I am trying to buy a cabin in northern MI, and one that I am interested in has no forced air furnace. The main heating source is a wood burner which is fine for when I would be up there. The other heating source is a large wall mounted propane heater. I am unsure about the btu rating on it as of now, but is this a reliable for keeping the house at 55 or so when I am not there? Does anyone else use these as the heat source in their cabins? The house is built on a slab so there is not an option for running traditional ductwork. I have looked at the high velocity forced air furnaces but they look pretty pricey. Are there any other realistic heating options out there? The cabin is about 1100sf if that matters.
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Question cabin with no forced air furnace
- Thread starter bedgar7
- Start date
you could use a freestanding gas stove with a thermostat they have verry efficient models now days nice fire view and porcelain coating.or what I have at my cabin is a used 92% furnace in a closet on a exterior wall with the trunk making about a 1ft rise then a 90% right out the wall with a 18x18 grill over it and a grill on 24 x24 grill on the bottom of the door for the return. blows in to the kitchen and pulls return from bed room used 3yr old furnace $300 2 grills $35 top plenum and 90 less than $40 copper gas line and valves donated buy a bud who also helped with install less than 2.5 hr used t stat has been working great for 4yrs.added air this yr and thinking of spending the cash to get a t stat you can turn up with a phone call so I can crank it up when I leave the house so it is a nice 70 or so when I get there
Several questions, is there a hot water heater? What size is it? Is there room for a larger one?. Here's why, you can install hot water baseboard heat off of a hot water heater with a closed loop thru a small heat exchanger and circ pump. The closed loop side which goes out to the baseboards is filled with special antifreeze to keep it from freezing when the system is satisfied. It is the same basic principle as an in slab system but run thru a baseboard system.
booondocker
New member
Unless you have a bunch of drywall that would crack in colder weather, why not just drain stuff and add RV antifreeze to the toilet and sink drains and let the place go cold? You could still put a small electric heater in there set at 38 degrees and keep the damp out.
Then just hit the wood stove when you get there. Saves a lot of money over the years, if the shut down is completed properly each time. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to do each time you leave.
It only takes one good power failure in really cold weather to make a whole bunch of work in the plumbing department if you don't do it this way!
Oh, and 55 degrees is much warmer than you need to leave it if you don't winterize...you can let it drop to 45 degrees with no worries..and it will work out much cheaper for yah!
Then just hit the wood stove when you get there. Saves a lot of money over the years, if the shut down is completed properly each time. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to do each time you leave.
It only takes one good power failure in really cold weather to make a whole bunch of work in the plumbing department if you don't do it this way!
Oh, and 55 degrees is much warmer than you need to leave it if you don't winterize...you can let it drop to 45 degrees with no worries..and it will work out much cheaper for yah!
The cabin is about 1100sf if that matters.
1100 square feet is nothing, radiant heat will keep it plenty warm.
Our cabin only has a wood burning furnace, when we leave all water is drained and everything is shut off. Have never had any issues with cracked drywall or any other problems. Just takes a little time to heat it up when it is really cold out. The cabin is setup for this, open a few valves, pour some antifreeze in the tolet and drains and walk away. Takes us about 20 minutes to set it up to leave, nothing at all is kept on when no one is there.
djhupnorth
New member
Unless you have a bunch of drywall that would crack in colder weather, why not just drain stuff and add RV antifreeze to the toilet and sink drains and let the place go cold? You could still put a small electric heater in there set at 38 degrees and keep the damp out.
Then just hit the wood stove when you get there. Saves a lot of money over the years, if the shut down is completed properly each time. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to do each time you leave.
It only takes one good power failure in really cold weather to make a whole bunch of work in the plumbing department if you don't do it this way!
Oh, and 55 degrees is much warmer than you need to leave it if you don't winterize...you can let it drop to 45 degrees with no worries..and it will work out much cheaper for yah!
I have to agree with this. I have an old propane furnace and would not trust it being on when I am gone. I bought the cabin last year and the first couple times I thought this sucked. After a couple times, it's easy and I can do it in little time. My cabin is about the same size and on a slab too.
If I had a furnace I trusted, I think I would do it the same. I may not get up there as much as you may however.
snow_monkey
New member
I agree with the above posts. During the super cold part of the winter I will splash some anti freeze in the traps and toy toys to keep them from cracking in the event of a power loss, and drain my pipes. One weekend I came up and my neighbor did not practice this technique and he had two cracked toilets, pipes, and a split water heater out on the lawn. I have a standing pilot on the propane water heater and have never had a problem.
I have a wall unit in my place, aprox 1200 sq ft. All the plumbing is in 1 corner of the cabin. We turn off the water heater and well, run the water out until the pressure tank is empty and then after we all use the bathroom 1 last time flush the toilet down and empty it.
I actaully had a pipe rot thru last year while we were there and start to drip right as we were leaving. The pipe was 2 inches long between the main water feed and prssure switch.
$2.75 later the problem was fixed but I always drain the water before I leave. We set the thermostat at 50 and go.
My place is on a slab also, seems to take a while to heat back up if I turn the thermostat below 50 degrees. I also bought heated matress pads for all the beds, that way we can keep the temp down low during the nights when we are sleeping too.
Get up and get dressed, leave on the sleds, come home and then when ready slide into a warm bed. No need to crank the heater and saves big time on the gas bill.
