Insulating Farm water well equipment building

[tlj87]

The pump won't last for ever. How will you pull the pump with a large heavy 6x8 shed covering it? My experience is that things seldom quit working when it's sunny and 70 degrees outside.

The shed will not be overtop of the well, but next to it.

 

[tlj87]

It seems that this is too small of a job for a spray foam contractor. So, I likely am stuck with using rigid foam. Should I cut 2" foam and place it between the studs, against the siding and seal around the edges with canned foam? Or, should there be a gap between the siding and rigid foam? Or, should I leave the cavities empty and install the rigid foam on the outside of the studs, leaving the cavities open, taping the seams?

 

[JPRambo]

I have a shed on my property that i sometimes stay in over a weekend. November gets a little cool. I used the 2 inch ridged foam and it made a world of difference. When I stayed in it I used a propane buddy heater and i had it on high all night to stay warm. after insulating it I used it on low and in early morning I turned it to pilot only. Did not tape joints but, cut it a tad larger and tucked it in tight.

 

[tcreeley]

How is the water pipe from the pump getting into the shed? What is the depth of your frost during the winter? You'll need to insulate the pipe as it passes through the part of the ground that freezes, and passes through the air up into your shed. - Heated buildings that are over the pipe as it travels up can frequently prevent the ground from freezing in that spot, the pipe as well.) That is harder for you as the shed is small, even if heated and to the side.

I'd dig out the pipe to below the frost level and insulate it with thick pipe foam (look up how much you need - thickness to prevent freezing) up to the entrance into the shed and above. Then you just have to keep your shed heated.

 

[Granthol]

You can DIY spray foam for a small job like a shed. Look up Dow FROTH-PAK.

 

[WranglerX]

The shed will not be overtop of the well, but next to it.

Good concept...

My well shed is 2x4 studs with fiberglass batt insulation and removable roof so if pump needs to be pulled, roof is lifted off and hoisting equipment can access well and not have to tear apart building...

Dale

 

[GLyford]

Should I cut 2" foam and place it between the studs, against the siding and seal around the edges with canned foam? [...] Or, should I leave the cavities empty and install the rigid foam on the outside of the studs, leaving the cavities open, taping the seams?

My first gut reaction is it looks like the studs are 16" on center? So fill the bays with fiberglass (cheapest you can find) and then close that in with rigid foam. HD lists foam in 1/2" and 1" panels...even 1/4" in 4x50' folded sheets, two would be enough for all the walls and roof? I am guessing taping seams won't get you much more once you've done that but couldn't hurt.

Fiberglass for 2x4 walls is going to be R11 or R13. R11 (if you can still find it) will probably still compress into your 2x3 stud bays. If it doesn't or R13 is all you can get, add crosswise 1x2 or 1x3 furring strips to hold in the batts and screw the foam to, and let it bulge a bit between the furring strips to fill the space, to reduce pressure on the foam from trying to compress a 2x4 batt into a 2x3 space.

If your studs are 24" on center most of what I am seeing for fiberglass is R19 for 2x6 walls/joists, I'd probably just use the 2" foam in the bays at that point.

 

[tlj87]

I wanted to provide an update on this project. We used two of the DIY spray foam kits on the walls. 1.25" foil-faced insulation on the ceiling, 2" pink foam board on the floor, covered by 1/2" OSB. There is a wall-mounted electric heater on the wall. The water line from the well and to the farm hydrants exit the wall and enter a 2x PT box that extends into the ground. Those lines are wrapped in heat tape to below the frost line. Here are some photos of the finished product:

 

[GLyford]

Thank you for sharing how it turned out, that looks like it will work very well...

 

[denchen]

Just an observation, but the laws of physics show the law for heat insulation, and the laws for sound insulation are nearly the same. If you get in your shed and carn`t hear a thing, you`ve got a good insulated shed.