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jeffp_032056
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# Posted: 1 Jan 2025 03:31pm - Edited by: jeffp_032056
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Hi all. I've got a cabin which has been getting shutdown in the winter and have no issues with that. I recently got a water filtering system installed and I'm thinking that to make life easier I'd like to heat my 100 sq. ft. utility room for 5 months throughout the winter, unattended. I've been looking at the Fahrenheat WHT500 Utility Heater x 2 to do this. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this, has done it before, etc. I don't think I'm interested in a heat unit with fan because of the moving parts that could fail. Thanks for your suggestions.
I should have been a bit more clearer on what I'm looking for.... has or is anyone else doing this type of setup and if so what type of heating did they use? I want to keep the room between 30 - 40 degrees, it's insulated, and it's a fairly intricate filtering system. I do winterize the whole cabin and the filtering is usually removed because it can't be drained easily or properly. If I go with some type of heat it will be turned on and left alone for 5 months.
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ICC
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# Posted: 1 Jan 2025 06:21pm
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How's the insulation?
How many degrees of temperature rise do you need? (desired interior temperature - lowest outdoor temp)
I assume there is grid power. How reliable is it in winter?
How costly, or cheap, is your power? I wonder much it would cost vs the time and effort to remove the filters (take them home) and blow the water out of pipes?
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jeffp_032056
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# Posted: 1 Jan 2025 07:16pm
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The room will be insulated, plan on
keeping it between 35-40, electric is good and I
already winterize it. The filtering system is much
more than a couple of water filters.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 1 Jan 2025 07:55pm
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In my long ago the local dairy farmers kept their milk house above freezing with electric 'milk house heaters' all winter.
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spencerin
Member
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# Posted: 1 Jan 2025 08:05pm
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I do something very similar. My entire cabin is small, and the bathroom itself is 48 sq. ft.. I heat the bathroom with an Envi wall heater on its lowest setting, keeps it at 50-60* depending on outside temp. I heat the main cabin with 2 Cadet baseboard heaters, keeps it upper-40*. I'm in southern IN, where there are definitely cold snaps but not often continual below-freezing temps.
I don't pay attention to the electric bill during the winter. I know it's higher, but to me it's worth paying vs. winterizing everything, then de-winterizing, then re-winterizing everytime I go during the winter. Yes, there's a risk of a power outage, but I'm also less than 2 hours away, so I should be able to get there relatively quickly and winterize it in case of a prolonged outage.....
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Curly
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2025 02:48pm
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I keep my weekender cabin at 50* in the winter (I am on grid). As a backup I have two electric oil base heaters set to kick on at 45*. One heater is in the bathroom and the other is in the utility room. I monitor the temperature remotely. The theory is that the oil heaters won't be able to heat the whole cabin, but will slow the cool down enough to give me enough time to get there. I am usually no more than an hour or two away from the cabin. This has worked for 15 years. Only once have I had a temperature alarm that made me dash out there.
I like the oil heaters because they have no moving parts.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2025 03:40pm
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All it takes is one power failure and your system is frozen. Also running electric heaters for one month alone is going to cost alot more than blowing out the system or putting antifreeze in it.
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Curly
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2025 05:45pm
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I think remote cabin interior temperature monitoring is the key. I check it daily (or more frequently in very cold weather) via the internet. Also, I have signed up for my electric utility's program where they email me if there is a power failure on the main circuit that feeds the neighborhood. If there is a failure on the service line between the utility's main circuit and my cabin, then I would know because I wouldn't be able get into my remote monitoring system. I suppose I could put a battery backup system on the monitor so I would know the temperature during the power failure.
No system is perfect and a freeze up is possible, but this system has worked for me. This system does depend on me or someone getting to the cabin after getting an alarm to prevent a freeze up.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2025 06:11pm - Edited by: gcrank1
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What prep have you done IF you need to rush there due to power failure?
Im thinking that getting the stove going in a dead cold cabin with freezing or frozen pipes might not avoid pipe failure. Having some localized prep like heat tape on the iffy pipes so you can run the gen while the stove brings temp up might be a good thing?
Are you pouring some rv anti-freeze into all the traps so it isn't just water sitting?
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Curly
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jan 2025 11:33pm
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My only prep is to try to set up a system to know what the situation is and to react accordingly. It’s not a perfect system, but I like knowing what’s going on there.
I could drain the pipes and/or add antifreeze every time I leave there in the winter (usually once per week), or I could configure one or two back-up systems which may or may not work, or I can monitor it remotely and react when necessary. If I drained it every week November through March, that would be about 20 times per year. That assumes I have a drain system, which I don’t. The cabin was built on a slab by the previous owner and it has no drain.
In 15 years, I’ve had one time when I got an alarm from the monitor. The heater had broken down during very cold weather. After 15 years, I like my system compared to draining pipes 300 times (20 per year x 15 years) or configuring a backup system and hoping it works. If I lived many hours away from the cabin, I would have a more robust system. What I’ve got works for me and I recognize it won’t work for everyone. It's just a different approach to keeping pipes thawed.
The monitor has also saved me some trips out there. A tornado passed within a mile of there last spring. The monitor told me the power was still on after the storm, so I didn’t think it was necessary to run out there to check on things.
If I ever build or get another cabin, I might set it up differently for a lot of reasons (winterization included), especially after hearing all the tips on a variety of subjects I have learned from you all. Thanks those ideas.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 3 Jan 2025 05:49am
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The key is the OP staid the system would be left alone for 5 months. To me that means there not going to be theres all winter.
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spencerin
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# Posted: 3 Jan 2025 10:22pm
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To follow up on my prior post, southern IN is expecting 5-8" snow/ice mix this Sunday, with prolonged freezing temps to follow. Not a common occurrence. I think a power outage is possible, so as a preventative measure, I'm going to the cabin tomorrow to drain and blow out the lines.
I'm with Curly on this one, though. Much easier to keep heated than to winterize hundreds of times.....
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