We do put a pedestal fan in front of the wall unti that oscillates back and forth to help move the warm air around.
I actaully had a pipe rot thru last year while we were there and start to drip right as we were leaving. The pipe was 2 inches long between the main water feed and prssure switch.
$2.75 later the problem was fixed but I always drain the water before I leave. We set the thermostat at 50 and go.
My place is on a slab also, seems to take a while to heat back up if I turn the thermostat below 50 degrees. I also bought heated matress pads for all the beds, that way we can keep the temp down low during the nights when we are sleeping too.
Get up and get dressed, leave on the sleds, come home and then when ready slide into a warm bed. No need to crank the heater and saves big time on the gas bill.
We do put a pedestal fan in front of the wall unti that oscillates back and forth to help move the warm air around.
We have a 1,100 sq ft cabin that is up on pillars off the ground.
I this (or similar Empire model) in the living room.
http://www.fireforless.com/empire-35-000-btu-direct-vent-wall-furnace-ng-dv35sglp.html
In the bathroom we have another Empire direct vent model that is about 1/2 as big maybe 15,000 btu's.
In each of the bedrooms we have this:
http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/gas-stoves/stove-details?product_id=6
I don't usually don't run the bedroom units when we are gone unless we will be back in a week or less. Just let the rooms go cold. Never have had a problem. We heat the living room kitchen to 45* when gone and the bathroom at 53*F when gone.
I this (or similar Empire model) in the living room.
http://www.fireforless.com/empire-35-000-btu-direct-vent-wall-furnace-ng-dv35sglp.html
In the bathroom we have another Empire direct vent model that is about 1/2 as big maybe 15,000 btu's.
In each of the bedrooms we have this:
http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/gas-stoves/stove-details?product_id=6
I don't usually don't run the bedroom units when we are gone unless we will be back in a week or less. Just let the rooms go cold. Never have had a problem. We heat the living room kitchen to 45* when gone and the bathroom at 53*F when gone.
tilltheend
New member
I have a similar sized cabin in the UP right now that I just upgraded to a 80% efficiency forced air unit last summer. I went back and forth about what to put in there and it made the most sense heres why. Just like skidont said I hung a horizontal forced air unit in the attic and ran flexduct work to each room off the main trunk line, not to bad on the install, 10 hours of nighttime total since it was August. The advantage is with the electronic ignition(most wall units are pilot) I you can use a Honeywell Aurora controller which allows me to turn the unit on/off and adjust the temperature via phone line. Call when I leave home and its 70 degress when I open the door, and only cost $150...or priceless at 10pm on a Friday night. Second I have heat with adjustable vents in each room to control the temp, so no more cold bedrooms and 80 degress in the living room. I winterize my plumbing since its a 4 hour ride if I have a power failure... I still have a small building with a half moon on the door, has heat now too so its not too bad. I guess it depends how far you are away for emergencies and how important water is to you? A good plumber can set up an easy drain system and a direct fire water heater that can easily be used on a weekend and re-winterized before you leave but I dont bother unless we would be staying for a week.
Thanks for all of the replies. For those of you who have install a forced air furnace, what kind of price tag would I be looking at for everything? and do you just put insulation over the ductwork? I would be using this place every weekend so I am trying to avoid winterizing after every visit. Although from everyones responses it does not look like I would have to. I did look at the house again, and the wall heater is a 35,000btu heater.
tilltheend
New member
I wrapped the main trunkline in blanket insulation and the Flexduct is insulated, it comes in a box and springs open out of the box. Just a garbage bag looking tube with a wound wire reinforcement, cut to length and slip it over the fitting, tape it and its done. The system I had installed would have been $3000 to $3500 basically because of labor costs since the trunk line and outlets had to be assembled in the confined space do to limited ceiling access. Depends how your attic looks and how big of access panel and how much your willing to demo to gain access. Equiptment was about half that I think. Mine was about 10 hours start to finish, working at night to avoid the 100 deg attic. Just a side note also with mine I hooked the fan to run independently so in the summer run a window air conditioner near the cold air return and it will circulate the cool air throughout the whole cabin, works the same with my wood stove in the kitchen to get the chill out on a September morning. So far one of the best cabin upgrades we did.
I did look at the house again, and the wall heater is a 35,000btu heater.
How many rooms is this place? Where is this heater located in relation to the plumbing? How did the current owners get by without having a force air system?
As I said before, 1100 sq ft is nothing for a radiant heat system, as you describe. If a door can be left open to get to the plumbing, you need not spend $3k+ for those days you are not there just to make sure the plumbing doesn't freeze.
Unless you want to keep it at a temp so that when you show up, its toasty from the minute you walk in the door, I'll bet what is there is MORE than adequate.
sleddinfool
New member
I put a 90 plus unit in my crawlspace when I bought my cabin 1200 sq ft 11 years ago..Not sure on the btu's.. I did also set it up for central air so it does have the a-coil in it but that is it. Total cost for the furnace, ductwork vents and first tank of propane was $15-1600..My house is well insulated with 2x6 walls. I leave the heat at 55 when gone..usually I use right around 220 gallons of propane a year. I turn the stat up to 70 when I get there and then fire up the wood stove, after the temp gets to 70 the furnace never runs again. One time I lost power long enough to drop the temp to 38-- it was the week after one of my neighbors house's burned and consumers turned power off.. He was the only full time resident so nobody else knew the power was out. Kevin