A challenge for those much smarter than me

[Swiftlegend]

Longtime lurker. Rarely post.

I have a roughly 28ft x 35ft pole building. I already studded it in and insulted it with polystyrene and R15 batts.

Now comes the fun.

I want to keep open trusses for making it feel larger and letting natural light in and for equipment. On the ridge cap I replaced that **** fiberglass that yellows with UV resistant Polycarb cold bent to follow pitch of roof. It worked awesome! The amount of light coming in on certain times of the day you think you turned on light bulbs and you didn't. Anyways when I put the new ridge cap on I kept it vented on the sides.

I put rolled industrial batting between the trusses up near the ceiling by LTH because the cost effectiveness vs price is very good and again allowed me to have the open trusses.

I have machining and other equipment inside and need something to heat this space and keep it stable from dew point. I already have a chimney in this building as well when I bought it. I also do not have Natural Gas on site nor propane. I heat my house with wood w/electric baseboard when needed. I have 200amp panel on this shed as well and newly wired.

Is it possible to heat this space with some sort of combo electric/wood/solar for around $10k in parts and would I keep the ridge cap vented? The way the insulation is done was the air space behind batting on walls can tie in with batting on the ceiling as one long continued air gap up near ridge cap too fyi.

Most guys here know the cheap and fast methods. I need and want the open trusses for what I do. I also want to think forward on green energy and return on investment. I hope some here can respect that and see this as a challenge to overcome in doing something different. All my renovations will be posted...currently building up the folder with all my pictures through the years for a proper garage thread!

Thanks all.

 

[JohnKal]

A location may help…..

 

[Jim greengo]

As long as you have some way of moving the air around in there,I would think it shouldn't take much to heat it with wood.

 

[Firebrick43]

Your desires for open truss and energy efficiency are very contradictory of each other. The ceiling being insulated is the most important part of energy efficiency.

 

[Swiftlegend]

Sorry, located in MN.

I have insulation batts between the trusses next to the tin roof with a 4in gap.
I could pull the tin off the roof and put a conventional sheathing and insulate even more as well.

 

[jack stand]

There are some real insulation "geeks" over on

GreenBuildingTalk - Green Building Forums on Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF), Structural Insulated Panels (SIP), Radiant Heating, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Power, Green Construction Projects

www.greenbuildingtalk.com

I didn't mean that geek thing in a negative sense, it's just that there are consequential moisture issues that you can create.
I've been using those clear polycarbonate panels a they are amazing, almost like glass.

 

[Mr onetwo]

Whatever you do, get an accurate heat loss calculation done before you buy heating equipment.If you have a wood lot and the energy to process the wood...that is the way to go. If you can't spare the floor space for a wood fired hot air furnace or boiler, then consider an outdoor wood boiler(not my first choice however). Heating that space with oil, propane or purchased wood is going to be very expensive as you are set up now. I am also a little concerned if your batts are facing up to the bare metal of the roof....condensation would wreak havoc.Spray foam is fantastic, but very expensive here.

 

[Swiftlegend]

I made sure through numerous storms to make sure no leaks. The batts have the white reflective thermal barrier facing inward.
Thanks for the ideas thus far.

 

[jblnut]

I'm also in MN !! Right smack in the middleish.

As started above if you can deal with a wood stove inside and have access/ability to make wood that's a great option. An outdoor option would be a Bryan Outdoor wood furnace. I had one in a past house and it was amazing. Wood heat without the mess inside !! They're $5,000ish now new so inside your budget.

Bryan Furnace - Products from Mix Farms

Bryan Furnace from Mix Farms

www.mixfarms.com

For a fun reference for an outdoor wood boiler for you ..... I purchased a Crown Royal 7400MP (much larger than you'd need for the shop) and all in with the piping/install/boiler/wood shed/heat exchangers and such I'm going to have close to $30k invested. I spent $5k on propane last year so it pencils out for me. And I'm cutting most of the wood anyway while cleaning out fence lines and am currently piling it up to rot. So it makes sense to me. I thought I'd have closer to $20k in it but you know how things go .....

 

[Mr onetwo]

I made sure through numerous storms to make sure no leaks. The batts have the white reflective thermal barrier facing inward.
Thanks for the ideas thus far.

I was talking about condensation on the underside of the metal, not leaks.Might be a big problem.

 

[Swiftlegend]

Running a dehumidifire right now inside because of the huge heat wave but alot huge temp swings to get rid of the condensation. This is a mobile unit I had in my house basement.

I will keep mulling things over, but need to get something figured out soon.

 

[dcg9381]

I've found that the cheapest way for me to heat our building is by using ventless wall mounted 20-30k BTU propane heaters. If you don't have propane available, you can buy 100lb tanks and these will run the heaters for quite a while. They're mechanical, just get the pilot lit and they do their thing... Unlike ductless units, they don't lose capacity as the temperature lowers. For $500-$600 "all in" you can probably heat that building with a system like this.

 

[toyotadriver]

The OP is in a very cold climate. You do NOT want to use vent free heaters in a very cold climate. Vent free heaters can work ok in a moderate climate like TX but bad bad idea in a very cold climate.

The light coming in the roof is certainly nice but it's going to cause problems. You'll likely get condensation on the peak in the winter and then that moisture is going to run down into the batt insulation and soak it. Then, you've got even bigger problems. I hate to see you cover up that nice light but you have to if you don't want condensation. Heat also rises so all that expensive heat will be escaping out the highest part of the building.

 

[Fueler]

My 40x40 is open like yours with cnc machines, etc. If you are not insistent on going the green route a mini-split will do the job. I use a 3200K unit with propane tube heater as a backup in the winter. I also use overhead fans in the winter to push the heat back down.

 

[Swiftlegend]

thanks for all the opinions thus far. Thought of going mini split and tying into a wood boiler system/solar thermal. I have been trying to find a "fan" but more of an industrial blower design to mount up in the trusses to circulate the air. My grocery store has them but have no idea what they are called