# Cabin prepped for year 'round use



## ricknflint (Jun 15, 2000)

Our family has a cabin in the U.P that is currently only used from early spring til late fall. The water pipes are then drained, the heat (LP Furnace) is turned off and everything buttoned up for the winter.
My wife and I have been talking and would really like to use the cabin in the winter months.
Here's the deal. The cabin is 30'x24, 1 big bedroom,1 small bedroom, bath, living room and kitchen.
The cabin sits facing south in a fairly open clearing, all of the water pipes and plumbing are on the west side and exposed to some fierce west/northwest winds. The cabin sits on an uninsulated crawl space.
The furnace has no ductwork connected to it, there is a register at the bottom that blows hot air into the living area.
The well has a submersible pump and is located approx. 20 ft. from the back porch.The supply line to the cabin from the well is buried maybe 24 in. There is a portion of it that is exposed to the air where it comes out of the ground and into the cabin. In the past, during late November we have had some issue with this portion of the pipe freezing. I had to set a small propane heater down beside it to thaw it out.

What all would have to be done to the plumbing, furnace,etc. to be able to use the cabin year round? I know I'd have to insulate the foundation to protect the pipes. Thanks in advance.


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## eddiejohn4 (Dec 23, 2005)

The very first thing you would have to address is the supply line comming into the cabin. You would have to make sure that the furnace is up to the job of keeping the cabin heated at 55 or around and dependable when you are not there. 

I keep my place open all year also as I enjoy going up and ice fishing and yote hunting and any other outdoor activity I can come up with. including just sitting around the fireplace.

Good luck as I know you will certainly enjoy the winter in your cabin.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

One thing you may want to consider if you do end up using it year 'round is a Freeze Alarm. I'm sure that these have been around a while but I've been hearing ads for them on the radio lately. I did some checking and found that the basic unit which is fine for most use is only about $65-$75 depending on where you get it. It is a phone dialer that will call one number if and when the temperature in the building drops below forty-five degrees. It will then redial this number every two hours until you call it back to reset it. 

My dad just left last Friday for Florida and won't be home until probably mid to late April. I drop by his place once a week or or whenever I'm driving by and just make sure things are OK. I may pick up one of these little devices and set it up so it will dial me at home if the temp in his place ever falls below 45. He has the water shut off but still if there is a problem I want to know about it so I can get it taken care of and hopefully avoid a more costly repair. 

Just something to consider.

John


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## eddiejohn4 (Dec 23, 2005)

Now that is a good idea. I think I will look into that myself.


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## Millersburger (Nov 7, 2007)

We shut our place down each time we go in the winter... We use it alot
during January and February. We heat with wood so we have too. Made sure we insulated everything well. Setup the plumbing system with a quick disconnect coupling for the compressor, takes five too blow it out and 
bingo its closed... antifreeze the traps and were gone....


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## snowman11 (Nov 21, 2006)

Like Millersburger says, properly designed, you've got nothing to worry about. Do a drain down valve in the crawl space, put a small air compressor down there to blow everything out and leave. But you have to fix your well first. May also check to see if 24" is deep enough. No clue on that.


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## Spoon Fed (Jul 26, 2006)

The only problem i see is the water line. I know down here you must be at least 42" deep to stay below the frost line, thats code. But the part thats exposed would be a problem. We hook a hose to our hot water heater, and have a valve in our crawl space. It takes 5 min. to drain when we leave. We did have our well line dug in deeper though, and we use our cabin year round. Just safer to shut it down when not there.


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## ricknflint (Jun 15, 2000)

Thanks, appreciate the tips. One other thing we've been thinking about is removing the LP furnace and going with electric heat. Buddy of mine has it in his cabin,(smaller than ours) and said his bill only runs about $300.00/yr. He uses his place year round to. One issue I have with the current furnace is that when the blower kicks in it's really loud and you have to turn up the volume on the tv to hear it and you almost can't carry on a normal conversation.


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## Trophy Specialist (Nov 30, 2001)

If you are going to leave the water in the pipes and the heat on, then you'll need to do plenty. First, 24" is probably not enough to get below the frost line. You'll likely need to dig it deeper and fix the pipe problem where it goes into the cabin. You'll need to insulate your crawl space. 1" foam is what is normally used. You'll also need to close your crawl space vents or block them with insulation if not closeable. The heater should be set to no lower than 50 degrees. I would also install a backup heater that does not run on electricity. I heat my up north retreat all winter and installed one of those vent free propane heaters. I set it at 45 degrees so that if the other furnace fails or the electric goes out, the other heater will kick on and keep things from freezing. I learned that one the hard way. You'll also want good drapes to help insulate the place. I just turn off the water, the water heater, turn down the heat, turn on the backup heater and leave. When I come back to a cold house, the backup heater also helps warm things up a lot faster.

I've also got one of those vent free heaters in my regular house as a backup too for when I'm gone or for when the power goes out.


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## ricknflint (Jun 15, 2000)

Trophy Specialist can you tell me about the Vent free Heater you installed? Is this wall mounted?


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## TheManInBlue (Dec 19, 2007)

For us shutting down and starting up isn't much of an issue. Our cabin is only an hour and 20 minutes away but will still shut it down after this weekend. By myself i can get the water running in about 15 mins. So maybe you wont need to do all this work. Our lines are built in our crawlspace however and have nothing outside that is above the frost line. just a thought.


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## Trophy Specialist (Nov 30, 2001)

ricknflint said:


> Trophy Specialist can you tell me about the Vent free Heater you installed? Is this wall mounted?


The one in my house is called a Pro-Com. It is a blue flame unit and they cost around $200. You can buy them at Tractor Supply, hardware stores or at Northern Tool Co. They are wall mounted and easy to install. I've installed them with pipe and flex metal hose. I wouldn't recomend them for a main source of heat, but for a backup they are very good. I think all dwellings in the country should have one for a backup.


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## snowman11 (Nov 21, 2006)

Trophy Specialist said:


> The one in my house is called a Pro-Com. It is a blue flame unit and they cost around $200. You can buy them at Tractor Supply, hardware stores or at Northern Tool Co. They are wall mounted and easy to install. I've installed them with pipe and flex metal hose. I wouldn't recomend them for a main source of heat, but for a backup they are very good. I think all dwellings in the country should have one for a backup.


cant agree with you more! That's what I'm installing in our house next. Figure I can drop it in the basement next to the hot water heater and it'll save A LOT of money in water damage if it we were to ever lose power and freeze while gone for a weekend.


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

ricknflint said:


> Our family has a cabin in the U.P that is currently only used from early spring til late fall. The water pipes are then drained, the heat (LP Furnace) is turned off and everything buttoned up for the winter.
> My wife and I have been talking and would really like to use the cabin in the winter months.
> Here's the deal. The cabin is 30'x24, 1 big bedroom,1 small bedroom, bath, living room and kitchen.
> The cabin sits facing south in a fairly open clearing, all of the water pipes and plumbing are on the west side and exposed to some fierce west/northwest winds. The cabin sits on an uninsulated crawl space.
> ...


You should be able to drain the main line back down to the well from the wellhead? If this is done you should have no problem with the line freezing unless it is outside of the cabin?


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