[RE-wrenches] Fortress Battery Heater

[Ray Walters]

Hi All;

I have a fresh Fortress Evault installation with a Solark inverter.  The 
batteries are indoors in the center of the house, but the customer is 
not there full time, so the battery is unfortunately going below 
freezing.  What are the best options for setting up a heating system for 
the E Vault?

Here are ideas that I have not tried, but am considering:
1) add a 240 v, 1000 w baseboard heater in the room near the battery 
that is wired to only run off the generator.  Run the generator until 
the heat comes up, and then hopefully after 30 minutes, the battery 
would begin accepting a charge.

2) Add an 120 vac heating blanket under the evault that would be wired 
to a thermostat, but also have a relay control from the PV system, so 
that the heater would only operate when the sun was out, and the battery 
was below 50F.   I don't quite know how to set this up with the Solark's 
load controls.

I've considered some DC options, but they don't make much sense, since 
the inverter has to be on to charge from PV anyway.

The long term plan is for the client to finish the insulation, and sheet 
rock, and add a gas wall heater in there as needed.

Thanks,

Ray Walters
Remote Solar
in the Colorado mountain cold.....