Fixing up an old cabin

[Abbe Osram]

Hi guys,

I just bought a very old cabin, the cabin has not been in use in 6 years and I guess its about 80 years old ore more. I will have to fix it up quite a bit and wonder about some stuff concerning construction work. As some of you are builders and have experience with such stuff I thought I would like to start up a thread where I can ask some question now and then and hopefully someone can give me a helping hand.

My first question concerns a "power generator". I will have to buy one and have no idea what to watch out for, which ones are good (companies) etc etc.
You know all the stuff a guy would like to know before buying something.
I am going to use the generator in the building phase for the powertools. Later when the cabin is fixed I like to use the generator for things I have no idea right now, maybe now and then getting on the net loading up the lap top etc. I dont know yet. What do I have to watch out buying a generator?

Here is a picture of my place:

thanks for any help
Cheers
Abbe

 

[Seagull]

Nice looking location, Abbe.

Dont be suprised if half of the forum volunteers to come and give you a helping hand.

Pity I can,t be one, I rather fancy myself as a bit of a wood-butcher.

ATB

Ceeg

 

[morch]

Place looks fantastic Abe. Sorry i can't help with the generator issue but i wish you all the luck in the world with your new project mate.

Dave

 

[British Red]

Abbe,

Hmm Gennies

Well, they come in small petrol (generally 2 stroke), large petrol (generally 4 stroke) and diesel.

The little two strokes are generally up to 1KW, the 4 strokes bigger (2.5kw is common) the diesels are the real powerful ones (5KW and up though you can get smaller).

Lister generators are tough as old boots, Hondas are excellent, generally quieter than the rest (which can be a big issue). Consider run time and tank size for protracted use (little uns generally only run a few hours).

Propane based generators do exist but are far less common. They do have the advantage though that proane doesn't spoil in storage which petrol and diesel do.

Generators for tools and running a house are often quite different (heavy / short use for tools and noise is irrelavant, other way round for house use).

Now, if it was me, this is what I would do (YMMV), buy a reasonable generator, but equip the cabin with either wind or solar system charging a bettery array, powering mains circuit through an inverter. When you are not at the cabin you will be storing "free" electricity. If you find yourself running short, fire up your genny and, rather than have it "chugging" all night, use it to power things for a short time (tools etc.) or charge the battery system.

I know solar / wind seems scary at first, but its actually very simple technology

Hope That Helps a little

Red

 

[falcon]

That'll get everyone dreaming Abbe...looks great. Good ideas from Red too.......

 

[jdlenton]

I'm in agreement with red a wind solar hybrid system is the way to go for a cabin a small building like this ( i cant see the picture photbucket got blocked all lighting can be 12v dc and give good economical results an inverter can then run all the mains stuff ( as long as its not high draw like a kettle but you'll be doing that on a fire) charge a laptop charge the phone/gps, run a radio charge the snow machine battery etc.

all the parts can be got off the shelf at a reasonable cost and are not difficult or expensive to maintain the only real trouble is the maintenance of lead acid battery packs rain water can be used instead of distilled water and that the only wilderness tip i know for batteries.

let us know how you get on

James

 

[Abbe Osram]

Abbe,

Hmm Gennies

Well, they come in small petrol (generally 2 stroke), large petrol (generally 4 stroke) and diesel.

The little two strokes are generally up to 1KW, the 4 strokes bigger (2.5kw is common) the diesels are the real powerful ones (5KW and up though you can get smaller).

Lister generators are tough as old boots, Hondas are excellent, generally quieter than the rest (which can be a big issue). Consider run time and tank size for protracted use (little uns generally only run a few hours).

Propane based generators do exist but are far less common. They do have the advantage though that proane doesn't spoil in storage which petrol and diesel do.

Generators for tools and running a house are often quite different (heavy / short use for tools and noise is irrelavant, other way round for house use).

Now, if it was me, this is what I would do (YMMV), buy a reasonable generator, but equip the cabin with either wind or solar system charging a bettery array, powering mains circuit through an inverter. When you are not at the cabin you will be storing "free" electricity. If you find yourself running short, fire up your genny and, rather than have it "chugging" all night, use it to power things for a short time (tools etc.) or charge the battery system.

I know solar / wind seems scary at first, but its actually very simple technology

Hope That Helps a little

Red

Hi mate,
thanks a lot for all the great tips. Could you dwell a little on the subject wind/solar.
This sounds very good to me as we have in summer 24 hours light. I could safe some energy there, but winter I dont have light for some month, its dark or heavy grey. As my cabin is on a small hill and there is quite a wind blowing from the lake side I would love to hear more about the wind idea.
That could be a great thing for the dark times, autum storms and winter time.
I thought that wind in small scale doesnt give much, could you teach me more about the wind idea?

thanks
Abbe

 

[Nemisis]

Abbe is there just the lake or is there a stream or river close to the cabin? You could build a small water wheel or turbine to power a generator.
Dave.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Abbe is there just the lake or is there a stream or river close to the cabin? You could build a small water wheel or turbine to power a generator.
Dave.

