To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

off grid cabin

bmxdukie

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
293
Location
Ontario, Canada
Looking for some info from others that might have solar or genny set ups for their power source.
I am liiking for some property for recreational purpose.
Of course, I was thinking propane fridge and stove.
but for lights was thinking solar. However, I would like to use a toaster each morning for the bacon and eggs. Lol as well as television for the wife.
anyone with ideas or input?
Thanks in advance.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

dutchgray

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
6,469
Location
Dorset. England.
Here in the UK you can get petrol generators that will also run from a propane cylinder which is cheaper and provides longer runtime. Diesel generators are bigger, better but a lot more expensive, all are noisy.
Solar and off grid limits you to dc and lower voltage with battery storage, although you could hook up an inverter to it to get mains ac, you need a lot of panels and batteries to get a useful amount of power stored for night time usage unless all you want is to charge your phone, run a small lcd tv for a couple hours. Obviously being efficient is the key, the less power you need the easier it is to get it.
 

fourjeepin

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2011
Messages
3,667
Location
Atlanta, GA
The last off grid cabin I stayed in had a TV. It was a propane powered generator. It even had a fridge. No solar, though that was common for the folks that live in that area full time - Cotapaxi, CO.
 

wyliesdiesels

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 14, 2012
Messages
20,074
Location
Modesto, CA
We lived off grid for awhile. Honda inverter generator with 48v DC deep cycle battery bank and pure sine wave inverter charger. Inverter had a special feature where it could supplement power output of generator with the batteries.

Water pump was DC, fridge was amonia charged RV fridge that ran off DC.

Setup worked great. Ran lights(CFL) TV, washing machine etc.
 

jd_1138

Well-known member
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
17,073
Location
NE Ohio
My dad lives in the desert off grid. He has about 4 solar panels. If his batteries run down, he connects them to his van's battery. But it's just him, no wife, no TV. And he cooks on his BBQ.
 

Highbeam

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2011
Messages
2,292
Location
Mt Rainier foothills, WA
Look into the RV world. My current travel trailer has a 12 volt jensen LCD flat screen TV. Thing runs forever on the two housebatteries.

Similarly, RV light fixtures are now often LED powered with a nice soft white color and very low power consumption.

Every time you have an off-grid problem look to the RV market as they have lots of money and technology to solve problems. The off-grid cabin people are cool and all, but there's hardly a handful of you so technology improvements are slow.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Paul1956

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
Messages
488
Location
San Antonio, TX
Looking for some info from others that might have solar or genny set ups for their power source.
I am liiking for some property for recreational purpose.
Of course, I was thinking propane fridge and stove.
but for lights was thinking solar. However, I would like to use a toaster each morning for the bacon and eggs. Lol as well as television for the wife.
anyone with ideas or input?
Thanks in advance.

My off-grid cabin had no electricity.

-propane was used for cooking.
-ice chests served as fridges.
-lights were kerosene lanterns.
-no television but did have battery operated radio.
-toast could be made on the propane stove

I did have running water. That happened when I ran up to the
cottage with a bucket full of lake water.

Dig a hole deep enough and you will find it chilly down there so
that too can be used for chilling items.

If you must have electricity I would get a Honda Generator of
the appropriate size... but then you have to listen to that droning
instead of the lake loons, owls and other wildlife... maybe a bear
taking a chunk out of the person coming back from the outhouse. :D
 

blacksporty

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
1,248
Location
So Cal
Solar panels, charge controller, batteries, inverter and a generator for back-up bad weather times.
 

jd_1138

Well-known member
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
17,073
Location
NE Ohio
That's some serious man-**** right there...:rocker:

Yep, he bought the 10 acres of desert land in the late 90's for like $5,000 (he saw an ad for the Arizona land up in Califonria). Now it's probably worth $50,000 or so. It's right off I-40 and there are subdivisions popping up everywhere around him.

He started with an old school bus that he lived in for a year while he was building his cabin. Now he has a full compound -- cabin, a garage, 2 sheds, a covered parking structure, and a concrete pad for when friends come with RV's. And he has an Airstream too. And he has 4 classic cars/trucks, and he has 2 daily drivers (both mopar minivans).
 
Last edited:

theoldwizard1

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
43,303
Location
SE MI
Looking for some info from others that might have solar or genny set ups for their power source.
... However, I would like to use a toaster each morning for the bacon and eggs.
If you have to have toast, either make it over the flame on you LP stove or start a generator ! The few minutes of that toaster running will be equivalent to hours of running a television. Same with a microwave, washing machine, vacuum.

None of those appliances can run on anything less than very large battery bank (at least 8 - 6V golf cart batteries) and a fairly large ($$$) solar array. Even then, you won't be running the vacuum cleaner the same day that you are running the washing machine.

Get a 3KW inverter generator. Convert it to propane. You can run the lights (LED) and TV at night off of a couple of golf cart batteries. Get 2 more batteries and a separate inverter for your well.
 

trainer

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2005
Messages
2,019
Location
Northern Ontario, Canada
I've got a summer camp thats off the grid and i go to a hunt camp thats powered by a generator as well.

