Right from the start if your battery has any potential to freeze buy the heated batteries! However since you are an early adopter of LFP you didnt have that option but prices are dropping so going forward its get the heated batts and good to go.Consider nothing else IMO,cold snaps happen.
OK,that said,you need a heat source and you need it now.Here is the DIY easy fix.You will need an Inkbird Thermostat from ebay,and a water bed heater.Having 2 chins 12v 200 amp hr batts I had a 3 foot long heater that is a bit too long,so i found this Calesco 2 foot long heater from Sweden on amazon thats 2 foot long.Fits under batts nicely,the 3 footers just too long
Place this under the 2 batts and this fits and can heat both batteries.I taped the inkbird thermostat with tape to the top/middle of a battery and used the battery packing foam they came in over that on top to get thermostat covered to hold in heat to keep it protected from external cold in unheated barn where they live.Thats all Ive done so far.You can insulate as your needs dictate.
Plug heater into inbird heat socket.I set the temp on Inkbird to 36F with a heat differential of 1 degree on the HD setting for heat differential so when the temp hits 35f it turns on the heat.When the thermostat hits 36F power goes off,takes about 20 minutes, and residual heat in pad will heat batts to 38 to 39 degrees,now your batt temps are stylin!!
The waterbed heater just turn it to max temp so when inkbird turns on pad its ready to reach its max heat which of course just means its ready to turn on, pad heater control is a mute point,you just need it fully on,inkbird is now in charge,and man alive its accurate to 1/10th of a degree.
The inkbird is plugged into your inverter so all automatic and self contained,no grid power issues.My worse case scenario at my place is 2 cycles overnight in high 20's ambient temp uses about 7% of my 400 amp/hr batt storage so in daylight its nothing for my 1200 watts of panels to recharge,
A super simple elegant DIY fix.
Inkbird,32 dollars,and it saves settings if power loss,
OK,that said,you need a heat source and you need it now.Here is the DIY easy fix.You will need an Inkbird Thermostat from ebay,and a water bed heater.Having 2 chins 12v 200 amp hr batts I had a 3 foot long heater that is a bit too long,so i found this Calesco 2 foot long heater from Sweden on amazon thats 2 foot long.Fits under batts nicely,the 3 footers just too long
Place this under the 2 batts and this fits and can heat both batteries.I taped the inkbird thermostat with tape to the top/middle of a battery and used the battery packing foam they came in over that on top to get thermostat covered to hold in heat to keep it protected from external cold in unheated barn where they live.Thats all Ive done so far.You can insulate as your needs dictate.
Plug heater into inbird heat socket.I set the temp on Inkbird to 36F with a heat differential of 1 degree on the HD setting for heat differential so when the temp hits 35f it turns on the heat.When the thermostat hits 36F power goes off,takes about 20 minutes, and residual heat in pad will heat batts to 38 to 39 degrees,now your batt temps are stylin!!
The waterbed heater just turn it to max temp so when inkbird turns on pad its ready to reach its max heat which of course just means its ready to turn on, pad heater control is a mute point,you just need it fully on,inkbird is now in charge,and man alive its accurate to 1/10th of a degree.
The inkbird is plugged into your inverter so all automatic and self contained,no grid power issues.My worse case scenario at my place is 2 cycles overnight in high 20's ambient temp uses about 7% of my 400 amp/hr batt storage so in daylight its nothing for my 1200 watts of panels to recharge,
A super simple elegant DIY fix.
Inkbird,32 dollars,and it saves settings if power loss,
Inkbird ITC-308 Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat Heat & Cool Dual Relay
Inkbird Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat High/Low Alarm Heat & Cool US 705701565505 | eBay
Dual relay output, be able to connect with. sensor fault alarm. DUAL RELAY OUTPUT. HIGH & LOW TEMP ALARM. heating and cooling devices. Maximum output load Temperature Range : -50~120°C/-58~248°F;. High and low-temperature alarms are available when the temperature is over or the sensor...
www.ebay.com
Find heater on Amazon
Calesco Full Watt Hard Side Waterbed Heater 79 dollars
Hope that makes sense,dang thing works awesome!
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