Suggestions for Heating a Small 4-Season Cottage in Wisconsin?

[Patrick R Wunsch]

It's my first post on this forum so hello! I am renovating a small cottage that I would like to also use in the winter here in Northern Wisconsin. The cottage is 20'x20' and 2-stories (800 sq. ft.) with a living area & kitchen in the walk-out basement and 3 small bedrooms and a bathroom up above.

My question is how should I heat the place so that I can use it fairly often in our cold winters? I don't anticipate using it in sub-zero weather however. When completed, the cottage will have new windows, doors and insulation. There is a 25,000 BTU gas fireplace in the living area but it's clearly not enough for anything below 45 degrees. Wood heat is not an option and unfortunately, a traditional gas/forced air furnace is not really an option because of the needed ductwork with short 7' ceilings on each floor.

I am open to any suggestions. Thnaks!

 

[John Gayewski]

Baseboard heat is pretty easy and modular. The point at issue would be are you going to heat it for the whole season? Do you have running water? That might decide how you do it. Glycol can be used to fill a small boiler and piping for freeze protection.

I assume your going to evaluate the insulation and beef that up?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Fitter30]

How reliable is the electric service and your breaker panel? With improving windows ,doors , insulation and assume finish the walls the load will change drastically. Two or three of electric quartz heaters till improvements are made.
fireplace half the heat is going up the chimney if the lp burner was a after thought.

 

[Patrick R Wunsch]

Thanks John. We're likely to leave the heating system on over the winter as I anticipate using the cottage fairly frequently for snowmobiling and ice fishing (you have to have an outdoor hobby here or you'll go crazy over our long winters!) Along with that, we'll be ae to leave out water on. The walls are standard 2x4 but will have new insulation - R15. We'll be able to put a lot of insulation in the attic during the Remodel too - R30.

Pat

How reliable is the electric service and your breaker panel? With improving windows ,doors , insulation and assume finish the walls the load will change drastically. Two or three of electric quartz heaters till improvements are made.
fireplace half the heat is going up the chimney if the lp burner was a after thought.

Baseboard heat is pretty easy and modular. The point at issue would be are you going to heat it for the whole season? Do you have running water? That might decide how you do it. Glycol can be used to fill a small boiler and piping for freeze protection.

I assume your going to evaluate the insulation and beef that up?

 

[Patrick R Wunsch]

The electric service around there is pretty good although there's been a couple of extended outages of 1-2 dats over the past 7-8 years. Fortunately, I get text notifications of outages and only easidebless than an hour away.

I'm not sure what you mean "if the LP burner was an afterthougt"????

Pat

How reliable is the electric service and your breaker panel? With improving windows ,doors , insulation and assume finish the walls the load will change drastically. Two or three of electric quartz heaters till improvements are made.
fireplace half the heat is going up the chimney if the lp burner was a after thought.

 

[John Gayewski]

Electric baseboard heat or something similar would be the easiest way to go. Hydronic heat has a higher top end without having to beef up your electric service. You'll need a gas line though. Propane likley.

 

[Fitter30]

The electric service around there is pretty good although there's been a couple of extended outages of 1-2 dats over the past 7-8 years. Fortunately, I get text notifications of outages and only easidebless than an hour away.

I'm not sure what you mean "if the LP burner was an afterthougt"????

Pat

Wood burning fireplace with a add on lp heater vrs factory lp fireplace