[immzbhavn2much]

OK i am looking at solar power for the hunting camp that i want to built and was interested in fact and opinions on this we can run line power that is i option for me the question is how much wattage would be enough power to the cabin?

 

[oh'mike]

I knew someone who lived 'off the grid' for nine years----

He used a propane refrigerator and 12 volt lighting----when electric lighting was needed---

Wood heat and and antique wood /propane stove---

His only major power draw was the well---a gas generator was used to power up the pump long enough to fill several water holding tanks (55 gal plastic barrels) that were mounted in the loft above the wood stove.

Back to your question---what are your needs? How much power per day will you use?

Remember---electricity is a relatively new invention----there are ways to live comfortably with out it.

 

[joecaption]

Using an outhouse or composting toilet can also greatly reduce the need for water.

 

[oh'mike]

 

[oh'mike]

Not all privy designs work well----two story ones are usually a mistake---

 

[immzbhavn2much]

i have been looking at a web site solar homes.com and getting those type of ideas.

 

[oh'mike]

Your first step is to find out how little you need and find the most economical and efficient way to generate and store it---so your power needs must be figured out----

Do check out the Cervo (Spelling?) refrigerators the use a small pilot light size flame--and no electricity---

Travel homes often have these--so a used one might be able to be located.

 

[joecaption]

They make those out house in DC. The up stairs has a sign that says Congress Only, the down stairs says The rest of the US.
Why did some of those out houses have two holes to put your legs in and a board to poop on. Makes no since to me.

 

[paintdrying]

Real big problem is going to be theft. I would run line power. Electricity is way over rated. I have a rural property that regularly gets robbed. It sucks, they steal even a new piece of wood off my shed. Or run everything off a generator and take it with you when you leave.

 

[joecaption]

Amazing how much work they will go through to steal something.
There stealing 300 Lb. man hole covers, I would not even want to steal one, and there stealing hundreds of them. And no once notices at the scrap yard?

 

[md2lgyk]

I would consider LED lighting. It uses very little electricity and the bulbs last essentially forever. RV stoves run on propane, but they are very expensive. A simple camp stove may meet your needs. I think there are solar coolers now available (think ice chest that you don't need to put ice in). You can also buy propane-powered generators.

You might consider buying a 100 lb propane cylinder (around $100). It could supply a camp stove, generator, a propane heater, even a propane fridge. But you'd have to take it back and forth with you since no propane company I've ever found will come out and refill a cylinder that small. Depending on where this cabin will be located and whether or not it'll be used in winter, the cylinder would last a long time. My wife and I lived in our RV full time for over two years while building our log home in WV. During the winter, I only had to refill my 100 lb cylinder about every six weeks.

 

[Kyle_in_rure]

And no once notices at the scrap yard?

Money talks!:whistling2:

 

[mpoulton]

How big is the cabin, how often are you there, and what appliances will you have?

 

[ptarmigan61]

Your first step is to find out how little you need and find the most economical and efficient way to generate and store it---so your power needs must be figured out----

Do check out the Cervo (Spelling?) refrigerators the use a small pilot light size flame--and no electricity---

Travel homes often have these--so a used one might be able to be located.

There are a few propane fridges available. The Serval you mentioned is a common one. You can also get high efficiency 12 and 24 volt dc fridges that use about 20% of the energy conventional ones do.

 

[dmxtothemax]

OK i am looking at solar power for the hunting camp that i want to built and was interested in fact and opinions on this we can run line power that is i option for me the question is how much wattage would be enough power to the cabin?

We need to know more about what is in the cabin now ?
It is not impossable to set it up to run off solar completely.
But you need to be carefull, with what you use.
There is a big push now days towards energy effiency.
So low power lighting is readily available,
As is low power fridges.
Careful planning and you can do it.
Start with a 2Kva sysytem.
Batteries will not be cheap,
But sometimes its cheaper than grid power
if your in remote locations.

 

[md2lgyk]

It would help greatly to know where this cabin will be located. And for how long at a time it will be occupied.

Something I forgot to mention: At last fall's Mother Earth Fair in PA, there was a company that markets solar generators. I think the smallest is 1850 watts. Check out www.solutionsfromscience.com

 

[ptarmigan61]

Our place at the lake is completely off grid. We did some calcs around sun exposure in hours, and to figure out what we wantef to run. The place is 1200 square feet. Three bedrooms. Composting toilet, propane cook stove and supplemental heat with a woodstove.
We went with a 2400 watt inverter system running 8 210 ampere hour six volt batteries wired for 24 v operation. This gives us a functional reserve capacity of about 5kwh. We have three 135 watt panels for charging -wired in series through an MPPT charger. (the mppt systems give more hours of charging because they are set up to accept greater voltages. This means that they can start charging earlier and keep charging later, and at other times the excess volts are converted to greater amperages.)
We only have had to use the back up genny one time when my FIL was out and kept opening the fridge all the time during a cloudy period.
The system supports lighting in all rooms, a ceiling fan, an efficient fridge, and a dc water pump. We do use a combo of CFL and LED lighting.

The whole works cost just a bit over 11k