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I think a generator would be a better idea. At my cabin I’ve spent way more money on lithium and solar etc… it has delivered very little return and some decent frustration …. my $800 generator has performed perfectly for 3 years now picking up the slack during the winter and any time I need...

Now that the cabin is mostly sealed up I’m shocked that the poster who said “just throw another log on the fire ? “ is actually correct. Before the sealing was done I was constantly feeding the stove. Now once the cabin is warmed up I toss an occasional log in and it staying 60-70 degrees with...

30-40 cans of spray foam, thousands of feet of backer rod, and 100 xl large tubes of chink/kauk. The square footage I’ve filled is hard to imagine. I imagine it’s the size of a open garage door. What’s laughable is I’ve only completed 85% of the exterior chinking. During the cold night I can...

Winter has arrived. I’ve seen temps drop below 10 degrees and about a foot of snow. The cabin is way warmer! I had to crack a window open for the first time in 3 years. I kept the cabin from 60-75 degrees easily by just using the same stove as last year. It dropped to 50 overnight without any...

Has anyone tried charging batteries without temperature sensors in the cold? Just to see the real world damage and impact on lifespan. I’m just curious if I intentionally used 1 or 2 cheap lithium 100ah batteries this winter and intentionally charged and discharged them while it was below 32...

Thanks for the advice… it is actually not a bad option and sometimes the simplest option gets ignored. Since firewood is free and my wood stove is about as big as I need it’s probably one of the cheapest options. Reminds me …of me struggling with lithium and other batteries and solar… when...

I can definitely climb underneath and staple this into the rafters… with the vermin and bugs at least this wouldn’t be a massive liability… the cabin is 25x25 feet so it wouldnt be an insane investment. it would be sort of a messy process but very doable. Wrapping the sides and then installing...

That is awesome info thanks. I definitely need to figure out a way to seal up the bottom. It sits about 8-12 inches off the ground on the front wall and 40 inches at the back. The back part under the porch is a wide open so that’s about 25 feet by 4feet completely open all winter… the sides are...

Ok good to to know… I check out the flame/colors. I feel the pilot light is pretty blue and the panels are a solid orange when they warm up.

I’m at 7000 also my propane shower and heater and generator seem to work great with standard setup. I am surprised…How would I know if the heater had an issue? It’s a standard infrared DynaGlo …The Gen. Struggles slightly in winter to start but the heater is working well. It takes a few minutes...

Ok that could be cool since I mostly go up Fri/Sat/Sun in the winter. My solar and batteries are a weak point during the winter. I didn’t get to upgrading any of that yet. I’m still hoping to do a few things before the snow. I imagine every year I’ll upgrade slowly… now that the big stuff is...

Good to know. Maybe I’ll invest in a vented gas heater and drill a hole through the wall. This winter it’s looking like I’ll probably stick with what I have installed… *normally we ski up at 6pm on a Friday night to a cabin they is 0-10 degrees and buried in snow… Friday night is pretty cold ...

I have a large fisher wood stove next to the fireplace. The chimney has 2 clay chimneys inside the brick. I had a fireplace insert I was going to install last year but the shear weight and having to modify the fireplace and install a liner stopped me from doing it. I think it would have been...

12volt is correct I have some limits on exterior upgrades. The exterior needs to retain its historical features which is unfortunate. The roof someday will need to be replaced and potentially I can attack it. I spent a few hours this weekend tucking in backer rod and chinking a few new holes I...

From 0% to 300% has to be a close estimate so far. R value is still negative but I’m estimating I’ve sealed about 75 square feet of holes..gaps…and just tar paper. I finished chinking & backer rod on the interior gables. I found quite a few large holes and gaps in the process. Technically now...

It’ll be interesting to see. The past 2 winters were with “no chink” on the bottom 7foot log walls and sketchy windows. Now with the exterior walls chinked, windows sealed, new floor. My cabin had a negative R value and I’m sure it’s still about the same as a piece of plywood. The gable walls...

Thanks ?. I’m curious if stuffing backer rod and chinking the gaps between the 1 inch interior boards on the gables? And roof? has any serious moisture concerns… the cabin is in Idaho and very dry climate, but I bring in plenty of snow in the winter with the dogs. But again high desert climate...

