The hunting cabin

[Foggy47]

The floor heat has quite a bit of lag time to get up to temp. It wouldn't be great to keep at 50, then show up and turn it to 70 and think it's going to get there quickly.

Right....but to keep it at 50....and have another heat source to bring the ambient up would be pretty sweet. I had in-floor heart in another home....and we learned to leave it set fairly low....and never mess with it. We put a plastic box over our thermostat....and never changed it.. We used a secondary heat source for the rest. Our basement floor never felt cold. I would consider using the in floor heat to keep it warm year around....then using a mini split for HVAC from May though November deer camp. Thereby keeping everything from freezing over the winter. Maybe a gas fireplace or alternate source for ambiance? Dunno. ...but a minimum of 50 degrees floor temp would sure be nice.

 

[keets]

Are you talking all the way around the building, or as a porch? There is a 10’ porch with overhang facing the woods.

didn't notice the porch on the end, I'm talking on the eaves, big overhangs

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I have a similar cabin/garage. Mine is 30x40 with a 10' overhang on the 40' side. That overhang is really nice and I would definitely recommend it. I went with a propane tank (500 gallon), forced air furnace and eventually added central AC when we started going to the cabin for summer fishing trips. About 1/2 of my building is finished with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room. The other half is unfinished garage, but that is also insulated to reduce heat loss in that direction. We keep the cabin set at 55 degrees all winter, but we still blow out all of the water lines and turn off the water in December. The one thing I wish I did differently was push to get a septic system instead of a holding tank. We were told the water table was too high for a standard septic system, but I think that what mound systems are for. We have to get the tank pumped every year for $200, which isn't a huge deal, but it would be nice if we had a septic system.

 

[SD51555]

They usually put antifreeze in the floor heat here….but that does lessen the effectiveness of the heating. Likely a small price to pay on a small building. I’d like to do in floor heat. Gotta discuss more.

You guys need to go off grid. Then the power never goes out.

 

[Foggy47]

You guys need to go off grid. Then the power never goes out.

The day I go off the grid I will sell my place. Just think how nice well water, a bath room and a shower would feel, let alone HVAC and ice cubes, cold beer and big screen T V would be….let alone a welder.

 

[Foggy47]

The day I go off the grid I will sell my place. Just think how nice well water, a bath room and a shower would feel, let alone HVAC and ice cubes, cold beer and big screen T V would be….let alone a welder.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

The day I go off the grid I will sell my place. Just think how nice well water, a bath room and a shower would feel, let alone HVAC and ice cubes, cold beer and big screen T V would be….let alone a welder.

I was off grid once…I spent my lifesavings to make sure that never happened again!

 

[Ruttin1]

Sounds like you have a plan VERY similar to what I plan to do next summer. I do want to drill a wel with a submersible pump and have the water come into my mechanical room....and into the garage to wash down the deer skinning area with a drain in the middle of my multi-use garage / deer hanging/ gutting / skinning area. Thought about that dairy barn siding in the garage as that can be washed down without deterioration (and it's affordable in place of sheet rock). I want a decent sink and a SS table for butchering / grinding / debone. Gonna put a closet size room off the garage for a cooler, and use a window AC unit or a BOT (?).

Not sure if I will do a septic and djainfield or a holding tank?? I suppose that is price driven. I need to find out more on heated floor too. Also need an outdoor faucet area for sprayer filling and want to keep that area away from my well.

I like your planned overhang / porch ideas. Gotta incorporate that too. I'm thinking of expoxy floors or possibly polished concrete (but I fear that gets slippery in winter.

Do you have a plan drawn for your place yet? Gonna work on my ideas soon. I'd like a decent concrete pad outside the garage door.....for an outdoor gutting area too. Choices are good. Not sure about an outdoor drain.

Some good ideas I hadn’t thought of. A SS table would be great.
I do have plans drawn up. That’s the nice part about having a wife who does that for a living.
Went through several ideas before settling on a final plan.

 

[Ruttin1]

The floor heat has quite a bit of lag time to get up to temp. It wouldn't be great to keep at 50, then show up and turn it to 70 and think it's going to get there quickly.

I had my builder quote it both ways. In floor was twice the price of a forced air setup and yes, it would take longer to raise the temp.

 

[Ruttin1]

I have a similar cabin/garage. Mine is 30x40 with a 10' overhang on the 40' side. That overhang is really nice and I would definitely recommend it. I went with a propane tank (500 gallon), forced air furnace and eventually added central AC when we started going to the cabin for summer fishing trips. About 1/2 of my building is finished with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room. The other half is unfinished garage, but that is also insulated to reduce heat loss in that direction. We keep the cabin set at 55 degrees all winter, but we still blow out all of the water lines and turn off the water in December. The one thing I wish I did differently was push to get a septic system instead of a holding tank. We were told the water table was too high for a standard septic system, but I think that what mound systems are for. We have to get the tank pumped every year for $200, which isn't a huge deal, but it would be nice if we had a septic system.

How long does that 500 gallon tank of propane last you? I’ll be running furnace and AC off it for sure.