Solar power in Northern Idaho (Coeur d'Alene, Hayden: homes, employment, to buy)

[mom2JJz]

I was wondering if the locals who have solar powered homes could give me some info on how well solar power works for you in the winter. Also I was interested to know a ball park of how expensive it is to implement wind generated power as a back up and if having a generator or wind powered backup is more efficient. We are specifically looking to move to in or around the Sandpoint area.

Thanks!

[brokencrayola]

Don't you need sun for solar power??? Don't personally know of anyone that runs their whole house, unless it is a very tiny cabin on solar power.

[janab]

That's the only way to go if starting from ground. My friends up the road a couple miles are off the grid and they have no problems with solar. There are battery banks that store for those cloudy days. They also live up in the trees. So just do your homework. PS: their phone service is cell phones.

[mistyriver]

We live off the grid on solar power. We do use a generator to charge batteries in the winter, expecially since we have livestock and need to keep water troughs open. If we didn't have livestock we could most likely make it without the gen backup.
A lot of people are off the grid up here. My husband is an electrical engineer who specializes in alternative energy and we also have one of the top alternative energ retailers in the country here: Backwoods Solar.
We don't get cell service where we live but we have regular phone service.

[mistyriver]

They look kind of sad, don't they?

[breer23]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

They look kind of sad, don't they?

Looks much better than having a power station outside your door step! Kudos!

[mom2JJz]

Originally Posted by mistyriverranch

They look kind of sad, don't they?

Very cool! So how does it work when they get snowed on, do you have to go out and dust the snow off? Also, how long do these systems hold up in your weather up there?

[Sandpointian]

mom2JJz,
You seem like a spirited woman, enthusiastic for a new place to set down the tent. I applaud your effort to go directly after those things that appeal to you in a community. People don't do enough research before they move. However, allow me to make a few suggestions that may lead to a successful move to Sandpoint or XXX.

1. Pile up the research on your own. Blogs should fill in the cracks, but the bricks are not in anecdotes but in hard data on the economy, taxes, businesses, voting patterns, jobs, weather, etc.

2. If you are in it for the long haul, then it behooves you to make it a prolonged visit to Sandpoint or in lieu fof that, multiple visits spanning the seasons, with husband in tow. See what life is like to commute (if you need to do that), go to the store/market to buy food, to experience the flood of tourists, to hang out a couple of local joints across the income spectrum. Do so quietly and attentively, without the leading questions and adverse selection issues that tend to drive people to see only what they want to see. You will get a great feeling for Sandpoint, its hidden charms and its ongoing problems.

3. Your husband should do his due diligence. Sandpoint is a small fraction the size of Phoenix. Lacking critical mass, we may not have work for him. He may have to move further South to Hayden or Coeur d'Alene, both of which I enjoy for what they are.

4. Be 150% honest with your finances. Do you know your net worth? Retirement goals? Cash flow? How you will finance your kids' college? Have you examined your investment portfolio and created a plan on how to effect a comfortable retirement? All these things need to be carefully considered when moving to an area that can offer only modest employment opportunities. If you have $3-$4 million in the bank in liquid financial assets, then you are excused from the exercise. All others need a good financial plan couple with a lasting intrafamily financial discourse that regularly revisits goals, decisions and habits.

5. Note that locals are somewhat skeptical about excessive enthusiasm of newcomers. Don't take it personally, it is just that the more enthusiastic, the more the move to Sandpoint becomes an escape from ills or an effort to reach some utopian construct. These folks follow the pattern of shooting stars: extreme embrace of Sandpoint followed by a quick decline and eventually departure. Sandpoint, well at least for me, gets to your soul and does so in small moments. In that way, it is like marriage--the best ones bear no resemblance to what magazines and "experts" try to tell you is ideal. Sandpoint is less lust and fling, and more like 70 year olds on a porch swing enjoying the act of enjoying.

Come visit.

[mom2JJz]

Originally Posted by Sandpointian

mom2JJz,
You seem like a spirited woman, enthusiastic for a new place to set down the tent. I applaud your effort to go directly after those things that appeal to you in a community. People don't do enough research before they move. However, allow me to make a few suggestions that may lead to a successful move to Sandpoint or XXX.

1. Pile up the research on your own. Blogs should fill in the cracks, but the bricks are not in anecdotes but in hard data on the economy, taxes, businesses, voting patterns, jobs, weather, etc.

2. If you are in it for the long haul, then it behooves you to make it a prolonged visit to Sandpoint or in lieu fof that, multiple visits spanning the seasons, with husband in tow. See what life is like to commute (if you need to do that), go to the store/market to buy food, to experience the flood of tourists, to hang out a couple of local joints across the income spectrum. Do so quietly and attentively, without the leading questions and adverse selection issues that tend to drive people to see only what they want to see. You will get a great feeling for Sandpoint, its hidden charms and its ongoing problems.

3. Your husband should do his due diligence. Sandpoint is a small fraction the size of Phoenix. Lacking critical mass, we may not have work for him. He may have to move further South to Hayden or Coeur d'Alene, both of which I enjoy for what they are.

4. Be 150% honest with your finances. Do you know your net worth? Retirement goals? Cash flow? How you will finance your kids' college? Have you examined your investment portfolio and created a plan on how to effect a comfortable retirement? All these things need to be carefully considered when moving to an area that can offer only modest employment opportunities. If you have $3-$4 million in the bank in liquid financial assets, then you are excused from the exercise. All others need a good financial plan couple with a lasting intrafamily financial discourse that regularly revisits goals, decisions and habits.

5. Note that locals are somewhat skeptical about excessive enthusiasm of newcomers. Don't take it personally, it is just that the more enthusiastic, the more the move to Sandpoint becomes an escape from ills or an effort to reach some utopian construct. These folks follow the pattern of shooting stars: extreme embrace of Sandpoint followed by a quick decline and eventually departure. Sandpoint, well at least for me, gets to your soul and does so in small moments. In that way, it is like marriage--the best ones bear no resemblance to what magazines and "experts" try to tell you is ideal. Sandpoint is less lust and fling, and more like 70 year olds on a porch swing enjoying the act of enjoying.

Come visit.

Great advice! You sure made me think about alot of other aspects I wasn't considering. Thank you!

[DESERTRYDER]

Sandpointian.

That last post was the most thoughtfull thing I ever read on this website.
Thank you for posting that.
I count my money a hundred times but it won't matter if I waste it moving around America looking for nervana.