I was not aware of a thermoelectric cooling pad. How does that work?

Wiki Rocks.. ;)

Thermoelectric cooling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm probably gonna build a box to begin with and just ventilate it with a fan to begin with. Maybe you can get a thread going on Thermoelectric Panels and I can copy your set-up?

I keep my batteries in my bedroom on an open rack. I know if they are cold..

Offgridkindaguy. that's pretty funny. ah the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the morning :)
(of course you're probably using gel/sealed batteries)
verdigo: ya. I insulated the floor (well I have to in my climate) and then found this great site. http://www.buildingscience.com/resou...nd-crawlspaces
among others. I used pressure treated joists and according to the studies I've now seen ... good thing.
I have plans to add some kind of additional passive solar/hydro battery heating in the winter, but man I have a list of projects a mile long, so hopefully in 2014...

ps: I ventilate my battery box with a 4" abs pipe without fan. seems to work fine.

I was thinking along the same lines but using a 12 volt computer fan on the outlet PVC pipe.

Nope.. Don't smell a thing. If I did, the charge voltage is too high. Had them there since '89. I treat my battery like a kid. If I'm cold, so are they! ;)

Right now I have 8 L-16's there..

hey offgridkindaguy. how long have you had the l-16s? 24v or 48?
verdigo. would be interesting to have the fan run just when you need it. is there a hydrogen sulfide sensor for arduino? lol.

I'm sure passive ventilation is ok to keep the gas build-up to a minimum. I'm mainly concerned about getting some heat vented out in the summer months.