Best way to heat a pole barn

[dnw64]

You are comparing apples to oranges. I'm talking about the cost of heating a poorly insulated pole barn with lots of empty space and high ceilings not a house. Now add a low efficiency propane radiant tube heater as the primary heat source.

I made the mistake of not insulating my barn's concrete floor and it sucks the heat out like crazy. If I had access to cheap natural gas vs premium priced propane I wouldn't think heating a big empty space was a big deal either...

If you're planning to heat it, why would it be any more "poorly insulated" than a house?

 

[mikester]

If you're planning to heat it, why would it be any more "poorly insulated" than a house?

Please share some photos of your barn!

Do you have R30 walls and R60 roof? What's your floor insulation, R20? I wish I did that, hindsight is 20-20! I also wish I won the lottery before I built...

 

[kenmac]

This is where we got ours. $3/LF (drops to $2.39 if you buy more than 100 LF)
16" PolyMaxｮ Flame Retardant Polyethylene Vent Tubing - Without Holes - TekSupply

Yeah, I don't think that is made with the same material as the actual duct sock.
This plastic material would be a less expensive option than metal or the actual duct sock material.

How long have you has this installed ? Just wondering the life span of the material

 

[kenmac]

Please share some photos of your barn!

Do you have R30 walls and R60 roof? What's your floor insulation, R20? I wish I did that, hindsight is 20-20! I also wish I won the lottery before I built...

LOL, I wish mine was insulated. 50x80 with 16ft ceiling. Would cost $$$$ to insulate it

I just don't do anything when It's very cold

 

[dnw64]

Please share some photos of your barn!

Do you have R30 walls and R60 roof? What's your floor insulation, R20? I wish I did that, hindsight is 20-20! I also wish I won the lottery before I built...

My barn is not heated...

I was speaking in general principle. If I built a barn and expected to heat it, I would insulate it well. Maybe not quite as well as a house, as I would probably not intend to keep it quite as warm.

You may have thought my barn is heated because of my comments about the fabric duct material. That is in our industrial wood shop.

 

[dnw64]

Yeah, I don't think that is made with the same material as the actual duct sock.
This plastic material would be a less expensive option than metal or the actual duct sock material.

How long have you has this installed ? Just wondering the life span of the material

We've only had it up 2 years, but it is used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, year round. We are not using it for "heat" per se, but rather as an extension of our return air system for our dust collector.

 

[kenmac]

We've only had it up 2 years, but it is used 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, year round. We are not using it for "heat" per se, but rather as an extension of our return air system for our dust collector.

just wonder how the plastic duct, would hold up vs the duck sock (material) using for heat. Seems like heat would take it's toll the plastic type.

I had / have never seen this type material being used in commercial HVAC applications

 

[Overtaxed]

Do you want cheap or cheap to run? For me, cheap was the most important, I heat my barn for maybe 150 hours a winter, so efficiency really does not matter. I wound up with 2 30K electric heaters (about 150 bucks a piece from Northern Tool) and a 60K propane bullet for when I really want to bring the temp up fast (think that ran me about 100 bucks). So, all in, I'm at about 500 bucks (including the wire runs to the heaters and breakers). It's pretty good, can take it from below freezing to comfortable in about 20 minutes with all them ripping, and then the electrics can hold the temp well enough so I don't need to listen to the bullet rip. I also have AC in my barn, 2 of the biggest window units made, 25 or 30K BTUs (can't remember) that were about 450 bucks each. So, all told, I'm probably in the 1500-2000 range for heat/cooling in my pole barn (60X40). It's not a house, and it's never gonna be 60 in the middle of the summer or 80 in the middle of the winter, but it's sure nice to be able to take the edge off the temp (and have a warm or cold place to stand and warm up or cool off). Works for me.

 

[dnw64]

just wonder how the plastic duct, would hold up vs the duck sock (material) using for heat. Seems like heat would take it's toll the plastic type.

I had / have never seen this type material being used in commercial HVAC applications

There may be a bit of a difference. I would guess the max air temp on return is 100° or less (our machines make heat, so at the end of a hot summer day when it gets up to 80° at the floor level I could easily see the return being 20° higher).

One huge advantage of this stuff over pipe is weight and length. One person can install a 100-200' run with no joints by themselves with nothing more than a ladder.

 

[Pawatch]

I have a 24 x32 garage. It's well insulated.
I installed a quality hot air propane ceiling heater. I set my thermostat at 40 and my garage temp in the winter is usually around 44 so very seldom does the heater come on. When I want to work I bump the thermostat up to 60....I have had it for 10 years and seems to work out pretty well.