Data, Data, Data

Sure, it's a little unromantic, but I like data.

Charging up there with axe in hand and doing my best Dick Proenneke*** impression is one way to go about it.

But we have the opposite of what Dick had: he had lots of free time, granted by choice as he made the time.  But we don't have that much free time, not drop it all and move to Alaska type of free time.  Since we're bout 90 minutes from "the cabin site", it means we need to spend more time planning and thinking before we stick a shovel in the ground or axe in a tree.  (It also allows us a mental retreat.  Standing in line at the bank, or post office: launch Evernote on one's Droid and add notes about an aspect of the project, then read that night after the kids are in bed - ah, Living the Dream).

***Who is Dick Proenneke?  Watch this and prepare to get humbled.



So, back to our reality.  I can't up and leave my job and kids and other things, so planning is part of what we'll be doing so that we  maximize the effectiveness of our time on site, and best achieve our project Goals.

What do you need to begin to formulate a plan?

1) Goals 
2) Wisdom
3) Data

Goals:  Our goals were stated in our first blog post: a place to enjoy that's safe, comfortable and inviting for our family.  A Design that emphasizes the strengths of the site that doesn't break the bank, and that balances our time and does the least harm on its surroundings.

Wisdom: I trust I'll be more wise once I'm done with this project, but for now I'm learning a lot by reading about the projects of other cabin owners on the forums of www.small-cabin.com  For building methods, alternative power, and off-grid living, there are numerous online resources that I'll share and link to in future blog posts, as well as books I've bought and read on these topics.   For interior layout, since when we're inside the structure it has to work for us, we've read planbooks voraciously for years, and I've got some new cabin plan books on my nightstand.

Sidebar: don't let yourself get too myopic.  Some of the design ideas my wife sends via her daily "links to view emails" are often fantastic vacation homes and retreats.  By fantastic I mean not only beautiful, but fantastically Engineered (and therefore likely out of our budget and building skills and site limitations - no crane for us!):

source

But this one was good to see.  Their barn door on steel beam may not be reasonable for us, but it reminded me of the sliding doors/exterior screens on Michelle Kaufmann's Glidehouse that I read about years ago:

Source

Sometimes what my wife sends are fantastically energy inefficient designs since they're often from beach-front or tropical climates (she has a thing for the beach, you see) that won't fit for our locale.  So, we read it all and take it in.  Try it.  It will stretch your horizons, you can find beauty in them all --- but pulling the wisdom from those who've done things most like what you may end up doing is important, I believe.  Which brings us to...

Data:  to me, this is about the specificity of the site; namely of distilling the Wisdom (materials, methods, insights, techniques, hind-sights) of other people and projects to fit our site specifics.   Examples:

• I know what the official government charts says for Solar Insolation for our approximate location, but wouldn't it be nice to have a device recording actual levels observed on our site?  This will drive PV calculations, and confirm the passive solar ideas going on in our heads. 
• I know what the official government charts say for wind in our area, but wouldn't it be nice to have a device recording and uploading the actual levels observed on our site?  This will clarify wind-power options and also let us know the seasonal weather seen at the site for prioritizing storm windows/doors and extra wind-proofing.  We've never built on a bluff before, but the vegetation all growing a bit out of plumb is a clue...
• Same for rainfall.
• Same for temperature.

So, all that is to say...   currently in the works is a project that will place on site with 4G intenet access back to the world:

• a weather station (PWS)
• motion sensitive IP cameras
• wind and solar power readings and data logging

Ok, so the cameras are also about staying pumped.  I remember some of the first effective online cameras were in use by ski resorts.  There was nothing like, in the weeks leading up to a ski vacation, checking the resort's "ski cams" and getting stoked about the fresh powder falling in view of the camera.  I'm hoping to tap into the visual connection here as well.   We'll see, if it works, we'll put a widget in the gutter with a view from the cam(s).

I'm building a small PV and possibly wind system to power all of this, that too will be a learning process.  My goal is to not use throw-away components, rather a system I can scale later to power the cabin itself.  I'll post what I built, who I sourced things from, what I learned, and why I chose what I did.  Thereby sharing the little bit of wisdom I pick up, with you.