Avenger
Veteran Member
I am in the midst of insulating my shop, and a thought struck. What about ventilation? How do you ventilate an insulated shop?
Here is my scenario: I have a 40x60x25 shop with three rooms. The shop is a pole barn type with a concrete floor and metal sides. Between the exterior metal and the wood supports is that thin contractor grade insulation. This insulation is on the roof and exterior walls. The shop is slightly drafty, but not horrible. The contractor grade insulation helps with temps, but not much. The three rooms are the main shop, a small room we call the "shelf room" as it has shelves. And then beyond that is the third room we call "the gun room" as that is where my reloading bench is, among other things. The gun room is 15x30 on the side of the main shop, no where near the ridge. To access the gun room, you must either go from the main shop through the shelf room and into the gun room, OR the gun room has an insulated man door to the outside. The gun room is the only room in the shop with a heater. The door from the main shop to the shelf room is insulated, as well as the door from the shelf room to the gun room.
Since the gun room is heated with a ceiling mounted electric heater on a thermostat, I'd like to bolster the efficacy of that room by insulating it. I have already framed it out and I am about to start installing batting insulation. I plan on doing this to the entirety of the shop, but starting in the gun room. While framing all this out, I was thinking ahead....
I am not a contractor. I have helped build some projects and know just enough to be confident in my abilities to screw something up. I know that I need a vapor barrier, a thin sheet of plastic on the warm side of the insulation. I plan on installing OSB on the interior of the walls in the gun room. So the wall sandwich will look like this: Exterior metal, contractor grade insulation, stud wall with fiberglass batting, vapor barrier, OSB. As I was thinking this through, I realized that I will be enclosing this room, encasing this room in plastic with no ventilation. There is a window that opens to the outside in this room, but that would also allow heat to escape and water to enter if I forget to close it.
I googled it. I learned that an HRV (heat recovery ventilation) system is preferred. These systems are expensive and take up a lot of room. I don't really want to install an HVAC system in the shop. However, I believe I do need some type of ventilation system in this room, one that will not allow heat to escape. I could probably install a type of roof vent, but I'd worry that all the heat would escape though the vent. What's the point in insulating the room if all the heat goes out though a hole in the roof?
So, I'm asking you. What type of passive ventilation system do you have in your insulated shop? Do you have any recommendations for me? Am I over thinking this?
Thank you for your time!
Here is my scenario: I have a 40x60x25 shop with three rooms. The shop is a pole barn type with a concrete floor and metal sides. Between the exterior metal and the wood supports is that thin contractor grade insulation. This insulation is on the roof and exterior walls. The shop is slightly drafty, but not horrible. The contractor grade insulation helps with temps, but not much. The three rooms are the main shop, a small room we call the "shelf room" as it has shelves. And then beyond that is the third room we call "the gun room" as that is where my reloading bench is, among other things. The gun room is 15x30 on the side of the main shop, no where near the ridge. To access the gun room, you must either go from the main shop through the shelf room and into the gun room, OR the gun room has an insulated man door to the outside. The gun room is the only room in the shop with a heater. The door from the main shop to the shelf room is insulated, as well as the door from the shelf room to the gun room.
Since the gun room is heated with a ceiling mounted electric heater on a thermostat, I'd like to bolster the efficacy of that room by insulating it. I have already framed it out and I am about to start installing batting insulation. I plan on doing this to the entirety of the shop, but starting in the gun room. While framing all this out, I was thinking ahead....
I am not a contractor. I have helped build some projects and know just enough to be confident in my abilities to screw something up. I know that I need a vapor barrier, a thin sheet of plastic on the warm side of the insulation. I plan on installing OSB on the interior of the walls in the gun room. So the wall sandwich will look like this: Exterior metal, contractor grade insulation, stud wall with fiberglass batting, vapor barrier, OSB. As I was thinking this through, I realized that I will be enclosing this room, encasing this room in plastic with no ventilation. There is a window that opens to the outside in this room, but that would also allow heat to escape and water to enter if I forget to close it.
I googled it. I learned that an HRV (heat recovery ventilation) system is preferred. These systems are expensive and take up a lot of room. I don't really want to install an HVAC system in the shop. However, I believe I do need some type of ventilation system in this room, one that will not allow heat to escape. I could probably install a type of roof vent, but I'd worry that all the heat would escape though the vent. What's the point in insulating the room if all the heat goes out though a hole in the roof?
So, I'm asking you. What type of passive ventilation system do you have in your insulated shop? Do you have any recommendations for me? Am I over thinking this?
Thank you for your time!
