Cabin: What steps to close

[djhupnorth]

I got a new cabin! (Northern Wisconsin near Rhinelander)
http://www.johndee.com/discuss/messages/9/116568.jpg

This picture was taken this morning as I left. My question has to do with closing the cabin. It was a drilled well with the pump underground. The pressure tank is in the cabin. My question is how do you "blow out" the lines?

I want to use it often but I will have to close it each time since it will not be heated. Any other suggestions?

[polarisrider1]

Why not turn the heat down all the way? I turn the heat down to 45 degrees and never mess with any thing. It takes little Propane (what I use) to keep it heated. If need be put more insulation in were you can. storm doors, etc. I turn the heat up when I get there then go to the Bar for a few hours for dinner or a ride on the sled while it warms up. You will get so sick of draining everything each time. Remember you got at least 1 toilet and some sinks and a hot water heater to mess with. You should have insurance on the place. If the power goes out and furnace don't run. Bingo new everything! If you have a phone at the cabin you can get a thermostat that you call and the heat turns on for you. So sweet! when you get there it is toasty warm. For the price of a carton of cigarettes each month you can leave the heat on low. Good time to quit you smokers. lol (public safety announcement).

[pkzochow]

We have a cabin that only gets used a few times a month in the winter. We have it set up so we have to open a few valves which are at a low point and all the water drains. We then add a little antifreeze in all the drain traps, and toilets so nothing breaks from water freezing. we have been doing this for 20 years and have never had a problem, no point in keeping it heated when no one is there for 3-4 weeks at a time. Takes about 10 minutes when we leave to drain everying and about the same time close the valves and turn everything on when we get there.

[lenny]

nice looking cabin with the fancy facia trim

[liv2ride]

Gravity fed plumbing is the way to go. Check to see if all your plumbing is pitched down to your starting point (well pressure tank). If so, you won't have to blow your lines out with an air compressor. If this is not the case, you may want to check into having it set up that way. It will save you a lot of time when you want to drain everything quickly. I can have my lines drained in about 2 minutes, just make sure you open all your faucets, and put rv antifreeze in all the drains and toilets. I know too many people that had major problems when the furnace "went out" and had busted pipes everywhere.

[ezra]

how sad am I? I am a remodeling contractor and still have no winter watter but I have a 5 gal bucket with a seat on it and a roll of bags.yeah in 15yrs thats the best I could do sad verry sad.actualy when the wife comes up I use the bucket flush thing{my neighbor keeps on his frost free outside watter on nice for me] and when I pack it in I dump 2 gal of rv down the head. I have a few drain valves under cabin never did anything with presure tank.then I dump rv down drains.I would call old owner and ask if thear are any hiden tricks

[choc_lab]

is your cabin on a slab or do you have a basement.My cabin is on a slab so i blow out the water lines with a air compressor That is hooked up to overflow on the hot water heater takes about 10 min. Like liv2ride said do not count on the funace not going out.

[thedudeknows]

Cant believe what I am readin. Winterizing the cabin for the winter and not utilizing is one thing. But winterizing it and then utilizing every couple weeks seems insane. As mentioned, keep the heat on low and turn off the breaker that works the well pump. This will eliminate the issue if the heat breaks down. You have more of chance of not re-winterizing it correctly then furnace breaking down. (assuming you have your furnace serviced on a regular basis)

[uncle_ed]

djhupnorth I assume you do not have propane and burn wood only? You will need to bleed the system off when leaving and blow out any lines that form traps or areas that dont drain by gravity. Look at your water in, all the way to water out and see where you may have an issue. Any water left in a line will expand and bust it so your do dilagence is important with this respect. I have to believe that this has been done before so it may already be set up for an exit stage left for winter scenario. You will have to be sure that the hot water tank, pressure tank, all traps, low points in plumbing and toilet are winter ready each time you leave. Turning down the thermostat when I leave is what I opt for but that may not be for everyone due to circumstances or budget. Its all work no matter how you cut the cards, but reguardless enjoy your new cabin. You will have years of good times to follow for sure!!
Ed

[elf]

We also never turn the heat off in ours. We don't even actually turn it down much, usually only down to 60. But part of the reason for that is we have slab heat and if I turn it down to far, it takes forever to warm back up. We do have a couple of back up baseboard heaters in the great room that help warm it up quickly. That also gives us a back up heat source if for some reason our boiler goes out. I set the boiler at 60, the baseboards at 55. We also hit the breaker for the water pump and the hot water heater. But we are alos there at least every other weekend.

[ezra]

I would keep the heat on but it is hit or miss on snow and trail conditons in longville MN last year I should have kept heat on year before 2 weekends all winter year before that 1 for 1 or 2 weekends I can pee off the deck and take care of other bizz at the bar during the day .a big box of baby wipes works great as a shower heck 1 box usualy works for 3 guys for the winter.the down side is when i get thear the cab is usualy colder than the outside.fire up the stove get a fire going plug in a milkhouse heater or 2 and jump on the sleds and head to the bar for a few hours.

[snow_monkey]

plug all holes to outside like around plumbing ect. with steel wool to stop the critters from finding their way in. Also I learned the hard way. Make sure you leave snow on top of the ground that goes over the water line into your house. 1 Year a neighbor helped me out and plowed my drive way and areas around my cabin and the line from the well to the house froze.

