Heating System Suggestions For A Cabin In UP MI.

Flying Monkey

Hi everyone, this is a great forum. I wish I had found it long ago.

We will be building a cabin in Michigan's UP. We are in the beginning stages of planning and I am looking for an easy and efficient way to heat the cabin. It will be about 24' x 30' with a loft. I plan to heat with wood while we are there, but I would like to keep the cabin at 50ish when we are not there so it is easily accessible during the winter months.
My first thought is radiant heat in a concrete slab floor to maintain some heat, then fire up the wood stove when we are there, but I would like to hear from you.
AC will not be necessary for summer. We are shooting for a basic, but comfortable cabin. I'm hoping it will be visited at least 2 weekends a month year round.

Thanks in advance.

TimNJ

If you are only going to be there only 4 days a month forget about radiant, by the time you get comfortable it will be time to go home. How about basic propane HWB and just fill the system with antifreeze as a precaution.

concretemasonry

With a slab on grade, I see where you are coming from.

I had a 1600 sf slab on grade in northern Minnesota cabin in that I used 2 or 3 weekends a month.

Warming the slab was a problem from a comfort standpoint. My fireplace was too slow, but I used the LP furnace to get the chill off while my oversized heating fireplace took its good old time getting warm.

If had to do it over again, I would seriously consider a floor heating system from a barefoot COMFORT standpoint. Depending on your heat source it should not be too bad costwise. You may find that keeping the air at 50 degrees may be too high if you can get a fireplace going quick enough.

I solved my problem by keeping my heat at 60 all winter. Since I had a total masonry homes with great insulation, it cost me only about $100 a year more to walk into a reasonably warm cabin on Friday night. This was compared to setting it at 40 for the week and turning it up on the weekend. The thermal mass storage of the block would carry over the week once it got warm.

I had underground utilities so outages were not a problem. If you are above ground you are more vulnerable if you will have a liquid system. With electric radiant, you don't have that risk. It all depends on the rates for your supplemental/floor heat system.

Dick

atlas06

Consider solar panels, free energy will keep your floor radiant heat going all winter without worrying too much about utility bills nor warm-up time. You can have it run all winter, the only energy you will be using is the circulating pump power which is no more than consumption of a few light bulbs.
Free hot water too.
For information, the Sate of MN next door to you indicates that hey have more sun than Texas, so should you.

steven62

If you decide to go with Electric radiant heat, remember to place a layer of material between the slab and the electric cables that has an R value, to minimize heat loss through the slab. This will result in lower heating costs, faster heat up times and higher maximum temps.
This can be acoustic cork, expanded polystyrene, or other types of underlayment, but the most important thing to remember is the R and K value of what you choose, along with finish floor height, and compatibility with other flooring materials.
Many of the current crop of Electric floor heating mats and cables are controlled by programmable thermostats which are capable of holding the lower limit at 50-60 degrees Farenheit. Most are also adaptable to solar if you are going that route, and some even have a remote feature, by which you can call a number form your phone to turn it on before you get there, so the floors are comfortable when you arrive.

mdshunk

Most of the cabins in the woods around here, if they don't burn wood they use:

-Fuel oil or Kerosene in a central wall/floor furnace if they have electricity
-Propane fired millivolt pilot central freestanding furnace if they don't have electricity.