Nice, neat, tidy little solutions all wrapped up with a bow

The Husband and I have had a few discussions lately on THE PERFECT SOLUTION. It's like this whole off-grid dream/adventure has been a big flaming question, a wondering, a searching, if it really is possible. And if so, what's THE BEST-est, EASIEST, MOST BUDGET FRIENDLIEST, PERFECT-est way to go. I feel this overwhelming urge to resolve the off-grid, non-petrol-as-possible puzzle. No, not just an overwhelming urge, but more like an insatiable craving. Man, some good chocolate sounds divine. Anyway. I feel like anyone should be able to walk into to her local net-zero home dealer and check off the weather zone, number of family members, and ba-zzz, ba-zzz, ba-zzz, there you go, a nice, neat, tidy little solution all tied up with a bow: the net-zero of all net-zero buildings with non-toxic sealants and adhesives and the most budget-friendly, convenient, meeting all of your off-grid energy needs, including indulgent soaks in a tub of hot water topped off with a thick layer of soft, silky bubbles scented with natural plant essences, homes one could ever be comfortable in til the day she dies. And nary a firewood hauling broken nail and draft to suffer. Well, as they say, hindsight is 20/20, and I've been seeing different off-grid, non-petrol solutions.

What we would have done differently system wise and why?

#1 - Insulation, insulation, insulation, and sealing. I mention it here because it affects the systems performance.

#2 - Outdoor Boiler in lieu of the Masonry Heaters. Pause for Startled Gasp! Shocking, scandalous. I LOVE my heaters. My heater mason was a dream to work with. The heaters do what they are supposed and do it well. You absolutely can heat a house with them. BUT, here's why I'd go with the Outdoor Boiler instead:

a - Hot water and convenience. With an Outdoor Boiler, I could heat both the cabin AND the garden shed AND have PLENTY of hot water AND only deal with firing just the Outdoor Boiler.

That said, the Outdoor Boilers are not as efficient and are nasty, smokey, dirty. My sister and brother-in-law have their outdoor boiler banked into the ground. Love that idea as a solution to make it more efficient. I don't know if there's a cleaner burning option available, but I would opt for that.

b - Wood stove. The only thing that the Masonry Heater isn't good at is a cold night out of the blue. They're like a big ship and it takes time to heat up the mass before it starts heating the space. So, maybe I'd want a wood stove to handle the chillies that pop up now and then.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Remember, during the cabin remodel, things didn't get taken care of the way they should have, specifically, insulation and sealing. (Yes, I already mentioned that but I canNOT stress the importance of a good envelope.)

#3 - Solar hot water for the Summer. This is assuming the system will work. This would give me the Summer off from messing around with firewood. AND with outdoor boilers being nasty, smokey, dirty - in the Summer the windows are open. (Well, at least we try to keep them open. That's another post.)

#4 - Solar - yes. I'd keep that the way we've got it.

#5 - Wind turbine. Again assuming this would work as advertised.

And there you have it. The nice, neat, tidy, little solution all wrapped up with a bow. Of course, results may vary. Wink. UHG. Sorry. This is based on two people in a location where Winter can be mean and the remodel was botched.

Homework

After my new contractors got the insulation and drywall done, they had to run back to Ohio for an important family event. Meanwhile, I have homework. Now that there's insulation and drywall, I'm lighting fires in the upstairs heater. Just small kindling burns to dry out the heater. I've got firewood coming at the beginning of the week. The electrician is coming out Monday to add some wiring for more lights on the front porch and we've got a few "stray" wires hanging around. I think they were inadvertently moved during all the construction chaos. My plumbing helper is back in town today so I'll get a hold of him and we can finish up the rough in plumbing earlier in the week. I have found a bathroom exhaust fan that I like. I emailed a picture of that to The Husband. He likes it so I need to sit down and order it. Keweenaw Specialty Woods will have all the tongue and groove cedar for the ceiling ready this week. When Eric and Jake get back, they're going to start mudding and taping the drywall and putting the cedar on the ceiling. I've got all the flooring picked out and Rowe Furniture here in town is working on getting that for me. The kitchen and some bath fixtures are sitting in 41 Lumber's warehouse. The remainder of the bath stuff is already at the cabin. I think I'm going to go ahead and bite the bullet on the bathroom ceiling material. Originally, I wanted to put Metallaire up in both the kitchen and the bathroom. It is way too expensive. It would cost darn near what the entire underside of the roof is costing for the tongue and groove cedar. The kitchen ceiling will also have tongue and groove. It will flow better which is important in a small home. However, the bathroom does have a door and it's really the only "room" in the house. Everything else is open. I was planning on going out to the cabin again today and clean but I've got a cold that is just kicking my butt. This germ fest started Wednesday. I didn't feel too bad when I got up yesterday but after messing around at the cabin yesterday (all week, for that matter) and running around town a little, it's starting to feel fatal. I haven't decided yet or not if I'm going to have a hot toddy and just curl up into a little ball and snooze the cold away or if I'm going to gut out about another half day of work again today. Really, I NEED to rest so I can be good to go again because there's lots to get done. Why is it so hard to rest when we really need to? Maybe if I pull the covers over my head the germs won't see me and they'll just go away.

Fire in the hole

Seriously, what is it about fire that brings out the cave woman in me. I just want to point and jump around while donning hides. Oh, I'm the only one that feels that way? Is it too late to take it back after it's said out loud? Oh well. UH, FIRE, UH!

