Eric Walker

  • Over the weekend to help me get to the shed office without completely jumping from dry ground to try ground I tossed some boards from the rink to make a little walkway. Only to find out today with the rain and more ice melting I did not make this boardwalk long enough. 🙄

    A backyard scene featuring a small house-like shed in the background with a path leading up to it. In the foreground, there is a makeshift wooden walkway over a patch of muddy ground. To the left, there is a partially constructed hockey rink with a net set up on the grass nearby. The area is surrounded by leafless trees and other houses.

  • Every day between 8-9 AM, the sun shines through this window and glares on my computer screen and it is well.. terrible. Well, problem solved now! 😅

    A blanket with cartoon bear designs and heart patterns hangs on a door. Nearby, a cap with “East Champs” is displayed, along with a child’s painting and light switches.

  • Shed Office Heating Upgrade

    On a whim last week I decided I needed to get a little more heat flowing in the Shed Office as the electric heaters I have works great until the temps at night get down to -10ºF as it is a little too much for them to keep up even blasting all night (which I don’t love doing). So some mornings I would wake up to 32ºF in the shed and if when I woke up I turned the heaters on it would take some time (sometimes half the day) to get the shed to a OK temp of in the high 40ºF so I could come out and then work. Because of that somedays I would just bail and try to work from the house.

    A couple weeks back I got a email with a deal on a mini propane heater that is for “Indoor / Outdoor use”, however in the fine print is it ONLY supposed to be used indoors in an Emergency. After considering it I decided to pick one up as it was not overly expensive. Also, yes, heating my Shed Office so I can work is an emergency 😆. The heater is pretty basic as it is just a radiant propane heater instead of a forced air one so the nice thing is I can keep my other heaters going and not draw any other electricity. In a way it might have been nice to have one with a blower, I have actually been happy with how this is working with out a fan.

    After using it from time to time over the course of the past week, it has been just great. I mean today is a great example where I forgot to have the electric heaters stay on longer last night as I normally have them reduce the temp overnight in an attempt to not just waste electricity. However, seeing how it got in the the negative temperatures last night I woke up this morning to a 32ºF shed. So after I got our youngest on the bus I went out to fire up my mini propane heater. In the course of the next hour that I let it run it increased the temperature from 32ºF to 57ºF which is more than comfortable for me.

    A portable heater emits a warm orange glow, connected by a hose to a propane tank, situated on a black mat in a well-equipped garage.

    Just to note, I do not leave this on over the night and it is only used to kind of get my shed to a warm state when I am nearby. Otherwise, I keep everything off and propane tank is off too.

  • Today feels like an inside the house workday seeing how it is fairly cold outside, and the shed office is a bit cooler than I’d like. I could head to a local office we have that I have visited once but this is highly unlikely since it’d mean braving the cold to start the car and drive.

    Graph displaying temperatures over time. Shed Office is 32°F, Eden Prairie is -20.2°F. The blue and white lines represent temperature changes from 07:00 to 06:00.

  • Is it a good morning? 🥶 I guess I am inside with a hot cup of coffee with little plans to do much more outside today than shuttle kids to some games.

    Weather display shows a sun icon indicating sunny conditions, with text reading “Good Morning,” temperature at -11°C, and a wind chill of -20°C, on a dark gradient background.

  • With it being 85°F outside today I was pleasantly surprised that the shed “office” stayed hovering around 70°F. I know the summer is just upon us but it has given me some hope that I might not have to upgrade my small AC unit yet and the insulation from last fall can get me through this summer. 🤞

  • Shed Office faired out well with temps last night around 20°F. I turned the heaters on full at 6:30 am and by the time I made it out by 7:45 it was comfortable. The only misleading part of the Shed temperature below is that the thermometer is near the floor.

  • Does anyone use anything or recommend a product to monitor electricity usage? I am not opposed to hooking it up to a breaker panel to get a bigger picture but also wouldn’t be opposed if it is just a outlet specific.

  • Weather is not looking good for someone who didn’t get his hockey boards setup.. I am going to still tell myself there will be warm days ahead in December. 🤨

    Also, this next weeks weather will be a good test on the shed office insulation.

  • ✅ Another task completed for Project Shed! It is now insulated and ready for the Minnesota winters.

    Still a little messy but this will do for now.

  • Another step in the right direction with Project Shed. After the successful test the past week I figured out with my new router and satellites to back haul a satellite from the shed to the house. Now we are all on one network again.

  • Another task partially completed in the long Project Shed list. Finally connected the hard wire to the house. Currently using an old router for the shed till I test out if the new mesh satellite will work. Next I should do something with the wires acrosss the shed floor 😆

  • In the “office” today 😁. Much warmer than the other day though as I have two heaters and ran it for 20 min before coming outside. Outside temp is 27°F and inside the shed is 48°F. Better but really need some insulation I believe.

  • Not what I was hoping to do for 4 hrs this afternoon but I got the mound of dirt (clay) flattened and smoothed out as well as I could.

    Phase 1 of Project shed is complete ✅ Trench dug ✅ Electric dropped and connected ✅ Internet Cable dropped ✅ Trench filled

  • Unannounced Electricians… I am OK with it

    Project “Shed” is quickly taking shape with the electricians stopping by unannounced and ready to string it all up 😁

    This also required me to make quick work during a break in my day to cut out some sections of my garage drywall. This also, brings up a good question on why those three sections are the only ones with insulation 🤨… The interesting things you find in old houses.

  • Weekend shed trenching project was a success but I underestimated the amount the workers left for me today 🤦‍♂️

  • Just like that operation “shed” project is full steam ahead as the electricians are at work. Now that means I have work to do this weekend 😬.

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