[nytro_rtx]

I leave the heat on in our cabin @ 45 deg. but still have a low point drain in the water system. I turn the water off more for piece of mind as we do all year around but we don't empty toilets or put rv anti in any of them. I have a freeze alarm that calls my phones and tells me if the temp. gets down below 40 deg. then i know the boiler has quit working.
I think most would be suprised how long it takes for a cabin to cool off inside, my freeze alarm called me last year cause the boiler went down on a Tues. morning and it was 39 deg. in cabin and by Friday when I got there it was only 33 deg. and that was in January. It also has to be down to 32 or below for a while before anything will freeze hard enough to break.
Nytro
p.s. another nice thing about the freeze alarm is you can call ahead and turn heat up before you get there so it's nice & warm and call anytime to check the inside temp.

[booondocker]

Too bad this cabin is located in the Cheese State, because if it was in dah UP, eh, you could put a wood burner in it, and just burn it down each winter....and build a new one in dah spring.

Hey, accidents do happen, no??

[mulchatna]

I have had my septic line from the cabin to the tank freeze a couple low snow years. The local guys who invested in steamers love that as it costs about $100+ to get them clear. A buddy of mine is in the cement business and gave me a cement blanket that I put down on the grass area were the drain pipe runs to the tank. Last year was the first year and it snowed early so I don't know if it would be effective or not. I'll be putting it down again this year. Hopefully I won't have to call the steam man again.

[field_mouse]

nytro...where can a person find a freeze alarm and are they easy to install and use?
Sorry not trying to highjack!
field mouse

[field_mouse]

nytro...where can a person find a freeze alarm and are they easy to install and use?
Sorry not trying to highjack!
field mouse

[98panther]

Menards sells them, I saw them there last year anyway.

[nytro_rtx]

i bought it at a local heating & cooling supply shop down the roadfrom my shop. i will find out what the brand is tonight & post back. it will do a few other things if set up also. cost around 200 i believe, well worth it. very easy to install and use.
nytro

[etakk7]

question- I typically leave my cabin (more like a poorly insulated house actually) at 45 degrees with a gas furnace. If I was to drain down the water, and anti-freeze the drains and such, would there be negative effects on other parts of the house? Laminate floor, etc.

[snow_monkey]

I leave a light bulb on under my house near the water supply line that comes from the well to the house. It also has heat tape wrapped around it. I keep my furnace at 45 deg., I also drain the water out of the house using a lower outside water valve. I have lost power for a long period of time and these methods have more than likely saved me alot of grief. Dont forget to put glass bottles, pop, salad dressing, ect. , into the refrigerator. If these items explode it will be ugly.

[djhupnorth]

more info: The cabin is on a slab so the pipe that runs to the kithen and bathroom actually go up in the attic. It is boxed and insulated in the attic. So my questions is how do you blow out the lines. I just opened the valves and the faucets and stuck the air hose nozzle and blew away. Is that all I do?

I am not comfortable keeping it heated since it has the original mobile home style propane furnace that does not even have a blower.

[pete_w]

Another monitor that will call up to 4 different numbers is available from sensaphone (http://www.sensaphone.com/sensaphone_400.php). you can get different sensors in addition to temperature.You can call it on the way up and have it turn the temp up for you.

Pete

[snow_monkey]

dj, My mobile sits up high. I open all the fawcetts in the house except the washer lines then go outside and open the water tap on the well house. The well house is lower than the mobile so most of the water runs out. I know my water heater still dumps more water into the lines after I shut the valve but I have not had a problem yet. You have to experiment when you get a new place. I found it is a bonus when you can call someone who has owned the property before you.

[booondocker]

"..I just opened the valves and the faucets and stuck the air hose nozzle and blew away. Is that all I do?"

Not hardly pilgram....you need to install a fitting that takes the male end of an air compressor hose and screw it into the water line, at the faucet, or better yet a short "t" in the actual water line which you then can attach your compressor to and shut all valves to the system except the one you want water to rush out of, and then blow away.

Your hardware man should be able to set you up with the fitting, complete with a throw valve which shuts it off when you are using the water. Once you have it installed, you shut all but one faucet or spikot, and open up the valve inbetween the air hose fitting and water line blow it out and then shut the valve again.<font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font><font color="ff0000">•</font> doesn&#39;t get much easier than that.

Some places have the whole plumbing system set so it self drains at the low end of the system...and that is the best there is....open it up and leave. Shut again when you get there and turn the pump on while your there and the place has heat....or in the spring.

btw, the above temperature alarms need a land line phone line to call when the temps drop...I own one for that and one that auto dials when the power goes off....both are great pieces of mind, and work well.

[choc_lab]

here is 2 links to a plug you just put on one of your faucets . turn off the pump and hot water breakers. Hook up your compressor to the plug build up pressure and do one faucet at a time till just air comes out. I have a hose on the bottom of hot water Heater i do that 1st. then build up the pressure to 80psi then do the other faucets including your pressure tank. i also have a valve to push to water from the cabin back down to the pump. then just put anti freeze in the drains and toilet.Sounds like a lot to do but once you do it is easy beats broken water lines.One more thing to get the hot water heater to drain you need to flip open the relief valve on te top. http://www.boatersland.com/cac-36104.html http://www.winterizemanufacturing.com/

[nytro_rtx]

My freeze alarm is made by Control Products. I have a model FA-D2 and it works great.
Here&#39;s thier website, www.controlproductsonline.com (http://www.controlproductsonline.com)
Hope this helps, if you have anymore questions about it just ask.
nytro

[polarisrider1]

get a new furnace that you can trust and leave the heat on at 45 degrees. No blower? That is reason alone to replace.