Next up, electrical inspection #2

Well, we survived the cold. Almost a week of well-below-normal temperatures put us into survival mode. Remember, up to now, we have only the heat generated by our wood stove to provide warmth for our little house. Although we had Superior Propane run gas lines for 3 gas-fired heaters, they have not yet been purchased or installed. We experienced temperatures in the mid minus twenties (-20*C) for about a week, with the mercury hitting a bone chilling -29.2*C one night! We had to keep the fire burning vigorously and continuously, and only then could we maintain inside temps of around 20*C. That meant I was up twice each night to replenish the logs in the fire. We did have two mornings where our water system experienced some minor freezing. The basement is not yet insulated and where the pipes run to the tankless hot water heater, they pass very close to the 5" hole cut for the PVC pipe venting the exhaust gasses outside. We had to place an electric heater by that area for about 15 minutes each morning before the water flow returned to normal. You might think that an electric heater would be an extravagance in a solar powered house, and you'd be right. We ran our generator 24/7 for 4 days, allowing the use of electric heaters to supplement the wood stove. Our 10 kW Aurora Generator ran flawlessly for the entire time we needed it. If we had any worries about whether it could take our winters, they're now history. This thing just plain rocks!
With the weather returning to more normal conditions, we set about moving forward with the drywalling. This meant that we had to have the insulation and vapour barrier inspection signed off and that required that we first have the electrical inspection for the basement successfully completed. Although most of the wiring in the house was done, the basement had been neglected and we had been working to finish off the wiring rough-ins there. Well, it is finally ready for Safety BC to come and check it out. I went to their offices, completed inspection request form in hand, only to find that our inspector was on vacation...again! The helpful lady behind the counter explained that we would probably be waiting a while, but that we should call Wayne (the same guy who came out the last time) and let him know that we were ready for him. He called back within a couple of days this time, and we have a date for this coming Thursday or Friday - yay! Keep your fingers crossed everyone.
Alex and I managed to wrangle another couch upstairs on Sunday afternoon, giving us enough seating now that we can have visitors, assuming of course, that somebody actually want to come and visit all the way up here! I have to say though, it is starting to look more like a home now. Drywall and paint will only help in that regard.