Autumn 2011 update.

Last weekend we had our first substantial snow fall of the year- strangely early for central New York State. However, unlike last year at this time I have one enclosed and insulated house to work inside of - very nice indeed!  That said, I am not moved in yet as anticipated.  Ahh well, if there is anything I have learned thus far it’s that things take longer to do than first anticipated.

Excluding some shelving and furniture carpentry, I have completed most of the woodworking projects. Last week I finally installed my stainless steel counter top, dropped in my sink basin, and built a dish rack and/ draining board.  This has a wonderful affect on the space making it feel substantially closer to completion than it did previously.

This means that the learning curve will get steeper from here on out as I confront the electrical and plumbing aspects of the project.  I am tackling questions such as, what sort of ventilation will I want, what voltage will I run, what quality of lighting can really be created with the available 12 volt technology (i like a warm well-lit environment), and what cocktail of electricity, DC or AC will best fit my lifestyle.  I have had many conversations with electricians, off-the-grid enthusiasts, solar electric installers and retail sales people, and everyone has their own perspective true to the scenario they are holding in mind. But is it my scenario? At this point I am leaning toward 12 Volt DC system to run the Nova Cool fridge and MR16 halogen or LED bulbs, and a 1000 watt true sign wave inverter to power some AC circuits, enabling me to use basic standard appliances.  I will be able to say much more about this after living with the system for a year, so stay tuned. If anyone has experience, feel free to post your opinions. I will try to get some current photos up soon. Thanks for reading.