Battery Bank in Hot Shed

Caneman

The only place I can put my battery bank is in a hot shed... it sits off the southwest corner of my house exposed to the hot sun all day... summer temps range from 95-105 and inside the shed it is probably 5 degrees hotter...

what issues will I have with keeping my battery bank in this hot shed, and is there anything I can do to lower the temp inside the shed?

waynefromnscanada

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

At those temperatures, your battery life will be seriously shortened. Can you make an underground battery cabinet? Should be cooler there.

vtmaps

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

I read on this forum somewhere about someone who had a circulating water system to cool the batteries. Recirculating water was pumped underground and then back up to the battery shed. I think he used a small (20 watt?) panel to directly drive a small circulater pump (only when the sun shined). --vtMaps

Caneman

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

thanks, those are good ideas... underground, i will look in to that, i could easily dig out a "battery basin" in the shed and store them below ground...

2manytoyz

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

I'm in FL, and the garage my batteries live in is also 95+ during the Summer...

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The oldest batteries in my bank are from Jan 2007. Now a tad over 5 years old, and still holding up.

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I do agree batteries will last longer in cool climates, but think about the environment an automotive battery lives in. If the air temp is 95, how hot is it under the hood with the engine?

Keeping the batteries below ground should certainly help with the heat issue, but unless you buy AGM, maintenance could be an issue. I put all 8 of the golf cart batteries on a 36" tall workbench (each shelf rated at 1000 lbs), to allow easy inspection, cleaning, and filling.

You could also add a 12V fan to your shed, with a 15W solar panel, and let the sun help keep the temps down. I used two 12V muffin fans in the attic access hatch in the garage. These were connected to a Harbor Freight 15W panel. No regulator, battery, or even a switch. When the sun came up, fans would run. Sun went down, fans off.

Caneman

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

^^^ good idea, nice fan system, I could probably set that up in the shed...

also, never thought about car batteries, they get a lot of heat under there and last for a several years...

waynefromnscanada

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

Caneman wrote: »

never thought about car batteries, they get a lot of heat under there and last for a several years...

Depends on what you have for batteries. A car battery @ $50 to $100, or good deep discharge batteries worth several thousand $ that could normally last 10 years.

Caneman

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

did a little test today... used a post hole digger and dug out an 18" deep hole right next to the shed... put a 2L empty pop bottle in the hole and a thermometer in it... here are the results at the hottest temperature today:

95F - in the shade in my backyard!
100F -shed temperature
70F - test hole temp

Can't believe the temperature difference... great idea on the putting the batteries below ground level, it will be a simple matter to dig out a small basin to put my batteries in there (will use a plastic storage bin in the basin, put the batteries in the bin)

waynefromnscanada

Re: Battery Bank in Hot Shed

Awesome! Now you just have to have a drain so the proposed battery basin doesn't flood with water