Chicken House Dilemma (part 2)

   Having decided that a chicken tractor was not for us, we have moved on to looking at coops.  There are several things that you must consider, before choosing a permanent house for you chickens.
     First,  there is the cost.  Apparently chickens can live just about anywhere and people have designed coops from just about everything.  The prices range from "practically free", provided you have an abundance of power tools, hardware, and scrap lumber around, to "my car was cheaper than that!".  Because I am a natural cheapskate, the practically free side appeals, especially since in the world of chicken coops "practically free" means less than $300.  However this side is also the build it yourself side and practically free can easily become twice the price of a mid-level manufactured coop before it is done.
    Second, there is the design.  Each chicken needs 2 sq. ft. of floor space and 1 foot of roost space.  From this determining the size of coop you need is really easy.  The hard part, especially for someone with no experience, is wading through all the opinions and marketing propaganda to determine what is best for your situation.  First thing to consider is what kind of access you need.  You have to get the eggs out every day, put feed and water in, be able to tend to sick or injured chickens, and clean it out occasionally.  However, every access point increases the cost and gives predators more access.  We also need an easy way securely to close it off at night and open it each morning.  I will not be crawling through a 3ft tall chicken run in the rain to close and lock their door every night.  Just saying, we have to be real here.
    Third, there is the location.  If we put the coop close to the deck then we have easy access to power, so we can put in a heat lamp or a light lamp if the chickens need either. (They need 12 hours of light to lay eggs so once they start laying they will need a light on a timer in the coop.) The other advantage to this location is that we don't have to go far to feed them or collect eggs.  However, this location gets less sunlight than any other part of the yard.  It is also very close to the deck and house, which means the smell of chickens will be very close to the deck and house.  So do I sacrifice outside entertainment for convenience?  Do we put them in the garden area, where they will be happiest and run extension cords out to them when they need it?
     I never dreamed this was going to be so complicated.