Winter Off Grid Power

[Nuts]

We have a solar system at the cabin. But by this time the cabin is to cold and the batteries shutdown. Has anyone tried heating blankets or anything to keep their batteries good thru the cold months without heat? It would have to run off the battery it is protecting. Google shows some things but someone who has used it would be more helpful. Not trying to burn the cabin down

 

[Straight Arrow]

Likewise off the grid, we have a Goal Zero battery and solar panel system for one LED light (for nighttime Scrabble games mostly). We try to get up to the cabin at least once a month, even though usually it requires snowshoes or skis this time of year. The battery maintains above ninety per cent charge, but needs to be warmed by firing up the woodstove during our visits in order to take a full charge. The porch faces SE so on sunny days I place the battery and the panel out front and it charges fully in a short time.
'Don't know if that helps you, but it seems tending the battery often and regularly is the key to maintenance.
Our cabin is pretty minimal, as shown below with wood stove and one overhead LED light.

 

[WyoCoalMiner]

Likewise off the grid, we have a Goal Zero battery and solar panel system for one LED light (for nighttime Scrabble games mostly). We try to get up to the cabin at least once a month, even though usually it requires snowshoes or skis this time of year. The battery maintains above ninety per cent charge, but needs to be warmed by firing up the woodstove during our visits in order to take a full charge. The porch faces SE so on sunny days I place the battery and the panel out front and it charges fully in a short time.
'Don't know if that helps you, but it seems tending the battery often and regularly is the key to maintenance.
Our cabin is pretty minimal, as shown below with wood stove and one overhead LED light.

View attachment 401894

This is exactly what I do at my cabin. Mine is a bit more energy intensive than yours but I also use a GZ setup and solar panels. I move the battery inside in the winter and warm it up by the wood stove. By the time the cabin is warmed up the battery is typically good to go and taking a charge from the panels.

 

[jpc01101]

I have a couple different kinds of lithium batteries (Kilovault in my cabin and SOK in my camper) and they both will heat themselves to allow charging from that solar (if that's what you mean?). They are good to discharge down to very very cold and I have them in insulated areas to keep a fairly steady temp. What kind of batteries are you talking about?

 

[2rocky]

Are your batteries Lithium? If not, I'd suggest going that route to start.
Creating a thermostatically controlled battery heater should be doable....if you have solar to charge it doesn't draw too much.

Best Practices for Cold Weather

• Do Not Charge Below Freezing: Never charge a standard lithium battery when the internal temperature is below freezing.
• Use Specialized Batteries: Consider "low-temperature" batteries designed to charge in temperatures as low as -4
  Warm Storage: Keep batteries inside or in a heated space when not in use.
• Battery Management System (BMS): Ensure the battery has an active BMS to protect against low-temperature charging.
• Keep it Charged: Maintain a partial charge, as a fully depleted battery is more vulnerable in cold weather.

 

[Nuts]

Perhaps its my battery. This is what I have:

It goes into "cripple" mode when it gets cold. On a weekend it rarely ever gets warm enough to charge and function. We have gas lights but those put me to sleep

Out panels are permanently mounted outside at the recommended orientation. Our batter is also somewhat permanently wired. I suppose we could redo the wiring. But maybe swapping out the battery for one that heats itself would work better.

 

[WyoCoalMiner]

What part of the country are you talking about? What kind of temps?

 

[Nuts]

What part of the country are you talking about? What kind of temps?

Northern Pa. Temps typically just below zero up to low teens. You get your typical warm days where it hits low 30s but it seams every time I go its like 5 degrees out. And 10-15 in the cabin.

 

[WyoCoalMiner]

Northern Pa. Temps typically just below zero up to low teens. You get your typical warm days where it hits low 30s but it seams every time I go its like 5 degrees out. And 10-15 in the cabin.

Not too awful different from what I see in Western Wyo, other than we possibly get longer stretches of sub zero.

The battery that you are using has a built in BMS that prevents it from charging when cold, in order to protect the battery. LiFePO4 batteries can be harmed if you attempt to charge below freezing.

I dont think the heated blanket is going to hurt anything, just not sure the battery is going to have enough life between charges to make it all work.

 

[Nuts]

Not too awful different from what I see in Western Wyo, other than we possibly get longer stretches of sub zero.

The battery that you are using has a built in BMS that prevents it from charging when cold, in order to protect the battery. LiFePO4 batteries can be harmed if you attempt to charge below freezing.

So if I use google. It recommends a heated pad. But I have never tried it. I was hoping someone else has

 

[2rocky]

 

[pabearhunter]

We have a solar system at the cabin. But by this time the cabin is to cold and the batteries shutdown. Has anyone tried heating blankets or anything to keep their batteries good thru the cold months without heat? It would have to run off the battery it is protecting. Google shows some things but someone who has used it would be more helpful. Not trying to burn the cabin down

I call it a wood stove !

 

[Nuts]

I call it a wood stove !

Does not do any good if it takes 8-10 hours for the cabin to warm up and the battery longer. After the battery warms up it has to charge. So it takes 2+ days. When arriving Friday morning best case is you have lights Sunday morning. That is what I want to fix

 

[WyoCoalMiner]

Does not do any good if it takes 8-10 hours for the cabin to warm up and the battery longer. After the battery warms up it has to charge. So it takes 2+ days. When arriving Friday morning best case is you have lights Sunday morning. That is what I want to fix

Give @2rocky link a watch. The guy in the video knows his stuff. Great information for building off grid systems.

 

[2rocky]

Does not do any good if it takes 8-10 hours for the cabin to warm up and the battery longer. After the battery warms up it has to charge. So it takes 2+ days. When arriving Friday morning best case is you have lights Sunday morning. That is what I want to fix

Can you take the battery home with you to charge and stay warm?

 

[WinkB]

I have flooded batteries in my setup. So what I did was created an insulated battery box that has 2" insulation around it. Being flooded I also needed a vent, which does not help keep the batteries warm. I then took a 2KW diesel heater and plumbed that in with a 5 gallon fuel can. The fuel consumption rate is really low so I can run it almost daily if needed for well over 2 months. I also rigged up a universal wi-fi remote so I can turn on and off the heater any time I want if I think the temp is getting too low. Given the long duration of sub freezing temps it was exposed to the lithium or lithium iron phosphate batteries would not charge or perform at negative temps. Here are a couple poor images of the setup.

 

[pabearhunter]

I have flooded batteries in my setup. So what I did was created an insulated battery box that has 2" insulation around it. Being flooded I also needed a vent, which does not help keep the batteries warm. I then took a 2KW diesel heater and plumbed that in with a 5 gallon fuel can. The fuel consumption rate is really low so I can run it almost daily if needed for well over 2 months. I also rigged up a universal wi-fi remote so I can turn on and off the heater any time I want if I think the temp is getting too low. Given the long duration of sub freezing temps it was exposed to the lithium or lithium iron phosphate batteries would not charge or perform at negative temps. Here are a couple poor images of the setup.

View attachment 401905View attachment 401906

Now that is impressive !

 

[Dakotakid]

What are the cons to putting the batteries in a root cellar ?

 

[Straight Arrow]

Can you take the battery home with you to charge and stay warm?

That is sensible. I have done that when the predicted weather pattern indicated prolonged subzero temps.