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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
The Lake Superior home of Jim and Ann Megas is about an hour from Canyon Falls Roadside Park, which honors Anton J. Marusich, Ann’s father. A special photovoltaic film applied to the roof is the energy generator that charges up the batteries in the small house next to the main home.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
The wooden floors are made of hickory while the log walls are Norway or red pine harvested from the region. The stone fireplace, which runs on propane, is remote controlled.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
A first-class location with beautiful frontage on the lake is echoed by the high-class materials used inside the home.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
The home has wireless Internet access, mainly powered by the solar electrical system.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
The kitchen sports stainless steel appliances, a ceiling fan and custom hickory cabinetry.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
Sugar-sand beaches give gentle access to Lake Superior from the L’Anse, Michigan, home. From here it is a short walk to the mouth of the Huron River.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
A propane generator is both backup and main power for some items.
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Jim Megas
Building an Off-the-Grid Home
Storage batteries link to the solar-power system. The system turns the 48-volt Direct Current (DC) of photovoltaic power into 110-volt Alternating Current (AC), which is what comes out of most of U.S. electrical outlets.
The dream location that Jim Megas found for a second home has everything.
The two-acre lot east of L’Anse, Michigan, has million-dollar views of the Huron Islands in front and Mount Arvon, Michigan’s highest peak, behind it. It has gorgeous sugar-sand beach frontage on Lake Superior, plentiful nearby fishing and hiking and privacy – “Deer, moose and bald eagles are your most likely visitors,” Jim says.
What it does not have is access to conventional electricity.
So when Jim built his one-of-a-kind log home, he invested in state-of-the-art off-the-grid systems.
“Jim’s a pioneer,” says Dan Perkins, owner of Dan Perkins Construction Inc. in Ishpeming, the company that installed the metal roof with the photovoltaic film for solar-generated electricity.
Dan, an expert in the field who recently gave a presentation on photovoltaic film at a roofing conference in Las Vegas, has embraced the film. He predicts it will replace solar panels made from silicone crystals.
“Thin film photovoltaic cells consume less energy in their manufacturing process and ultimately this will make them more affordable,” he says.
Dan enthusiastically and comfortably sprinkles electrons, photons and microns into a conversation about roofing and foresees a day when “the entire skin of a building would be fully photovoltaic.”
Jim’s house has a metal roof with a steep pitch that at this latitude takes the best year-round advantage of the sun while easily sloughing the heavy Upper Peninsula snows off even when no one is home. The pitch, or slope, on this roof is 12/12, which indicates that the roof rises 12 inches for every 12 inches that it runs. This is about the steepest pitch for a residential home.
The roof has an Energy Star paint system that keeps it cool in summer and is very energy efficient, Dan says. For now, that is a main focus of roofing technology while solar energy develops. “Conservation is king right now.”
Dan installed the system to collect the energy (the photovoltaic array on the roof), and another area contractor, Mike Smith of Superior Electric in Marquette, installed the balance of the system to harness and store the energy it produces.
A small building houses the batteries that store power from the roof and also houses the Daihatsu Vanguard propane generator that backs up the solar system. The stove and heating run off propane, too. The batteries store energy and release it when needed.
“These (solar) systems provide power 24/7,” Mike says. “You can have modern conveniences like satellite TV, central heating, AC, Internet. … A system like Jim’s, the size of Jim’s, during the good solar months of the year, the generator will not run at all.”
Mike’s business features and frequently installs “off-the-grid” systems. While you might think that many people would choose the alternate energies because of either cost savings or to be more “green,” Mike says that most homeowners purchase alternative energy because conventional electrical energy is not an option.
In fact, the cost of electricity around Lake Superior is generally a pretty good deal.
“If your electric bill is $60 a month, it’s the best energy buy you’ll ever have.”
But the $30,000 to $40,000 solar energy installation looks better when it could cost $100,000 or more to link to an existing electrical system … or if you can’t reach the existing system at all.
Jim could have connected to the local electric company for a very substantial cost, but around some of the more remote Lake Superior shorelines, plugging into the existing system may not be an option at any price … even for a million-dollar home, says Mike.
“In Jim’s situation, it makes a tremendous amount of sense,” Mike says. “The photovoltaic is a necessity to provide the continuous power.”
When the price of gasoline and propane hit peaks recently, demand skyrocketed for installation of a solar collector as a partner in off-the-grid systems, Mike says.