No, there are no streams nearby. If you can see the picture then you will see to the right a little light blue stripe. That is the lake infront of my cabin. Then there is another small lake in the back of the picture. Between these two lakes the road goes.

// Abbe

 

[British Red]

Abbe,

Righto mate,

Now I'm nobodies expert in this (although I have a friend who know a fair bit and built his own off grid system who I can introduce you too if that helps).

Off grid 101

You will need
(1) A way (or ways) of creating electricity
(2) A way of storing that electricity so its there if you want it
(3) A way of managing the storage (we'll get to that)
(4) You might want a way of changing the voltage of the stored electricity

So - making electricity - in its simplest for, movement + magnets = electricity. So any "free" movement can be converted into electricity - wind, wave, tides etc. The only difference with the rig is the mechanism to harness the movement.

You want wind - so, you need a wind turbine (like a propellor). You have to put it where it will catch the wind, and where it can catch different directions of wind. The norm is to use a pole or tower. Its worth going high as small increases in wind = huge increases in electricity (trust me on the science). So imagine a propellor, with a tail like a plane so that it can orient itself to wind direction. It turns on the top of a tower or guyed off pole. It is a generator even when you aren't there. It needs to be serviced once a year so make sure you can raise and lower it (pole, guys, joint at the bottom of the pole like how you step a mast on a boat, winch to raise and lower).

So you have juice - what do you do with it. You store it in deep cycle leisure batteries. They are similar (but not the same) as car batteries. If you wire them up right (in parralel), you can store more and more juice at the same voltage (generally 12V).

To make sure they don't overcharge, use a charge regulator (effectively monitors the battery state and doesn't let them overcharge). Clever ones use surplus power when the batteries are charged for other purposes (pumping water to your header tank, heating the hot water etc.)

This gives you a 12V supply. Even a small turbine can charge a lot of batteries if you are only at the cabin once in a while. They vary from 75w to about 5Kw. But thats all the time the wind is blowing. You can draw a lot more than that from the batteries and they will re-charge when you aren't there. 12V can run lights, phones, laptops, special fridges etc. (its what caravans run on). However if you want 240v (or whatever you use over there), a device called an inverter can step up the voltage from the batteries.

Point to note. Its not "either or" with solar and wind. The batteries, regulator and inverter are the same. So if you have both, you will get plenty of solar in the summer and wind in the winter to keep things working. You can also hook your diesel generator in to charge the batteries if you are there for a long time (its how boats and motor caravans work - all genny's have a 12V take off). So you can run the genny for a couple of hours and use batteries all night for peace and quiet.

Thats the basics. I can point you at websites for loads more info or hook you up with some people. Also look into grants - the government pay towards these things in the UK

Red

 

[Abbe Osram]

Thanks guys, thats great stuff!!!!
cheers
Abbe

 

[Mooney]

Another good one
http://www.offgridliving.co.uk/

 

[British Red]

No worries Abbe, drop me a PM if theres anything else you want to know

Red

 

[pumbaa]

Just a thought , but if you do get a generater , i would go for a diesel one . My reasoning behind this is the multi fuels that most diesels can run on , i dont know the llegal issues where you are , but even bio diesel could be used .
Pumbaa

 

[Gravo]

If you opt for a generator as your power source then I highly recommend Honda. I work in a machine rental business and Honda have the most reliable motors.
You'll need something in the region of 2-2.5Kw to run most power tools. Remember that the running load of a generator is approx. 80% of it's stated power rating i.e a 2Kw generator will give a constant output of about 1.6Kw.
Also be careful running a laptop from a generator of this size as it could 'surge' and damage the laptop. You can buy 'surge protectors' to stop this happening.
Good luck with the cabin!

 

[pibbleb]

Hi Abbe

Just wanted to say good luck with your project here and I'll be keeping an eye on your progress through this thread.

Once again good luck!

 

[Abbe Osram]

Thanks again guys, the good info is getting more and more. I am going to look into the Honda. Thanks for the hint with the surge protector. I will keep that thread alive and hope that other get as much out of it as I do.

thanks
Abbe

 

[BorderReiver]

For a simple overview:

http://www.homepower.com/

On the left there is a "just getting started" section which has some basic info in it.

Good luck with the project.

 

[fred gordon]

Abbe,
I would certainly go for the Honda generator. I've used one for quite a while now and they are very reliable, and quiet, which might be a consideration in a quiet wooded location. Usually quite a few deals available and there are a number of sizes available. Great cabin, good luck with the project. Keep us posted.

 

[HuBBa]

Abbe, a little googling around found this : http://www.awimex.se/

Swedish company specialized in power generators and such for cabins, houses, boats, etc.

Another thought that struck me. You might want to look into surplusauctions to se if you can get one of the military generators. They are not too expensive usually and they can be some real work-horses.

Sweet place btw, a little red cabin by the lake =)