diy solar

diy solar

Off Grid Heat

Not that one but certainly ventless propane heaters...Lots of moisture!

In my situation, I needed to open windows and turn on a fan to help clear out the condensation quite often.

I think the ratio of propane Burned to water produced is something like 1 pint of water for every lb of propane...whatever it is, it’s a lot!

In the desert...fine...western Washington...not so much.
 
Really? I had no idea water was a by-product. I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere. In any case, great. I live in the desert. I'll always take a little extra humidity.
 
Getyourbone said:
Just found this...kinda similar situation to yours?



Soo jealous, miss that dry climate... AZ for 9 years...leave tools out for months without worrying about the getting ruined.
Click to expand...


Good thread thanks! Winter is when the humidity is very low here, usually in the teens. When I heated with a wood stove, there was ALWAYS a kettle of water on top to add humidity to the house. I can see it being a huge problem for some people, but just a bonus for me! :cool:
 
Schlagger said:
I'm working on a tiny home that is 100% off grid, and its time for some heat. I have 375 square feet, and I'm looking at one of those ventless propane fireplaces. It's rated to heat 700 square feet. Anyone have experience using one of these units? Happy with it? I plan on running it on a 100# propane tank.

Click to expand...
Vent-less in a tiny space is kind of worrisome to me, I think headaches and using up the oxygen or worse yada, unless you can keep a window open slightly ..
 
You guys don't think something natural like geothermal or solar heating would be better? so you don't have to keep buying propane every time.
 
Kyle said:
You guys don't think something natural like geothermal or solar heating would be better? so you don't have to keep buying propane every time.
Click to expand...
Possibly, but with geothermal, you need multiple pumps and motors running all of the time. You'd have to increase solar sizing for that, and you'd have to build a separate dog house just to put the geo stuff, since the house is only 375 sq ft. The cost of a geothermal system vs the cost of propane and a heater....... propane wins.
Solar heating in the winter can be done, but not reliable in inclimate weather or night. Solar heat storage requires space. Again, only 375 sq ft.
 
Kyle said:
You guys don't think something natural like geothermal or solar heating would be better? so you don't have to keep buying propane every time.
Click to expand...
I believe that geothermal requires either being located close enough to a hot spring phenomenon along with also being permitted to tap into the hot spring, or, drilling deep wells to scavenge the "heat" from cold sub surface water to assist in the warming of a space in near freezing or sub freezing temperatures. Solar heat using dark painted barrels of water placed inside in front of sunny windows or roof top solar heat collectors with the warmed liquid circulated into insulated storage tanks is very helpful but not so good during long periods of cloudy weather.
 
I first thought 'pellet stove'. I have one and it uses almost no power to run at full output. But the cycle time from cold to hot to cold to hot takes way too long, and is way too many uncontrollable BTUs for such a small space.
 
Cost is also a factor. Geothermal is not cheap to set up. The ventless stoves all have oxygen sensors and wont operate below 18% oxygen. They are perfectly safe.
 
I've already researched/used the alternatives. I was really only looking for feedback on these particular units.
 
Propane is great for cooking and for on- demand hot water. It's not so great for heating. But it works!

You will use that 100# tank every month. Apx $75 - 100 each fill... It adds up really quick! And those things are very heavy and require line leak checking each swap. I knew a dude didn't check his line... Poof! There went 100$ of heat!

As a supplement it's ok. I use 20#, or "5 gallon" bbq tanks. Easy to deal with...

If wood is out as a choice, then some kind of passive solar "heat wall window thing" is the way to go. Free heat during sunny days. Then you only need to supplement with propane.

But all in all it depends on your insulation, environment, and windows.

It's better to buy propane in bulk in summer. Stack it in advance. Because as soom as it gets cold the prices go up fast!
 
Deno said:
If you're using a 100lbs of propane a month, you're either heating a large RV or trailer without winterizing it sufficiently - and they have large windows, so that can be a task - or using the built-in furnace on an RV/trailer. Those stock furnaces are notoriously inefficient, having a heat exchanger only about 1/3 of the necessary size. A well-insulated 'tiny home' should go through no more than 40lbs a month. And that's stretching it - with cooking! Two BBQ bottles (20lb bottles, swap them at Walmart for $15 each).

I've been in a straw-bale 'tiny home' and you wouldn't need more than 1,500 BTU's to heat it, a 20lb bottle every 4 weeks. I mean in -20 fahrenheit with wind-chill. An RV can't touch that level of insulation.
Click to expand...
That's what my trailer living buddy paid. He had big single pane windows and lots of leaks.

Here a local swap is 25 a bottle! And it's only 4/5th of a full bottle! I just take it to a propane store. For a full bottle. 12-15$.

I usually use 2x bbq tanks as far room wood heat supplement in a well insulated trailer room. More if super cold. Trailers aren't great in winter.

If I put up my black piece of tin roof in the window I don't need any extra heat except in mornings due to drywall heat release.

Unfortunately most hay folks around here only use round bales and that's not so great to use as insulation!

That's an interesting statement above. Is it cortisol that gets turned into CO? It figures something like that wouldn't be common knowledge.

I could stand to learn more about it! Any links or keywords?
 
You MUST have at least a 100# tank to run the ventless fireplaces/stoves. You can't use BBQ tanks. The weight is not an issue for me to deal with. I can use my pickup and ramps and I'll never be lifting them. My place has no windows yet and is very well insulated. It's in an area where a propane truck can't get to. I'm tired of dealing with firewood. It's a PITA! I wasn't trying to start a heat debate, just looking for someone who had used these successfully. Thanks for the feedback.
 
I use vented propane heaters in my forest work cabins. Vented ensures that gasses are not brought into the living space.

Ventless IMHO are dangerous. Vented ones we use work very well. Out forestry cabins are r20 walls and r40 attics .

Empire makes very good ones. We used non vented for a few winters and found odor and oxygen depletion was not worth it.

Just my two cents.
 
Millions are safely in use. They all have oxygen sensors and will not operate unless there is a safe level of oxygen in the room (18%). What about propane ranges? Wouldn't you worry about the same thing? Or forced air heat?
 
I'm not dissing ventless. We felt that vented was better for our application. We've had the vented installed for years with zero problems and better inside environment.

We use propane camp stoves in our cabins.
When you add all these devices inside a confined space we felt evacuating fumes as much as possible was the best route for us.
That's all
 
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