Well, I would definitely NOT rely on solar or wind for electric heat Tom.

It's nearly a sure thing that you'll have several cold and cloudy days, or a dead still, and cold night. It takes A LOT of battery to make heat, even for a small space. I assume you can't run electric out there for one reason or another, so that nixes a simple lightbulb under the cover. If you're not too worried, you could run a small propane flame, as long as it's close to, but not entirely airtight. It would probably run a month on a 20lb tank.

Water circulation could work too, (have a valve so you could dump it back down the well) but that could end up being a pain in the rear, not to mention put a lot more wear and tear on the pump itself.

Do you happen to have a large compost pile handy... :shock:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green_Home_Building/1980_May_June/Update_Mother_s_Compost_Heat_Experiments

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alternative_Energy/1981_July_August/Compost_Heated_Water_

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Homesteading_and_Self_Reliance/1980_September_October/Update_II__Mother_s_Compost_Heater

This guy has a lot of DIY solar space heating projects you can build.

http://www.builditsolar.com/

You won't require much air to keep a flame. In fact, if you run a one inch tube in to where the flame is to be, it should be plenty. If you set up a 1/4" copper line with a crimped end should work fine for a simple propane orfice. (secret tip: place a pin in the tube, and squeeze the end shut with a vise, vise grips, or hammer shut, then pull out pin for a nicely sized orfice) Just a small opening near the ground is more than enough for exhaust air, as not much air exchange is required. Screen whatever opening you have with metal window screening.

BTW, how big an area are we talking about?

You could dig a fairly deep hole and get some cool air flow out of the ground through a pipe. Kind of what Rod was planning to do for A/C.

Could you dig out a large hole and put the pump below the surface grade, then cover the pit with lots of insulating material, hoping that ground temp was enough to keep the pump unfrozen?

Maybe you could rig up something that the exhause gas from the generator heated, and then slowly let off the stored heat during the night?

Our Jack Russell chews up every toy too WalkingHorseLady.

Jeff

Tom, have you considered 12v heat tape with a battery recharged from solar (good luck keeping those dang methhead theives we have away from it)? I don't know off hand how many amps you may need, that determines the size/number of batteries. I have the same issue. I just bought 120v heat tape, because I think I can run it when I am not there. (After I fix my solar array to be able to track again.) I haven't hooked it up, and I haven't been up to the place to see if there is any freeze damage from the single digit weather.

We have to have an AZ LHBA meeting! How's the log peeling going?

01-18-07

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Wow! I am out of the tech loop. Well here is a 'rough' sketch of my well house. The object to the left is the well head. It runs underground to the well house. It makes a 'T" connection to service the cabin, pasta shop, and fill the well. It has a slopped roof for run off. It measures 43"W x71"Lx 26" H . It is insulated R14 on all sided. I still get pipe freezing. Water tank is 3000 gal. Do you think the flame idea could work with out fire damage?

Tom
nobleknight
class 01-15-05

Yea, I don't see a problem with it. You could have the flame housed deeper in the draft tube, (if you decided to use one) but could be harder to light. Or add a coffee can shroud, with both ends cut out. It's only a small flame, but you might want to suspend a piece of sheetmetal directly over the flame to disperse heat concentration above the flame.

You know what would be ideal? If you got an RV place nearby, go there and get a dead gas refrigerator from them. (preferably for free) Usually, these fridges are garbaged because the ammonia lines are either clogged or rusted out, but the burner assembly is just fine. Just remove the whole burner assembly, and you should have yourself one factory built, small flame heater, with ignitor, and flame height control. It might require 12 volts, depending on how fancy a unit it is, but you might get lucky on an older, totally self contained model.

You should probably monitor the temperature for a little while to see how it works out. (too little, or less likely too much, heat) Some cheap digital thermometer with a remote sensor is all you need.

Good find. Those things don't work well on a small bottle, but connected to a 20lb+ tank, they will. I use to carry a small heater like that on job sites, just to try and keep my hands warm when wiring panels in the dead of winter. The problem was, the bottle was small enough that the pressure drop rate was fast enough to cool the propane further, to the point that there wasn't enough pressure to keep it going. It's a problem that wouldn't occur on a large tank.

A pound a day isn't too bad. Figure 20 days on a regular tank, and even further if Tom turns it off on warmer days. Might even be able to just cut it back and stretch it to 30 days continuous, but you'd have to be a bit careful not to back it off too far where it might extinguish itself when the pressure fluctuates. (propane pressure is directly effected by temperature)

Tom,

How has that heater been working out for you?

My neighbor. in Chiloquin Oregon utilizes a Lightbulb in his well pump house. He has the bulb in side of the box that he places over the pump.
The light bulb is connected to his solar system.
That seems to work well for him. It's great having a neighbor
that has lived off grid in the area where I will be building for over 20yrs full time that can share all his knowledge with me.

Regards, Tim Dubar