Idaho Hunting Cabin — Minimal 12V / 7 Day Autonomy
cabin · 12V system · Stanley, ID
Weekend-use hunting cabin in the Sawtooths. 300Ah AGM bank, 600W solar, runs on absolute-minimum loads for a week without charging. No fridge — cooler with block ice when occupied.
Daily load
1,101 Wh
Daily Ah
92 Ah
Battery
1600 Ah AGM
Solar
400 W
Load budget
| Load | Watts | Qty | Hrs/Day | Wh/Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LED Cabin Light | 5 | 5 | 4 | 100 |
| Interior LED Strip | 12 | 1 | 3 | 36 |
| Motion Sensor Light | 15 | 2 | 2 | 60 |
| Security Camera | 8 | 1 | 24 | 192 |
| Laptop | 60 | 1 | 2 | 120 |
| Phone Charger | 10 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| Well Pump | 750 | 1 | 0.5 | 375 |
| Ham Radio (HF) | 100 | 1 | 1 | 100 |
| Ham Radio Base Station | 100 | 1 | 0.5 | 50 |
| Smoke DetectorCRITICAL | 1 | 1 | 24 | 24 |
| CO DetectorCRITICAL | 1 | 1 | 24 | 24 |
Battery bank
8 × 200Ah in parallel
Your daily consumption is 92Ah. With 7 days of autonomy, you need 642Ah of usable capacity. AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries should only be discharged to 50% depth of discharge, so you need 1285Ah of total capacity. We recommend a 1600Ah bank (8 × 200Ah in parallel), giving you 800Ah of usable capacity — enough for 7 days without any charging.
Solar array
2 × 200W panels · 42A charge controller
Your daily consumption is 1101Wh. With 4.5 peak sun hours, a 75% system efficiency factor, and AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) round-trip efficiency of 83%, you need 393W of solar panels. We recommend 2 × 200W panels (400W total). This array will produce approximately 113Ah per day at 12V. You'll need a charge controller rated for at least 42A. MPPT recommended — higher efficiency at this array size.
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