In my summer cabin, we have a propane fridge and stove, and demand water heater.

We used to have propane lights as well, but when I renovated over the last few years, we removed them and installed electric lights. I have a chonda 3000 watt gas generator that powers a small panel with a 20 amp, 120v main breaker.

The camp is wired with six- 15 amp circuits for an outlet and lights in each room, kitchen, outside flood lights, and a submersible sump pump that fills a water barrel from the lake. We have a coffee maker, toaster, 36" LCD tv with sattelite reciever, and a portable 120v hot tub.

The water system is run from an RV-type pump powered by a 12 volt deep cycle battery and a 10 amp charger that charges when the generator is running. It supplies a bathroom sink and shower, and the kitchen sink.

I looked at solar, but the upfront cost and the trouble of maintaing the batteries in a place that isnt used for 8-10 months a year isnt worth it. The generator is only run at night and in the morning, costing about $10-$20 a day, depending on the load. I use about 2-100 lb tanks of propane every summer.

At the hunt camp we have a similar setup, with no running water. A 3000ei honda runs the place, 36" tube tv and sattelite, coffee maker, toaster, mercury vapour yard lights, and a small freezer.

We by-passed the thermostat on the freezer so that it runs steady when the generator is on. It gets very cold and stays frozen solid when the genny is off.
 

79firebird

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
385
Location
Victoria bc
At my grandparents cabin they have 3 150w solar panles conected to a smart charger controler to 4 6 volt batterys. Then conected to a 3000watt 220 inverter that conects to a load center. Propane generator is also fed into that wich is a 10kw one manly used to charge the battery and run the microwave. All propane heat, hot water, fridge, and stove. Water pump is 110 should be 12 volt im changing that soon. I lasted 6 days with out useing the gen and just on battery and i was using the lights vacume, tv my laptop etc for work and was fine. Allways over size what you need for updates later on
 

hh76

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2010
Messages
3,455
Location
NE Wisconsin
Where are you located?

I've installed a couple dozen off grid systems. All different sizes and budgets out there.
 

bjcouche

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 11, 2010
Messages
509
Location
Ohio
You have gotten several good ideas here, basically though you have to decide how much power you really need and how much you are willing to spend or how much you hate hearing a generator run for hours. The Honda inverter ones are quieter, but I still feel a sigh of relief and peace and quiet when one is shut off.
Last year I set up a system for my parents off grid camp. Propane heat, stove, and fridge. Lights are 120V electric, NO 12V lights and there is no running water. The camp is built basically as if it were an RV. It has a breaker panel with a couple circuits. It has outlets on every wall (per code) and on kitchen counters and lights in each room. The light fixtures are standard Edison base light bulb fixtures, chandeliers, etc. however the bulbs in them are 120Vac LED bulbs. Just as in an RV there is a bank of "house" batteries connected to an inverter / charger. The inverter / charger is typical of a RV type where there is also a 120V input to plug in your RV cord into the "park power". The camp has a power inlet like you would have on your house for a portable backup generator. When a generator is plugged in, the inverter / charger bypasses the inverter and runs the lights and outlets on the generator. At the same time it also charges the batteries.
In addition to the inverter / charger, there is also a set of solar panels totaling 200W connected to a MPPT charge controller, and then to the batteries. With their normal use, they rarely use the generator.
Your largest total energy consumer is that toaster, but I understand why you want it because I've tried to make toast on a stove before. The TV is the second largest energy consumer. I sized the inverter at 2,000W, and the generator is just an inexpensive portable 3500W 120V generator. If they want to use a coffee pot or toaster in the morning, they start the generator, then shut it off as soon as breakfast is done. Actually with just a couple 12V 90AH batteries, they can easily make a pot of coffee and a couple slices of toast, just on battery power. However, that might leave them, later that evening without enough power for lights for the evening's card games, festivities, etc. If I were in your situation, I'd spring for larger batteries and or a larger solar array. Solar is coming down in cost quite rapidly. Also, if you want to place the batteries inside your living space, I would recommend getting sealed type batteries, and NOT the flooded or "maintenance free" batteries. Sealed type batteries cost a bit more but don't give off toxic smelly gas when charged and also don't corrode as much.
Learn to do energy calcs. For example, a 600W toaster operated for 0.25 hours consumes 600*0.25 = 150WH (Watt Hours). From a 12V battery that would be 150WH / 12V = 12.5AH (Amp Hours) So you could be running your toaster for 15 minutes or a 12.5A load from the 12V battery for 1 hour, and use the same amount of energy. Running the toaster for a total of 1 hour would completely deplete a 50AH 12V battery. Now all these are assuming 100% efficiency inverter, etc, so there will always be losses and safety factors, etc... If running 120V incandescent bulbs, take a look at the LED replacements, you can run 6 LED bulbs for the same amount of energy as 1 incandescent. Or another way, LED bulbs give you 6 times the run time on the same battery.
Even if you don't want lots of solar power, I would still recommend a small solar panel to keep the batteries charged and from self discharging if you plan on being away for months on end.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom