In the depths of Metcalfe County, most people use the land to make a living. At his home, secluded f

In the depths of Metcalfe County, most people use the land to make a living. At his home, secluded from city life, Dennis Curley gives new meaning to living fodor travel books off natural resources. With a house half covered in solar panels, a well supplying all of his water and a garden that will hopefully be full of vegetables in the summer, Curley has his hands full. "It's definitely a hands-on fodor travel books thing," Curley said. "Most people don't want to deal with that. They want easy systems but still be able to feel like they're making a contribution. They get some tax credits, bank loans. I'm doing a repair fodor travel books a week of some type and the public doesn't want to have to fix things like that." The "engine" of the house is hard to miss, being a cast iron stove. "Pipes are connected to it that go through the house," fodor travel books Curley explained. "I put a fire in the stove and it heats up the water. This way, I get my hot water. I can also cook on it, it keeps the house nice and warm during the winter. I used a lot of crazy ways to try to get my hot water before I finally bit the bullet and paid for this thing." fodor travel books The converted cast iron stove isn't the only Curley invention in the home. The brains of the operation comes from a closet with two voltage regulators inside, hidden by a guitar. The regulators make sure the solar powered batteries aren't putting out too much. "Right now, the panels are putting out about 24 volts because it's cold," he said. "What this does is ride the voltage fodor travel books down just enough to charge the batteries fodor travel books and converts the extra into amps. In the winter is when you get the biggest effect from this. It's like having 25 percent more in a panel." Curley said he likes his hand-wired home better than a pre-packaged one. "These fodor travel books days, they offer charging systems," he said. "It comes in a big box, you put it on the wall and it's very, very pricey. This is like a computer and it's all hand wired." Curley, who has enough juice from the solar panels to run a small recording studio and turn his music up as loud as he wants, is also thinking about wind power. "I've got enough electricity fodor travel books to enjoy a day like today," he said on the sunny day, petting one of many pet wolves. "There was a period in December when it was overcast and windy. It's a combination of the way the days are and those days, I could take advantage of the wind." Wind power might help Curley fodor travel books power his television. "The TV is the biggest hog in the house," he said. "It's energy-star rated, but it's rated that because it has a very low idle. Turn it on and it's a hog. It's got almost one battery bank to itself." Basic science is what drives Curley's energy efficiency. For example, his fridge's refrigeration unit has been moved from the bottom to the top. "Cold sinks, so if you put the refrigeration unit on top, it'll use less energy using basic physics," he explained. "They've always made fridges this way with the unit underneath. This wasn't fodor travel books an issue when they first started making fridges, I guess." Using technology to make life easier, like changing the way fridges are cooled, is what technology is all about, according to Curley. "That's the idea for the future," he said. "Appropriate technologies that actually help people. It seems like today, they invent something and then they try to market it, whether it's useful or not. With technology, you should have a problem and technology will offer the solution, not create more problems. It's pretty simple."