About Nez Perce County, ID

One of the oddities of this region is that you can have a 10-15 degree temperature swing just by driving from Moscow, ID to Lewiston, ID. They are, quite literally, different micro-climates.

For those that think that the difference in temperature is important, try running in it. I'll be heading out the door in the next hour or so. The weather just outside my door is 26 degrees - cold by our standards.

Moscow is 10 degrees.

The difference for runners or any outdoor athlete is tremendous. Not only can I breathe better down here but I don't have to wear nearly as many layers. Add in the diminished wind (Moscow is frequently blustery) and this is just a more hospitable environment. And no snow on the ground means that I don't have to worry about falling. One of my friends in Moscow slipped on ice several weeks back - ended up with a concussion that took days to clear.

If I want to play in the snow (and I often do), I like driving to it rather than living in it.

Heating can be one of the greatest recurring costs associated with owning a home. The rising cost of fuel doesn't just hit you hard at the gas pumps - it can be a difficult pill to swallow when you get that monthly oil or natural gas bill too. And despite the current downturn in fuel costs, those expenses will rise again. This double whammy has caused many people to think outside of the box and look at options outside of traditional climate control systems.

Some people are a little wary of green heating and cooling systems because they worry that they might have to radically renovate their home in order to accommodate modern apparatus. This is especially in older homes that were built during an era where the fine point of technology was heat emanating from a central source such as a fireplace or woodstove. Fortunately, there are solutions for this type of application.

Ductless, mini-split heat pumps are devices which are sort of like air conditioners, except they also have the ability to move hot air into your home as well as cool, depending on your needs. Instead of sitting in your window like a normal air conditioning unit, this type of heat pump can be installed in place of a stove or a radiator in any room in your house. They can even be mounted flush with the wall or suspended from the ceiling, if that's the kind of look you are going for. Best of all from a renovation standpoint, these systems do not require any ductwork.

Mini-split heat pumps are small and it is usually possible to connect more than one to the exterior heat exchanger, meaning you can heat or cool multiple rooms with the same system. There's no need for any kind of ducting or opening up the walls for anything more than a 3 inch piece of tubing. Each interior unit is individually controlled so in effect you get zoned climate control for your home.

The unit on the outside of your home is a compressor and a condenser. The way it works is by removing hot air from a home in the summer via the evaporation coolant in the indoor unit's coils. This pulls heat out of the air and pumps it to the coils outside your home, where it is released harmlessly into the air. In colder weather, the process is reversed, and the heat that is sucked out of the exterior air is then sent into the home where it gets distributed into each room by the coils of the mini-split unit.

Mini-split ductless heat pumps use simple technology to consume up to 3 times less energy than a standard heating system. If you live in an area with hot summers but chilly winters such as Lewiston ID, then this type of heating system could be a good choice for you - particularly if you want to preserve the look of your home and your sanity by not having to spend months in the dusty world of renovating and contractors.

Current Period 01-01-08 through 12-31-2008 these are just residential SOLDS in the LC Valley
total SOLD: 720 total volume 126,698,706 average price $175,970
One Year Ago SOLD: 976 153,569,078 $157,345
Increase/(Decrease) (256) -26% volume(26,870,372) -17% $18,625 12%

Interest Rates are at a all time low .... Paying rent on property owned by others is not an attractive proposal. Even if you, as a new home owners understand that you may not realize high equity gains for some years, owning a home offers a quality of life that we Americans desire. We are an independent society and having control of our home drives many of us home buyers. Let's talk about owning a home!

In my profile, I mentioned that I am a runner -at least when everything is going well. Every once in a while, things don't quite go according to my plan.

An example; I trail run, often solo (I know, it's dangerous but I'm careful), and will turn 20 or 30 miles. Every year, I like to make the trip down to the Seven Devils Wilderness Area just outside of Riggins, ID. For those of you not around here (and that's most), the Devils are an absolutely spectacular area to hike, fish, horseback ride and camp. It is a family favorite when you want to get away and only a couple of hours from Lewiston ID.

Anyway, back to the topic of unintended consequences. The last time I ran down there, I did the loop trail which is about 28 miles long. Spectacular views. Unfortunately, the picture below came from that run. Why unfortunately? Because there are no major lakes on the loop. My first reaction breaking through the pine that surrounds the lake was "Wow!".

The second was, "Where the heck am I?" Not thoughts you want when your 15 miles into the wilderness and - from experience - I'm pretty well guaranteed not to meet anybody while I'm running.

As I said, I'm careful. With a combination of trail maps and a compass, I was able to figure out that I was at Baldy Lake, well off course.

I ended up turning about 33 miles that day, more than I had planned (but less than I prepared for -I always over-prepare). But sometimes the law of intended consequences works in your favor. It just a matter of recognizing the opportunity before you.

That's the "Wow!" moment that makes it all worthwhile.

I had a client in Lewiston ID recently who closed on a house over by Lewis-Clark State College. Eric, the dad, was active duty military and had only had a few minutes to spare when we did the inspection. His wife was also busy plus they had three kids under the age of four. These were busy, busy parents.

The night that they closed on the house, I got a phone call from Eric. The gas furnace was dead, no good, muerto. 7:30 pm on a Friday night and my clients have no heat with the temperatures supposed to drop to the high 20's that night. Not good at all.

So I bundled up, headed out and went to see what I could do to help. When I got there, the Realtor was already there (which impressed the heck out of me since it was a Friday night!) and the kids were running from room to room having a blast. Eric was out buying new fuses for the current overprotection on the furnace - he and Brian Wilson, the Windermere Allstar Realtor, thought it might be a power problem.

I tested the thermostat first and heard it click to activate when I hit it with a heat demand. Good. But nothing from the furnace. Bad. So I tried turning on the fan from "auto" to "on" to see if I could force the blower to start. Switch worked fine, good. Blower didn't start, also good - I now had a (slim) clue. Brian and Eric were on the right track - it was a power problem.

The next test was to see if the fuse was burned out (newer houses will have a wall switch instead). It looked good but we replaced it anyway. I could track the input power to the junction box and also to the furnace. Into the box was "live" and to the furnace was "dead". And it stayed that way after changing the fuse. Odd, so I did what home inspectors aren't supposed to do - I took apart the junction box.

It turns out that there were two lines into the box and two out but only one was live and they mixed up the two wires so the new stuff was connected to the old feed and vice versa. One line from the electrical panel (supplying the furnace) was dead. Obviously, the breaker at the main panel was off. Easy fix.

We went outside to the breaker panel and I just stopped dead. The panel didn't look right. It had been a couple of months between the original inspection and this particular Friday night. I had forgotten that the house had a Federal Pacific panel that was just fried. Eric had asked for the panel to be replaced and the seller agreed. Brian reminded me of the original panel - It's never good when the inspector is looking confused. I went ahead and opened the new panel, looking for the breaker for the furnace. I looked again.

Then I laughed. When the electrician rewired the panel, he forgot to include the furnace circuit when he did.

We didn't have a furnace problem. We had electrical issues , one easy to fix (on Monday!) It was very much a relief to Eric and his wife and to me as well, plus I had the satisfaction of being of real service to Eric's family and to the Realtor.