System specs *Geek alert*

So The Husband was raised by and in a pack of engineers. Sometimes, I think it would have been easier to deal with him if it had been a pack of wolves. Communication with an extreme right brainer is what I imagine things were like for those around Helen Keller before the water pump break through. Here's what The Husband told his family about what we're doing in The Secret Cabin but be forewarned there's lots of "Geek Speak."

We plan to heat the cabin with 2 masonry heaters, one in the basement, and one on the main floor. They will be stacked on top of each other. Masonry heaters work by lighting a wood fire in the heater, which burns for about 1 1/2 hours. The fire burns very hot (no creosote due to the high temperatures). After the fire goes out, the heater continues to radiate heat for the next 24 hours or so because the large masonry mass which absorbed heat from the fire is gradually releasing it. In the downstairs heater, it will also have a water pipe going thru it, and that is how we will heat our water during 9 months out of the year. The remaining 3 months, we are either going to use solar hot water or the smallest electric on demand water heater we can find. Cellular service is almost nonexistent. If you stand in the loft and hold the cell phone to your head just right, you can get a signal. So the plan is to buy a cellular base station that I can hook an external antenna up to, and aim the antenna at the cell phone tower. It should work. For electricity, we are going to be off grid. I have a solar system sitting in the barn in Gibsonburg, just waiting to go up to Calumet. I have 8 Evergreen 205 watt panel, for a little over 1.6Kw worth of power. With the almost 2 hours worth of sun per day predicted up in Calumet during the winter (the worst time for sun), we should be producing about 3Kwh of power per day, or about 90Kwh per month. These panels will be attached to the top of an 8 inch pole. The electricity from the panels will be wired for about 90 volts DC and go to 2 Xantrex mppt charge controllers, which charge the batteries via outputting the best voltage and amperage for the batteries. This may change several times a minute, depending on clouds, time of day, etc. I have 12 Concorde AGM 2 volt batteries, that are about 950 amps apiece. Each battery weighs about 100 pounds, so the total battery bank is about 1200 pounds. The batteries will be wired for 24 volts. Theoretically, depending how much electricity Bheki uses, the batteries should last 3-6 days with no sunlight before they get down to about 50 percent charged. The more you discharge the batteries, the more you shorten the lifespan of the batteries. You really really try not to discharge the batteries below 50 percent. The batteries should last at least 8 years, hopefully closer to 15 before they need replacing. The solar panels should last at least 25 years, if not longer. So we have electricity sitting in the batteries. At this point, the battery output goes into a Xantrex 4024 inverter. This inverter puts out 4000 watts and 240 volts. The inverter output will be wired into a regular service panel (breaker box) in the house. At that point, all the wiring in the house is the same as any other house. It will run a submersible pump, lights, tv, computer, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, and possibly, in the summer a very small electric heater (the smallest on demand point of use water heaters pull about 3500 watts, so they are close to the limits of the inverter). Do I expect to save money by being off grid and not using any propane or natural gas? No, I think it actually costs more to do things this way. We may never reach the point where we save more than we spent on the systems. But by the same token, you could say any money you spend on a car that has more than the bare necessities is not financially smart, yet I do it. I use a computer that costs more than comparable computers. I guess my philosophy is I vote with my money, and I am voting for this lifestyle. I didn't mean to get into philosophy, sorry. I spec'd out the system myself, and plan to install the system myself. I took an installers class at Owens a couple of years ago. It was very informative. If anybody is curious, the photovoltaic system cost about $20,000, minus a tax credit of about 6,000 for a total of $14,000 out of pocket. If you figure a 25 year lifespan on the system with 1 battery change, that would be about 680/year or 57 dollars a month, assuming the inverter or charge controllers do not need any maintenance.

Schew. As an additional note here to what The Husband's listed as expenses, the initial quote to bring electric back from the road was $8000. When all was said and done, it was expected that it would be higher than $8,000. Do I feel a panic attack coming on when I see the numbers? Yes. Would I do it this way all over again? Yes. Am I claiming that everyone can afford this? Hell no. It pinches, hurts, and leaves a little bruise. But, what if from the time I got my very first apartment, I had matched my electric bill and put it in my piggy bank? At least this way, FOR US, we're "walking OUR walk," we've paid our future electric bills in advance, we have physical property to show for it, and well, when the grid goes down, we don't.

Hollywood Hell Week

Except not in Hollywood and no future singing sensations. Where is Simon Cowell when you need him? I'm on week 2 at the cabin. Last week was ugly. Job foreman would NOT listen, gave me a lot of grief, and was just plain snark-y. I blew up and swore like a sailor. It didn't work. Unless, I was going for high blood pressure readings. When things weren't ready for the heater mason, I called the construction company owner and told him things weren't going well. Didn't get much response so I brought in a couple of guys to help me. Nope, not to proud to pick men up off the street. When owner got there yesterday morning, I let him know he lost the additional work we have and that he'd have to earn the next stage of the job. He said that wasn't fair. I told him that he'd learn to take me seriously and that's the way it was going to go. So going for the wallet worked and I got more guys and everyone got the lead out and busted butt and the job got caught up. So, I'm thinking positively now and expect things to go well. Here's a little sneak peak at the lower level heater. This is after like 5 hours of work - and they had to set up all their stuff including shoveling dirt to be able to get into the basement and move all their block by hand because I couldn't get the job foreman to do it.