Just completed a Morton 30x48 with 13 foot side walls, uninsulated. Looking for recommendations on temporary heating methods. At some point I will fully insulate. Location is MN. I'm not looking to heat it more than a handful of times a winter. Just when I'm out there playing cards or working on misc projects.
Best heating method for uninsulated
- Thread starter Butchy
- Start date
chrispyny
Well-known member
A wood stove from craigslist.
Propane puts out a ton of moisture. A mini split heat pump is probably more expensive initially than you want to spend and as often as you will be heating, it wont pay off.
Wood is cheap, sometimes free, its dry heat, and even a medium sized stove should heat that space just fine.
Propane puts out a ton of moisture. A mini split heat pump is probably more expensive initially than you want to spend and as often as you will be heating, it wont pay off.
Wood is cheap, sometimes free, its dry heat, and even a medium sized stove should heat that space just fine.
bacr619
Active member
What he said. wood stove
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I also vote wood stove
Make sure to keep out the right angles, and use the proper piping...
also its imparative to brace your exterior pipe
annnnnd get 2 of those pipe thermostats.... say one about 3' from top of stove, and one near the stove... also, as an added safety feature, esp if you have limited to no experience working a stove, put in an in pipe damper... if the stove ever gets away from you (like when its super windy, you can shut it down with out water... water + hot stove = possible steam burns, busted stove, or worse...
now for your stove, if you go second hand bring a flash light when you go look at it, be prepared to get dirty, and a 2 inch paint brush
your looking for cracks in the stove. any cracks, run.
the bigger the stove the better. and stay away from those fireplace models,
an excellent resource: hearth.com
oh and a stove with a blower, is absolutely worth it.
Make sure to keep out the right angles, and use the proper piping...
also its imparative to brace your exterior pipe
annnnnd get 2 of those pipe thermostats.... say one about 3' from top of stove, and one near the stove... also, as an added safety feature, esp if you have limited to no experience working a stove, put in an in pipe damper... if the stove ever gets away from you (like when its super windy, you can shut it down with out water... water + hot stove = possible steam burns, busted stove, or worse...
now for your stove, if you go second hand bring a flash light when you go look at it, be prepared to get dirty, and a 2 inch paint brush
your looking for cracks in the stove. any cracks, run.
the bigger the stove the better. and stay away from those fireplace models,
an excellent resource: hearth.com
oh and a stove with a blower, is absolutely worth it.
BillK
Well-known member
Butchy,
If you don't want to mess with wood, then I would think either an oil or propane/natural gas furnace would be the way to go. You need something that will heat the place up quick. Wood really wont do that. It takes a while to get a fire started and get the stove heated up. I heated my house with wood for many years and it was great, but it was burning all the time.
If you don't want to mess with wood, then I would think either an oil or propane/natural gas furnace would be the way to go. You need something that will heat the place up quick. Wood really wont do that. It takes a while to get a fire started and get the stove heated up. I heated my house with wood for many years and it was great, but it was burning all the time.
bczygan
Well-known member
Electric thermal underwear, socks and gloves.
If a tall ceiling, use radiant. It can be your permanent heat source after insulating, as well.
Bill
If a tall ceiling, use radiant. It can be your permanent heat source after insulating, as well.
Bill
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Electric long underwear !
lakeroadster
Well-known member
In a non-insulated building, in MN, in the winter, heating with a wood stove (or any stove for that matter), you'll get a copious amount of moisture forming on the inside: ceiling and walls.
Even more so if there is snow piled up against the outside of the barn.
Just so you know...
Even more so if there is snow piled up against the outside of the barn.
Just so you know...
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914wilhelm
Well-known member
My uninsulated pole barn which I refer to as a thermal amplifier will thankfully be coming down when the new shop is completed. In the summer it gets up to 115 F when it's 90 out and I swear to god it gets colder than the ambient temp outside. I tried to heat it in the winter with a large propane heater and it made everything wet, didn't heat the space and was annoyingly loud. I ended using a radiant electric heated I got from Costco and would aim it at my backside while working at the bench. I would be comfortable, the tools dry and I could hear the radio. The new shop is thankfully insulated and has a radiant floor.
first and most important energy/comfort move is to insulate properly, then consider heating options. With no insulation you are p....in the wind. Think about it; a steel building is a giant heat/cold trap, you need to keep the outside weather out and the inside temp in and this = insulation.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
My Dad had an uninsulated garage (30x40) in the nothern part of MI's lower peninsula. Even with a rip roaring fire the the wood stove and 60 minutes of time to warm the place up, your hands and face were freezing working at the bench and your **** started to feel like a Boston But on a high temp grill !
lakeroadster
Well-known member
Seems like it would have been more cost effective to insulate the pole barn....
vs. building a complete new shop.914wilhelm
Well-known member
Seems like it would have been more cost effective to insulate the pole barn....
I'm going from a 40 yo pole barn that has nail on metal and leaks everywhere. It has a 3 level floor of dirt, wood and concrete the metal has no mouse stops on the bottom edges or fly stops on the top edges. The main garage door is a slider that faces into the wind and allows dirt, rain and snow to blow in. It's 24 x 24, in a terrible location and I can't wait for it to disappear. The new shop/barn is 40 x 90 x 16 foot walls with an upstairs the whole length on the back half of the 90 wall. It has a total of 5400sqft, heated floors, 200 amp service, toilets, sinks, bar and a tv room with couches. In floor lift, sinks all my mills and lathes will quit rusting and I can go out there and enjoy myself. At one point I considered insulating the pole barn and realized it would be pouring good money after bad.
lakeroadster
Well-known member
Pictures make it real...