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happilyretired
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 14:30
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Hi, new guy here. We recently bought a cabin and I stumbled across this site, hoping to learn a bit and maybe chip in on occasion. We have a 3 season cabin and live in Canada where it gets pretty cold. I'm looking for suggestions on how to heat the crawl space to extend the season a few weeks each side of summer. Here are the cabin details:
- 750 sq. ft.
- 24" above ground on posts
- insulated skirting around the entire cabin
- the floor is insulated
- the pressure tank and all the water lines are under the cabin
- the well pump is 20' away from the cabin
This is a 3-season cabin, we bought it last winter. We turned the water on around the 3rd week in May after the risk of freezing had passed and the ground has thawed. We shut the water off mid-October once it started to drop below freezing at night.
We want to heat the crawl space to keep the pipes from freezing (and our feet warm) which would allow us to stay a few weeks longer in the fall. I haven't confirmed how far underground the water line from the well pump to the cabin is, but even if it's just a foot it will take a few weeks to freeze before we have to shut the water off.
What are the options for a safe crawl space heater that we can leave unattended for a few days when we're not there? We're not looking to make it a year round cabin, we just want extend the season a bit.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 14:54
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Electric is the simplest and easiest. Baseboard style heater with a line voltage thermostat. If you want wifi acess to it I'm sure there available also.
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happilyretired
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 15:17
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Thanks for the response.
I'm fairly handy so it doesn't necessarily have to be the easiest solution...although that doesn't hurt  In fact I was considering a baseboard heater as it seems to be simple and foolproof but I didn't want to overlook any other options.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 16:08 - Edited by: ICC
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How many feet of pipes run back 'n' forth in the crawlspace?
I assume the well uses a submersible pump dropped down the drill pipe. It should be fitted with a pitless adapter that the supply pipe to the cabin tees off of. If that is the case, and IF the line is at or below frost depth the run of pipe tp the cabin should not freeze. Then you only need to worry about protecting the vertical rise out of the ground and whatever lines run under the cabin floor. Depending of the lengths of pipe you may be able to enclose the pipes in a chase and use temperature controlled heat tape to prevent freezing.
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happilyretired
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 16:28
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Quoting: ICC How many feet of pipes run back 'n' forth in the crawlspace?
There is a lot of pipe in the crawlspace, however most of it goes to four (yes four) outside faucets. However, I'll probably put separate shutoffs on the outside taps as they stick out past the skirting.
Quoting: ICC I assume the well uses a submersible pump dropped down the drill pipe. It should be fitted with a pitless adapter that the supply pipe to the cabin tees off of. If that is the case, and IF the line is at or below frost depth the run of pipe tp the cabin should not freeze. Then you only need to worry about protecting the vertical rise out of the ground and whatever lines run under the cabin floor. Depending of the lengths of pipe you may be able to enclose the pipes in a chase and use temperature controlled heat tape to prevent freezing.
Yes, it's a submersible well pump. I don't know how far down it tees off to the cabin...I'll have to check. However, we're not looking to make it a year round cabin, just extend the season a few weeks.
I thought about heat tape but there's also the issue of the pressure tank which is in the crawl space. So I'd prefer to heat the entire crawl space which will protect the pressure tank, protect the water lines, and although the floor is insulated some heat will still rise up to the floor. As mentioned above, the outside taps will get their own shutoffs.
Depending on how deep underground the line from the well pump is, that will determine how far into fall/winter that we use the cabin. If it's 1' down then we'll be shutting it down sooner than if it's 3' down.
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 2022 17:12
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An easy way to get an idea of the depth of your well lateral is to remove the well cap and run a tape down to the pitless adapter
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:09
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I'm not aware of any gas heater that would be as reliable as electric in a crawl space. You could use a gas unit heater but the outcome would be the same yet cost more and have a propane tank to have to keep full.
I wonder if you could use an electric in floor heating mat around your pressure tank. The heating mat that people put under tile floors.
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happilyretired
Member
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2022 08:38
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I want reliable and maintenance free. If we're not there for a week or so a propane tank isn't feasible. And if we decide to let someone use the cabin I don't want them to have to be responsible for worrying about it.
So based on that, a baseboard heater hooked up to a line voltage thermostat seems to be the best solution. Maybe if I get ambitious I add a wall switch to turn it on and off.
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