Infrastructure (Electricity, Gas & Sewer)

Electricity & Sewer. Electricity comes from the City of Calistoga via overhead wires to this pole in the front yard and then into a trench along the east side of the driveway which takes the juice from here to the buildings. The same trench holds the sewer pipe -- stacked underneath the electrical pipes -- which connects the house to the main city sewer line which runs east/west along  Mora Avenue. Meter box is to the right.

 Access to Electricity & Sewer. The utility trench runs straight along this line from the street pole to the main house, straight into the utility closet in the front hallway. Pull up this covering and you can see the conduit pipes, including the telephone line. We added additional empty conduit pipes in as well in case there was ever a need to run more electrical or cable to the house. (A pull string runs through these empty pipes so you can pull other wires/cables from the street to the utility room inside the main house.)

I'll take door #1.. Three doors greet you as enter the front hallway of the main house. The first one on your right is the master utility closet.

Walk right in.. This makes it very easy to walk right in and check, maintain, repair, or upgrade all utilities. No more climbing under the house or up into attics.

Nerd closet.  WiFi router hangs on the back wall beside the telephone lines. All pipes and conduit lines lead here eventually. Tall tank water heater to the right, and just in front of the tank is all the equipment and pipes for the radiant heat system which runs hot water through pipes -- upstairs and downstairs --  embedded within the concrete floors.

(By the way, Michael Newart, a well-known electrician in the Napa Valley installed special wiring throughout the house that shields any harmful electro-magnetic frequencies from all living things living inside. Nice to know.)

The "office" niche in the kitchen is hard wired for telephone and computer.

Propane tank.  The location of the propane tank just in front of the studio gives gas company trucks quick, easy access. Propane is used to heat the water for the radiant floor system. (Ask Jill how long a tank of gas typically last when 4 or 5 people were living here, and if Propane is used for anything else.)

Outside electrical outlets appear on all studio walls except the garage door side.

The main house has covered electrical outlets outside on all four sides. This one is beside the kitchen entrance ... which is nice for twinkle lights during the holidays.