Cold Weather Cabin

[Wellbuilt]

Hmmmmmm , charged lead acid battery don’t freeze?
when it’s cold there is little self discharge , you can leave them cold for months .
I get snowed out of my place and have left the battery’s fully charged the day before thanks giving , and
Went up the week before Easter and my battery’s where still @ full charge so 4 months.
I use 16 golf cart battery’s the battery’s are in a insulated box and they get down to 0 some times.
there is less capacity but I use 15 % of my battery power 22hrs a day .
If I’m at the cabin charging and discharging my battery’s heat up in a few days and they stay around 50o even if it’s below 0 out side .
I just fully charge the battery’s and turn my system off when I leave .
If I have food in the freezer or frig I can just leave the system running if I want .

 

[RStone13]

Very interesting thread... similar situation for me in New Brunswick, Canada. I have 4 12V Lead Acid AGM batteries. I don't have solar panels yet so i was hoping to charge my batteries with my generator. I want to hardwire an inverter to my breaker panel. Would it be possible ( or necessary) to generate a small amount of heat from a DC light bulb within an insulated box as described above? Would that consume too much energy out of the battery bank that it would defeat the purpose because i'd have to spend my time running the generator while i'm there just to charge the battery from heating the box...

I use 4 watt push bulb in a beer cooler

Off Grid Cabin Alarm

Hello; Will, my name is Bruce F. I watched & enjoyed your live stream the other day. I learned quite a bit about you & I must say we agree a lot. But that is not why I am writing. You pointed out it's "DIY" solar and your enjoyment is seeing other peoples build ideas. So my way of thanking you...

diysolarforum.com

 

[mike95490]

AGM ( absorbent glass mat) batteries are freeze resistant, and will work again when thawed out.
Flooded will crack the case when freezing
Charged lead acid batteries have a very low freezing point, weak / discharged batteries are about plain water
Li looses too much chemical activity below freezing and cannot be recharged below 33F anyway.

 

[seneysolar]

I am also in the upper peninsula of Michigan and I leave my 4 trojan lead acid L-16s in the cold garage all winter. Inverter is off when i leave but Solar is always on. I get some trickle charge all the time and the occasional sunny day to ensure top off. I use the cabin for wwekend snowmobiling and everything works great.
I have recorded -14f inside the garage when arriving in the dead of winter. I just flip on the inverter and everything works great. Charged batteries dont freeze, period.

I have them in a box for protection but its not insulated.

 

[dopeassjackson]

I too have FLA batteries in a cold climate. I leave the CC on all year and just turn off the inverter when I leave. I always arrive to a full battery bank. My batteries are just outside in a plywood box, no heat, no foam. System has been up and running for 3 winters.