How do you heat your barn/shop?

[3RRL]

I just installed a waste oil heater in my barn which is 30*80 with a 24*24 shop. I generate around 300 gallons of waste oil each year. I will keep you posted on how it works this winter.

toy.
I looked into those and was surprised how expensive they were. And like said, I don't have that much waste oil per year so I nixed it as a solution. Between the tractor and cars, I'd guess I have around 10% of what you generate. BTW, is the 300 gals/yr enough for your oil heater?

 

[SpringHollow]

I have an outdoor wood boiler and I just ran a loop to the barn. This is an isolated loop so I have antifreeze in it (just the closed loop to the barn) so I do not have to keep it running all of the time. I have a fan coil set up to blow the heat in the shop. Basically, it is the same as the ceiling propane units except the heat is supplied from the wood boiler instead of propane.

Ken

 

[tommu56]

I have a friend that has a waste oil heater and it really kicks the heat. I don't produce enough waste oil to heat my shop... :-(

My friend has one too and he has plenty of friends and family to supply oil, he said he did buy some fuel oil one winter for it. Then he added a second tank and hasen't had a problem after that.

tom

 

[dknarnd]

My garage is 36 x 24 with no finish inside and open eves all along the top. I use a 125,000 btu torpedo (salamander) heater running on kerosene. On the coldest days say a couple degrees below zero and not getting out of the single didgits all day the heater is on low setting and keeps it 60 inside.

This year I'm putting in a heater from an old mobil home that I tore down, I think it 80 to 90,000 btu. Still going to run kerosene through it and will vent it probably out the side of the garage. Just going to set it up on blocks and maybe make something to direct the heat forward out of the bottom. It should work pretty good but probably not as well as the torpedo.

 

[Roddy1]

dknarnd,

The Mobile Home furnace will work well. But it wont get up to temp as quick as the salamander. If you insulate the shop the Mob furnace will keep a nice even temp and not use a lot of fuel. In my old shop 24 x 32 x 8 r19 all around
I had a Miller 80K Btu kero/oil fired left the thermostat at 50 degrees 24/7 and would turn up the temp as needed when I was working in there. Only burned 1 275 gal tank per season. Setting up on blocks works well but if its Miller furnace CMF or MOC series they make a cottage base to put under it and it has diffusers on three sides. This set up works great.

 

[Roddy1]

dknarnd

Oh yeah almost forgot. You MUST vent this outside the garage. These Mob furnaces vent best vertically, allthough I have seen them vented out the wall I wouldn't recommend.

 

[dknarnd]

It's a Miller furnace, the local plumbing/heating man was doing some work for me and told me to keep it if it's Miller because they are good and parts are available. I do have the base it set on in the mobile and plan to use that and make a plenum to direct the air. I used to keep it at 50 all winter in the home and only used a tank per year so I figured it would be good for the garage which I only heat on weekends when I am there. One of these days I will insulate the garage, probably a little at a time.

 

[toy1]

toy.
I looked into those and was surprised how expensive they were. And like said, I don't have that much waste oil per year so I nixed it as a solution. Between the tractor and cars, I'd guess I have around 10% of what you generate. BTW, is the 300 gals/yr enough for your oil heater?

I do not know if 300 gallons will do the trick. I will keep it at 55 and turn it up when I am working in the barn. I have put the word out to friends and relative for used oil and I am starting to get some responses. So I am hoping I can pick up 50 gallons, we will see. The problem I had was I paied for the oil when it was new and then you had to pay someone to take it away which die not sit well with me.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Yeah, I was thinking of a small wood stove too. More than likely you'll be dressed for work anyway, so you don't need it to be blazing hot in there. What about cooling it down, that worries me more than heating at my place? Is your area sectioned off at all or all open?

I have a 30x40x12. My first big mistake was not having them Tyvek Wrap it before the sides and roof went on. dumb dumb dumb. So the building breathes. Not bad for summer, but in dead of winter, it's like an ice box.

I'm using housewrap from the inside, then going to use FBF (Foil Bubble Foil) insulation. My buddy has a 60x120 and used fiberglass insulation. The mice love the stuff, and in the summer, when the sun is baking on the building you can really smell it. yuck. I use the sonic-blaster things, got a 3 pack and plugged them in to various outlets. So far, 3 years, no vermin.

Heating: Right now I have a woodstove, kerosene space heater, and portable electric. I use the portable electric for small projects, as a "personal" heater, like next to work bench, for example.
The woodstove takes the chill off in all but the coldest days. Only drawback is it needs time to work. If you light it 6am Saturday morning, then you are looking at several hours before a noticeable change. After that, keep stoking and it's usually fine.

Cooling: I have my garage doors placed front and back, so you can drive thru. This allows for front to back air flow. I'm thinking about installing a vented cupola with exhaust fan to suck out the hot air above. Only other choice is a shuttered exhaust fan, up in the gable end, but my end-truss (gable) framing doesn't allow a good framing-free area for this.

Reflective Insulation is going to help both heating and cooling, that I know.

I did build a small bathroom in the corner, fully insulated, with a 220v wall heater which is set on low-low-low in winter to keep the toilet and water lines from freezing. Also put a small hot water heater under the sink, that keeps the pipes from freezing too. Washing greasy hands in hot water, in January, is pure bliss.


Inuslation is the biggie. But, it has the two wonderful features, expensive and time consuming to install, especially in a filled workshop.

My advice to anyone, building a pole building:

WRAP IT BEFORE INSTALLING THE METAL SIDES AND ROOF.
Before moving anything inside, install the insulation!

 

[dknarnd]

Inuslation is the biggie. But, it has the two wonderful features, expensive and time consuming to install, especially in a filled workshop.

My advice to anyone, building a pole building:

WRAP IT BEFORE INSTALLING THE METAL SIDES AND ROOF.
Before moving anything inside, install the insulation!

This is the reason I said I would probably do only a little at a time; with shelves, cabinets, benches, pegboard insulating the walls will be a project. Acutally I am thinking I will only put a celing up and insulate that first which should make a huge difference in keeping the heat inside. May not have to do the walls at all since I am not going to heat all the time.