A Blustery Cabin Day

Wind constantly whipping the porch chimes, 2 inches of snow in the woods, a bitter 18 degree temperature and snow squalls makes for a great cabin day. The wild birds, squirrels and hardiest of chipmunks are eager for handouts when winter arrives. With the ground finally frozen, there was no reason to leave Kuma d.o.g. behind on a trip to ManCamp. She has had a severe case of cabin fever the past 2 weeks; no pun intended. On a day like today, a middle aged Labrador is pretty happy zig zagging in the woods while bobbing her nose in the snow and leaves.

Before going, I made a trip to Tractor Supply and picked up supplies to install a 20,000 btu wall mounted vent-free furnace. Although the fireplace and Beulah do a wonderful job heating the cabin, there needs to be a heat source to keep the place above freezing when not there to constantly stoke the fires. A small wall mount furnace located in the lower left corner of the red wall will provide enough thermostatically controlled heat to keep the place from being so hard to warm up when it gets really cold out. It will also make those long winter naps more bearable when awakening after banked fires in Beulah and the fireplace have lost their battle to keep coals hot. It was 23 degrees inside when we arrived and when its that cold it takes too much effort to bring the cabin temperature up each visit. Besides, there is no reason to freeze the toilet and kitchen supplies. I will install at least 1 and possibly 2 100 lb tanks of LP behind the cabin to supply the heater. The LP is needed for the water heater anyway so it makes sense with it getting so cold out now. There is no way a vendor could drive a propane delivery truck to the cabin anyway so the 100 lb bottles are just the right size to haul to a filling station when empty. I'm sure someone will thank me someday for making this decision. Nobody likes to be cold and a cabin in the winter can try your patience when waiting on things to warm back up. Clearly, the wall furnace is not essential but a convenience that will be appreciated many times in days ahead. A small LP portable heater that I picked up from Lowe's was perfect during the early days of construction. It utilizes a 25 lb LP tank just like a gas grill and provides sufficient heat to warm the entire cabin. It is radiant heat though so unless you're right in front of it, you only feel warm when the overall room temperature rises.

Just unpacked it. Wall mount blue flame vent-free heater.

For $99 at Lowe's, you can't beat the portable LP heater.
Rated at 18,000 BTU, great for temporary heat. Uses a
standard gas grill tank which is self contained in unit.