Hunting Camp - Electricity Help

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Originally Posted by jweese

First off, let me start by saying - I think we need a dedicated sub-forum for Hunting Camp construction, talk, and ideas - with that out of the way.

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Great idea for a dedicated camp forum.

We use a $500 Cdn tire 3kw gene which is total overkill for our needs. Just runs lights and such for an hour in the morning and a few hours at night. Nice to have the extra juice for tools like a circular saw, but not needed for regular use. If starting new I would consider LED and marine 12V system with batteries and solar. Propane stove and wood stove for heat and hot water. I looked at big solar last year and it was thousands so can buy many gene instead.

We have a generator for lights in the evening . The guys have figured out how much fuel to put in so it runs out about 8 pm. This way someone doesn't have to go out and shut the generator off. we then use propane lights , if not ready for bed. Our generator is about 100 feet away so not fun to go back out to shut it off, especially if it is raining.. Gravity water, wood heat , no tv, home sweet home. old243

hmm... gonna have to look at the input value on my CPAP. I would be more than happy to run it on 12v DC. Thanks for mentioning that Pat!

I've seen a camp that used an old alternator and rigged it with a pully-waterwheel and the river on their property turns it enough to create the electricity they need for lighting and charging devices. They have batteries to store excess. No noise or fuel to worry about.

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Originally Posted by robster

I've seen a camp that used an old alternator and rigged it with a pully-waterwheel and the river on their property turns it enough to create the electricity they need for lighting and charging devices. They have batteries to store excess. No noise or fuel to worry about.

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I'd love to see some pics of that setup. Sounds like a great idea for people with moving water on their property.

FishFrenzy

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Originally Posted by FishFrenzy

I'd love to see some pics of that setup. Sounds like a great idea for people with moving water on their property.

FishFrenzy

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I would as well as we have lots of running water but to get the alternator spinning fast enough (1200-2000 rpm minimum depending on the alternator used) we would need to seriously increase the shaft speed of the water wheel with some type of gearing/pulleys. Would like to see what diameter water wheel they used and how they increased the shaft speed to match the alternator specs.

Great post idea, ty. I have 2 solar set ups and generator for back up. Main system has 140 watts total solar panels in series that pass through charge controller to 5 deep cycle sealed agm batteries and have both inverter and dc current in camp. outlets for both so plenty of power for radios, tv etc. Second system, in process of setting up, has 40w panel with charge controller and 1 deep cycle battery. This will be used to power light and propane water heater unit for shower in my separate outhouse unit.

Well, since I started this thread last year - it seems to have opened up again > Thanks for all the replies and conversation.

I again, still think we need a dedicated forum for hunting camps, builds, etc.

A year (or two?) later, we're running a 100 watt solar panel with a solar tracking motor on it to get the most efficient use out of it. It's connected to three deep cycle RV batteries (of which, we now have two that need replacing; that's another story). We use a 5000 watt generator with remote start located in a generator shed about 100 feet away, it also charges the 12 volt system whenever it's running.

For refrigeration we use a deep freeze, when running the generator for only an hour or two a night the freezer will maintain refrigerator temperatures all the next day. Used it like that all last summer and had issues with things actually starting to freeze. Installed a digital aquarium thermostat to combat this, we'll see how it works.

For heat, we use a wood stove in the primary room - but since most of us don't like it hot while sleeping we keep the bunk room door closed and feed it heat via a duct in the wall between the main room and bunk room, with a 180mm computer fan connected to another digital aquarium thermostat (I think that's the proper term, I typically refer to them as brewing thermostats because I used them for beer making quite a bit).

For cooking, we have two 100lb propane tanks, and an antique NG stove/oven we converted to propane.

For water we're still bringing it off site, although there's a lake down a 30 foot cliff, 20 feet out our back door, and a well about 500 feet away as well. Both water sources are undrinkable however, but would be great for just washing dishes, etc. We did pick up a large 250 gal water container (the plastic ones with the cage around them). Our plan is to collect rain water in a collection bucket and run it through a gravity fed water filter into the sealed plastic drum. Not sure how potable it will be; and will take a while to fill up as well. Will have the water tested once we get it up and running. We'll mount the water tank on a rack we made last hunting season, up high enough to provide gravity feed water.

For hot water - although I'm not sure how safe it is, but it worked - I took my immersion chiller for brewing and wrapped it around the stove pipe as close to the wood stove as we could get it, added a petcock and a temporary water tank (as mentioned above) to the rack outside. Water was piping hot all hunting season, the only thing we worried about too much pressure building up and blowing up the pipe - so we left it dripping into a pan all season just incase. Seemed to work, and I think we'll come up with a similar idea on a permanent basis, perhaps adding a pressure relieve valve of some sort.

That's about it for now - and I STILL vote for a dedicated forum for hunting camps :)

Jweese that is a great overview. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by jweese

We use a 5000 watt generator with remote start located in a generator shed about 100 feet away, it also charges the 12 volt system whenever it's running.

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Curious, why such a large generator? The smaller inverter ones are head and shoulders more efficient, portable and quiet.

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For refrigeration we use a deep freeze, when running the generator for only an hour or two a night the freezer will maintain refrigerator temperatures all the next day. Used it like that all last summer and had issues with things actually starting to freeze. Installed a digital aquarium thermostat to combat this, we'll see how it works.

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I picked up a 7 cu ft freezer for nothing and was going to convert it to a fridge as well. Just waiting on the temperature controller unit from Ebay to come in. I've heard that you have to be careful with the compressor delay time and where you put the temp probes or you can overwork the freezer. I should have mine done in a week or so.