“You can’t imagine. I had customers calling and not even asking me the price. It’s all driven by the cost of energy.”
Current solar collection systems can harvest only up to 18 percent of the energy available, Mike says, but “the brilliant young engineer who takes that to 30 percent is going to change the world.
“You’ve got to be honest. The world is not running on alternative energy right now, but it’s going to happen. It’s absolutely silent, it’s non-polluting, it’s warranted for 20 years.”
While the innovative energy system outside Jim’s home is a showpiece, the interior sparks interest because of its top-quality materials and prime location.
Jim Megas is passionate about the special details of his new home away from home.
“Sliding glass doors open onto a wooden porch and look straight out at the open lake right in front. To the right are the Huron Islands, about 3 miles off shore, and then to the left, extreme left, you can see the tip of the Point Abbey Peninsula. Center left is the Keweenaw Peninsula (which you can see during the day some … and in winter, you see lights on ski slopes).
“During darkness at night, you can watch the beacon on the lighthouse going around (the light)” on West Huron Island, the largest in the eight-island chain and the one that the home faces directly. A pleasurable view on those chilly nights while they sit by the “96 percent efficient” remote-controlled propane fireplace, Jim says, indeed with pleasure. The home can be used year-round, though its highest use is in the summer.
By far his favorite view is from the dormer room, looking out at the Huron Islands and sitting beneath an eagle carved out of the end of the rafter. “This is one of my favorite views in the world. … Lake Superior itself is constantly changing the scenery on me in a pleasant and refreshing way.”
The 1,500-square-foot home took a little more than two years to complete. The site was a challenge, according to contractor Rich Schneider of Keweenaw Bay Log Homes out of Covington. Heavy equipment sometimes bogged into soft sands and the dirt roads to the site are narrow. The building materials are local Norway or red pine, 18-inch hand-peeled logs. The tightly fit logs and foam gaskets in the grooves prevent drafts.
It has a poured concrete basement on a footprint of 30 by 30 feet. The great room rises into cathedral ceilings, also of pine, and the floors are hickory.
The home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms with the master suite on the main floor. Part of the charm, and the cost, of the home are the top-of-the-line appliances and high-quality materials.
“Everything was designed to be energy efficient,” Jim adds. The doors and windows are Pella, the fireplace hearth and kitchen counters are matched Wisconsin granite in complementary colors, the bathrooms have ceramic floor tiles, Kohler fixtures and the downstairs bath has an Aquarius Acrylic whirlpool while the upstairs one has an Aquarius Acrylic shower. The radiant floor heating on the main and loft floors is from a Weil-McLain boiler and “the water heater is also 94 percent efficient,” Jim says. The door handles throughout the house are Baldwin Brass.
The cabinetry was locally made by North Oak Manufacturing Company in Marquette. “It is all custom, handmade, also with hickory,” Jim says. “It’s got these really, really slick pulls on the drawers, where you just pull it with one finger and it will slide out.”
The lighting also came from a local source, Heather Carlson, owner of Superior Lighting in Marquette.
The furniture came from nearer the family’s Twin Cities home – through Maria Walker at Room and Board in Edina. “Room and Board delivered the entire house full of furniture in an April blizzard, all the way to the Michigan cabin down the two-rut road,” Jim says. “Rich Schneider, the builder, had to help tow them in with a rope on at least one trip!”
The dream has not come without a few nightmares, of course. The home had considerable cost overruns. Jim advises others to get updated estimates with any changes and to have specific plans on the projects. A dormer added for its fantastic view also added expense. The travel time for the construction workers – a 41-mile trip – increased expenses and caused delays.
Mortgages on off-grid homes, even highly desirable locations and quality work, are difficult to come by, Jim has discovered. To cover additional costs, Jim rents the home on a select basis.
All said and much done, however, spending time along the lake shore fades frustrations. And now they are building favorable memories in a most memorable location.
“As we walk our two beagles, Benny and Argus, up the beach, they are constantly on the lookout for small frogs along the Lake Superior shore,” Jim muses. “We would never let them actually catch one, but they remember well the couple of times they have seen frogs, so it is eternal vigilance for them! … They love playing in the waves and sand as we walk up the beach, but they are constantly ‘on duty’ looking for frogs.”
Once back in their home, the couple find a fine mix of rustic and comfortable, Jim adds. “What we wanted was a log cabin on the outside and really modern on the inside. And that’s exactly what we got.”