Yea the fireplace is overkill and hardly works. I have a red flame MrHeater 30,000btu infrared heater do you think the blue flame might work better ? I was thinking of adding a second heater this winter. Any concerns about packing backer rod into the board gaps? Do I shove it in...

I appreciate your input. This old cabin is a remarkable piece of junk…that I plan to enjoy for the next 30 years. It's been a rewarding project, and I've made significant progress since I began. Given the labor-intensive nature of the work and the limited access for a professional crew, I...

I’m 3 years into this project it has been a ton of fun. It would have been easier to build a new cabin but that wasn’t possible so repairing it has been the only solution. "The R-value of my gable walls is estimated to be only around 1-2, as they consist of 1-2 inches of wooden boards. The...

great advise thank you ? I’m leaning toward just sealing interior gaps with chink and seeing how this winter progresses. Just closing obvious gaps should increase heat retention. Year 1 was brutal… year 2 pretty awesome…and I spent some money this year updating the exterior logs and chink. It’s...

Thank you! I'm open to all suggestions, but I'm scared/hesitant to solve one problem only to create another. It's a constant struggle between fashion and function. I adore the rustic old wood rafters and boards. The metal roof is attached with screws and can be removed and reinstalled. There's...

Quick question for anyone who has insulated a roof of a cabin. My cabin is 70 years old and has 2x6 joists in the ceiling with no insulation. -currently it has a metal roof with a layer of shingles underneath it. -it gets cold…tons of snow. -I only use on the weekends so I was hoping to trap...

I appreciate all the info. My situation hopefully can help a few others in their quest. When I first started playing around I thought this would be plug-n-play. After a few years of messing around in the woods I’m humbled by the project. Having a cabin nestled against a mountain with massive...

Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s been a bumpy 2 years, but I’m still learning and my situation is sort of unique. I’ve never gone without power thanks to the generator. I have plenty of wood and propane for heat. I also have propane lights so I have plenty of options. I do like...

Yeah I really struggled hard this winter with the lithium. My cabin is cold below 32 for 3 months…and 3-5 miles from the nearest road in the winter. Unfortunately I have some limitations on adding Solar. My cabin sits against a 2000ft of mountain above it…and has some massive trees that block...

Make 3 separate 12v and send that to a Bus bar. Connect positive to positive ….and negative to negative. Making sure I see this correct.

Quick question what’s the best way to connect 6- 6volt batteries to get 12v? Thanks again I’ll pick up that switch. I have a cheap one I bought last year I never used. I like (12vinstalls) ideas about redundancy and I had tricky winter with 2 lithiums and way to much snow and zero Solar...

Quick update and question… My 2 lithium SOK’s 100ah seem to be working this summer with 400w of panels. I can charge the ebike run lights and tv for a full weekend. I rip the generator on for a pot of coffee and microwave. I was just basically just given 6 golf Cart 6v batteries. They are used...

“right under that snow drift” ? We are in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest which has seen record snow fall all winter. It makes travel and maintenance tricky in the winter. Our cabin is several miles from the closet road about 6 months of the year. The other six months it’s easily...

It’s probably going to leak through the walls probably along the bottom few logs. I’ll be curious if we get any serious damage. Last year I had minimal snow and this year is just insane.

After a very long…. ..epic winter…… I have to say the Generator won the war. Solar panels were buried under feet of snow most of the winter. The 2 - 12v Sok batteries seem to not be holding much of a charge. The 400w of Solar didn’t seem to ever fully charge the batteries and most of time were...

12VoltInstaookmark and face them SSE and SW ? I’ll attempt to upgrade the controller and move a few panels around this winter. It does seem like the Lower voltage and snow on my panels is a problem. Thanks for everyone’s input. This will be the first real winter to learn what works and what...

I wonder if the SCC is damaged already. We get -15 easily and have already seen 0. It was cheap like $40 so can buy a new one. I bought an lv2424 but I don’t have the solar ability to realistically run it at 24v. I’m on forest service land so I can’t cut trees or build anything easily. I need...