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Why I chose to insulate and heat my pole barn

M

mnoliverguy

Member
Back in 2001 I built a new pole barn to work in summer and winter. When it gets -20 to -40 its a little cold to work in there without heat and what good would the
heat do without the insulation? No brainer Geo George!!!!! Yes there is a wood burner inside along with a outdoor stove for my other shop. one more in the house and
all are warm. Lots of smoke along with all the diesel and gas tractors and trucks makes a lot of smoke and we love it.
 
Yes back when I used to do some shop work the wood stove would be cherry red. Momma wouldn't let me work in on stuff in the house.
 
According to some around here that is blasphemous, subterfuge, and border line McCarthyism.
 
Can't beat insulation. My shop is nothing fancy. It has minimum insulation, none in the floor. I haven't got any projects going, and the heat is off. I just went in there late yesterday, and a jug of distilled water on the floor is not frozen. After this deep, windy cold spell we just had, I was surprised.
 
I've had the one at work cherry red before. It is homemade and will put off some serious heat and will eat lots of wood if it's really cranking. It stands almost 5 feet tall and the fire box is 3X3
cvphoto143780.jpg
 
Insulating my shop was a no brainer for me. If Im spending a big chunk of change for the building I might as well finish it off and make it comfortable. Mine was easy, its a stick built 40x44x12.5 and I got all the wall insulation free off some commercial jobs I was working on. Put a ceiling up and blew in enough up top to get R40 value. Ive gotten many comments about how comfortable it is in summer and winter. The expense and time spent was well worth it to get decades of enjoyment out of it.
 
Good for you. Please do what works for you.
My old brick workshop was insulated and trapped moisture causing my tools to rust.

I want a well ventilated pole barn to prevent condensation.
Both of my pole barns are well vented and no condensation, no heat, no rusty tools after parking a snow covered tractor or truck inside.
How many people have condensation issues?

I don't mind working in my electric heated 24 x24 garage.
I've never started my car/truck to warm them up and defrost the windows.

It's aFree country. Do what works for you. Everyone, be happy.
BTW burning wood is green renewable energy.
 
A couple pages back you were down on wood, now its a green renewable? What happened to all that particulate, creosote and bad stuff?
 
My 36x60 shop is insulated and heated. No way I'm wrenching on equipment all winter long in -30 temps. I park snowy equipment in there daily and have no condensation issues causing things to rust. Heck I run the steam cleaner in there and after the heat runs a while it dries right out.

I do not heat with wood though as my insurance company won't insure it or anything parked inside it if I heat with wood. So I have a waste oil/diesel burner.
 
Your comment (...'and I got all the wall insulation free off some commercial jobs I was working on') left me wondering if you haven't been hanging out with my brother-in-law on job sites he worked on. He called it his Midnight Supply ......
 
My newest shop which is about 20 years old and heated with wood is insulated in the walls and hope to have the ceiling insulated soon.
I have about $4000 in it including the concrete.
Sawed it out on our sawmill and bought used tin.
It is 30x60, but I only heat 30x40 and Miss V's sewing room on the back.
Old 18x22 shop was sawed out here in 1987.
I bought those metal shingles for $25 and the whole shop cost less than $1000 including the concrete.
Used to heat it with wood also.
Richard in NW SC
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cvphoto143796.jpg
 
Well it was left over insulation from a new tilt up. Was already bagged up and ready for the dumpster when I grabbed it. I had to cut it all to size and tape it together to get the right lengths. Still too good of a deal to pass up.
 
I wish my shop was insulated. It's all ready for sheeting and insulation, just have to get it in the budget. Would love to have a warm place to melt snow off things in the winter.
 
I had a couple of older corrugated roof buildings that were starting to get rusty. I bought a stiff broom to somewhat scour the rust off and aluminum painted them with thick knapped rollers. They still look pretty good a dozen years later. gm
 
My 4800 sq ft pole barn is heated by two Reznor 150k BTU separate combustion heaters. Humidity is usually around 45%. If I bring in something wet, I run a small dehumidifier until it dries up. I keep the temp at 50 until I go down to work. Then I crank it up to 68 using an app on my cell phone. By the time I get there it is nice an toasty and ready for me to put the coffee on. I worked out of an unheated 3 stall garage for 6 years, never again.
 
I did mine backwards. I already had a 40 by 64 by 14 shed. I always worked next door at my dads until they were gone and it was sold. I divided off 24 by 40 and walled it with removeable 2x4 insulated wall panels and insulated the walls and ceiling. The issue was getting all the goodies stashed in the rafters out and moving all the stuff away from the walls...backwards. Then I had to make 2x6 studs in the walls to build out between the poles to make flush walls. I wont be around to build another one but if I did it would be stick built just for the ease of the wall finishing.
 


My shop is insulated and it is heated with a non-vented catalytic propane heater. Humidity runs around 45% which is much better for my sinuses than the 15% that it would be without the propane. No condensation in the winter. Only in the summer.
 
I built it.
The door frame is a 16 inch truck rim cut to fit the round propane tank.
The door, hinges and latch are 1/2 inch steel.
All built by me.
 
Wood has always been considered green, because it's renewable..
Sounds like California doesn't like the small of it either.
Other cities have burn bans, including terre haute. Total ban on burning leaves..
I still don't like the smell of any smoke, Including wood.
Nothing has changed.
Very few people where I live burn wood or trash.
I still don't have a need to heat my 2 pole barns with or without wood.
 
(quoted from post at 23:01:06 12/27/22) Back in 2001 I built a new pole barn to work in summer and winter. When it gets -20 to -40 its a little cold to work in there without heat and what good would the
heat do without the insulation? No brainer Geo George!!!!! Yes there is a wood burner inside along with a outdoor stove for my other shop. one more in the house and
all are warm. Lots of smoke along with all the diesel and gas tractors and trucks makes a lot of smoke and we love it.
Click to expand...

Why do some people want to work harder instead of working smarter ?
 
Last year I bought and had erected a 20x20x9 all metal garage. Had it installed on a gravel pad. Earlier this year I had a concrete floor laid under it. Next is electrical and insulation. I guess I watched 15 YouTube videos on insulating a metal building, and got 12 different ways to do it
Do any of you have a metal building, and if so how is it insulated? Sheet foam glued to the siding? Bubble/foam moisture barrier directly against siding? Bubble/foam with air space between it and siding? Hard foam sheet on inside of tube frame with wall cavity? Something else? Thanks.
 
Jon, are you doing any truck driving or repair jobs for others? Haven't seen you menttion any thing about that lately, just your farming.
 
(quoted from post at 17:00:42 12/28/22)
(quoted from post at 23:01:06 12/27/22) Back in 2001 I built a new pole barn to work in summer and winter. When it gets -20 to -40 its a little cold to work in there without heat and what good would the
heat do without the insulation? No brainer Geo George!!!!! Yes there is a wood burner inside along with a outdoor stove for my other shop. one more in the house and
all are warm. Lots of smoke along with all the diesel and gas tractors and trucks makes a lot of smoke and we love it.
Click to expand...

Why do some people want to work harder instead of working smarter ?
Click to expand...

B&D right?? I heat my shop for $750/year and I spend about one minute in the fall to light the pilot.
 
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