cabins...

I'm sitting in a log cabin in the Sierras thinking.... I've stayed in a two really nice remote (Sierras and middle of Alaska) cabins in the past year that were really more homes than cabins. Not "really nice" as in Tom Cruise is looking at buying the place, but really nice as in log cabins, large, nicely built and homely. Both cabins have been off the grid with wood heat & solar/wind systems (I think the Alaska cabin also had an oil heater stove though I didn't touch it). Having a cabin / country home is ultimately something I'd like to do (yes, I did just put a 12-volt solar system into the A-frame at the cabin, but that's quite small scale) so it's nice "try out" other peoples cabins and see what works, what you like, what you'd change, etc....

Electricity: If there is an option to hook up to electrical, do you take it? Even just as a back up for the solar / wind? Instead of running a generator if / when the solar system gets run down, you could use the municipal electricty to charge the batteries? What if it costs $5000? There are of course praticality issues (cost, electric heat option) and environmental issues. Probably more environmentally friendly to use municipal electricty to occasionaly make up power shortfalls / charge batteries rather than running a generator, but then you can't truly claim to be off the grid.

Cooking: There are 3 options as I see them. Wood, gas & electric. Wood is the most labor instensive, but can also provide heat and hot water, which is particularly useful in the winter, but not as much in the summer (still need hot water). If there is a municipal electric hook up, do you use that to run the stove / oven? Or go gas and accept that propane tanks will have to be filled at least a few times a year.

Heat: The cabin I'm in right now just has a wood stove (with water heater). Though there is lots of snow outside, I'm also in California at 3000' and there aren't many really really cold winter days (-20 C would be abnormally cold). It's a bit different in Canada where -30 C days are not uncommon. The wood stove option requires constant attention (at a bare minimum twice a day) unless the place is designed to freeze (i.e., is there full-time running water?). Which takes me to one of my future hobbies and possibly jobs at some point in the distant future: geothermal. I've read up on it a bit, but need to get more into it. But I think a small geothermal system could run off of a solar system and provide a base level of heating? Might not be the be all end all when temperatures drop much below freezing, but could be designed to keep a country place above freezing year round? If you're only going to a place on weekends in the middle of winter, there is a big difference between showing up and the place being +8C and the place being -23C. Of course if the choice above was to get a hookup to the municipal electric, then a single baseboard heater would keep the place from freezing over the unoccupied winter days for a few hundred dollars a season?

Hot Water: Again comes down to wood, gas or electric. Could have a wood option / pre-warmer regardless, but how rustic does one want to go? I know the cabin I'm in right now has wood fire heated water only and let's just say the fire didn't really keep going over night and I didn't shower this morning and the water was very luke warm when doing dishes. An on demand electric heater in the kitchen and bathroom might be a good option, but would require the municipal electrical connection. On-demand gas would similarly require the periodic delivery of propane.

I think it really comes down to is this a cabin or a home. A cabin I could deal with draining water lines in the winter and then having only wood and solar. But if this is a place you want to live and work out of for extending periods of time even in the winter months, then, personally, my requirements go up. Yes, I'm a spoiled westerner. I often chuckle to myself in an embarassed way when I'm travelling in a developing country and realize only the tourist places have hot water. Yet, here I am saying that it really is a necessity. So assuming a country place would be a place I'd want to stay for MORE than the odd weekend in the winter, my current thoughts are:

- solar / wind system (power, lights, geothermal system, groundwater pumps, laundry?, dishwasher?) w/ generator backup or municipal electrical backup depending upon availability / cost of hookup
- geothermal system for heat (a paired well configuration since I am a hydrogeologist) to heat hot-water radiators thoughout building
- large central wood stove w/ water heater and "some" cook top option (not designed as cook stove, but can still do some cooking)
- gas range (wood stove could be used for some cooking when the fire is going - i.e., probably not in August)
- gas water heaters in kitchen & bath (wood stove should provide hot enough water for showers / sink, but again, fire won't be burning at 8AM in August)

Obviously some numbers to be crunched above to make things work, but just babble...

P.S. a good Canadian govt site about geothermal - http://www.canren.gc.ca/tech_appl/index.asp?CaId=3&PgId=8