective if done right. A guy is doing it off-grid in Saskatchewan so it might be easy in CA. Here's a link to the controller he built for the PV to electric resistance radiant floor (or battery) interface.