http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHRFxnpJYg

http://www.green-trust.org/wordpress/2007/01/01/new-listeroid-veggie-gen-arriving/

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2008/10/9/12028/6852

need a bit more info to be of much help, but if you are charging the batteries as most folks do there is a much more efficient way to do so.

check out the 50/80 regime

depending on how much capacity you need on a daily basis it might work out well for you.

for instance, if you need only 300amp/hrs per day
then cycle the batteries down to 50% and then charge them up to 80% each day, and once every week or 10 days do a complete charge to 100%

you can throw alot of amps into the batteries from 50-80% DOC, before you must start to taper back the rate, from 50-80% you can do that in a fairly short amount of time, going from 80-100% takes a very long time comparatively speaking.

i mention going to 80% because that is when the batteries generally start to gas, some will go as high as 85% before gassing starts and you have to taper back the charge rate.

all this based on flooded lead acid batteries of course, other technologies have other methods that can be used.

http://www.realinnovation.com/archives/1997/01/a/index.htm

Rather than trying to find formulas and do a lot of math to identify the ideal system, Dans set-up provided real-world data on something that really works. His postings started a flurry of discussion that has slowed down after a while.

From what he's said, it takes a constant input of a lot of BTU's to keep a steamer running. I've never run one, but I trust that his postings are accurate. I "think" if you ran a steam engine, you could heat your cabin with the waste heat, but it would be hard to run an engine (even a small one) off of a room heater.

That being said, I'm going to cautiously say, yes. There are many choices, it can quickly get very complex, it can be dangerous, but it can work.

You could fire up your system, and while the battery is charging, the waste heat can be warming a mass of masonry blocks as a heat sponge. After you shut down the fire to sleep, the masonry can safely radiate warmth for a while.

Since you're talking about generating during winter in Alaska, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), or "Freon steam" might also be an option for you.

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/10/12/45544/517
Steam postings from the fieldlines archive

Maybe you can buy for a little price the smallest diesel engine you can find, or even a smaller gasoline motorbike engine. What matter is only the cooling system. look for a liquid cooled one, not forced air one.

Then, you have to do some (simple?) mechanical works, to make the cooling liquid exchange heat with your home or, easier way, to a hot water tank.

The best way i suppose is trying to convert the diesel generator you already have.

Save will come not from oil, but from coal you won't use anymore for the stove.

Already done on industrial scale, the smaller size actually on sell (at least here in Italy) is a 6kW (electrical) unit, with a 3 cilynders engine from toyota.