Building Venting - What options while maintaining insulation?

[Gopherboy6956]

Hey Everyone - i'm looking for recommendations for good shop vents (Powered or not) that still insulate well.

I'm in my first year of having a dried in shop, and while I have heat and am fully fiberglass insulated (Gas heat, which was the priority for Fargo, ND), this summer has been really hot and humid here. I do have a connection ready for a minisplit eventually, but really i've been thinking about general building ventilation too. The last few days we've had some cooler and drier nights, and I wanted to open the shop up and clear out all the humid air, but my garage door and walk in door are on the same sidew of the building, and my windows at 8ft dont open.

Our wind is predominantly from the North West, so I was thinking about putting a vent high on the South side of the building, and some lower venting on the North side.
I currently have 2x6 walls, fiberlglass insulation, and just house wrap. I was thinking maybe now is the time to install something before I side it.

Anyone have any good products to look at? Thank you!

North end of the shop:

South side of the shop:


Photo of the shop last fall after I got it all dried in:

 

[OccupantRJ]

Just curious, but what prevents the sidewalls from bowing out on that building?

 

[Gopherboy6956]

Just curious, but what prevents the sidewalls from bowing out on that building?

I guess I don't know what you mean? The trusses act exactly like any other truss shape, the whole roof load lands on the top plate all the same. It might just look like there isn't a bottom chord with the insulation installed.

 

[Dagny]

OH now we see.

 

[Dagny]

Why do you want vents

 

[Dagny]

The attic should have some.

 

[Gopherboy6956]

There isn't an attic. I want to be able to vent if I'm painting, sweeping, or just general air exchange when it's not too hot or cold.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You want to vent the inside working area? I would look at some type of heat exchanger similar to what they use in residential. The outgoing air warms up ( or cools it ) the incoming air. Then use a dehumidifier for removing moisture.

 

[75gmck25]

You need to first decide how much of the garage will be conditioned space and how much will be unconditioned space (open to outside venting). If you plan to do work where you need more ventilation (grinding, painting, etc.) you might want to set up a work space next to the wall that you can close off with walls or plastic sheeting and vent outside when you are working.

Wintertime you will want it to be conditioned space because you are heating it to a comfortable temp. If you install a mini-split for cooling you also want to have conditioned (unvented space) in the summer. During the summer and fall or spring you might want some level of venting, but you want to be able to easily close the vents off so you can heat or cool Also, an inexpensive gas heater inside the garage generates moisture when it burns. You may find moisture levels going too high in the winter if you have no vents, because you will be running the heat more. I assume there are gas or propane heaters with better moisture control, but I don't know much about them.

Most of the time your cooler air comes in from the North, so I think you will want a door, vent or window on that side to let air in, and on the south side you want to allow air to vent out. You also have to consider the mosquito level in ND, so when you open vents its best to have them screened.

My brother has a building in ND that has a couple of standard sized windows (3'x4'?) on the North and West at the residential window level (3 feet to the window bottom?) and his large garage door and man-door are on the South. He also has one window on the South side. If you open up the North and West windows and then also open up the window on the South you usually get good airflow through the building. Opening up the garage or man door gets really good air flow, but then you also allow the bugs to come in.

Some input you didn't ask for - If it was my building I would put a workbench and tool storage area on the gable end that is opposite the large door. Then I would add a mezzanine above that work area and use it for storage of items that I don't need often, and provide some really good work lighting in that area. If I still had the time and money left over I would figure out how I could close this area off from the rest of the garage (use sliding panels, etc.), which would allow me to use a small heater to keep that bench and work area comfortable even when the entire garage was not heated. I grew up in ND, so I am very aware of how nice it is to work in a heated area when the temps outside are well below zero.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'm thinking an exhaust fan with a thermostat up high on the south wall, along with inlet vents down low on the north side. Look through the Grainger catalog, they should have something that's appropriate. Grainger may not be the least expensive source but they generally sell good quality stuff, and at least it will give you an idea of what you need if you go buy from another source.

Of course you'll also need a way to block off the openings when winter comes. The best solution would be powered and insulated louvers that open and close when the fan runs but that's also the most expensive. You could fab up some insulated block off covers that are removed or installed by hand, but having to climb a ladder to cover up the fan won't be convenient.

 

[Jackfre]

Check out Tjernlund.com. They have many good ventilation products. YOu could try a whole house fan as well.

 

[Gopherboy6956]

I'm thinking an exhaust fan with a thermostat up high on the south wall, along with inlet vents down low on the north side. Look through the Grainger catalog, they should have something that's appropriate. Grainger may not be the least expensive source but they generally sell good quality stuff, and at least it will give you an idea of what you need if you go buy from another source.

Of course you'll also need a way to block off the openings when winter comes. The best solution would be powered and insulated louvers that open and close when the fan runs but that's also the most expensive. You could fab up some insulated block off covers that are removed or installed by hand, but having to climb a ladder to cover up the fan won't be convenient.

Yea from the research i've done, louvers seems to be the best choice - I would build an insulated cover for winter months, which honestly is more than half the year here.

 

[Gopherboy6956]

You need to first decide how much of the garage will be conditioned space and how much will be unconditioned space (open to outside venting). If you plan to do work where you need more ventilation (grinding, painting, etc.) you might want to set up a work space next to the wall that you can close off with walls or plastic sheeting and vent outside when you are working.

Wintertime you will want it to be conditioned space because you are heating it to a comfortable temp. If you install a mini-split for cooling you also want to have conditioned (unvented space) in the summer. During the summer and fall or spring you might want some level of venting, but you want to be able to easily close the vents off so you can heat or cool Also, an inexpensive gas heater inside the garage generates moisture when it burns. You may find moisture levels going too high in the winter if you have no vents, because you will be running the heat more. I assume there are gas or propane heaters with better moisture control, but I don't know much about them.

Most of the time your cooler air comes in from the North, so I think you will want a door, vent or window on that side to let air in, and on the south side you want to allow air to vent out. You also have to consider the mosquito level in ND, so when you open vents its best to have them screened.

My brother has a building in ND that has a couple of standard sized windows (3'x4'?) on the North and West at the residential window level (3 feet to the window bottom?) and his large garage door and man-door are on the South. He also has one window on the South side. If you open up the North and West windows and then also open up the window on the South you usually get good airflow through the building. Opening up the garage or man door gets really good air flow, but then you also allow the bugs to come in.

Some input you didn't ask for - If it was my building I would put a workbench and tool storage area on the gable end that is opposite the large door. Then I would add a mezzanine above that work area and use it for storage of items that I don't need often, and provide some really good work lighting in that area. If I still had the time and money left over I would figure out how I could close this area off from the rest of the garage (use sliding panels, etc.), which would allow me to use a small heater to keep that bench and work area comfortable even when the entire garage was not heated. I grew up in ND, so I am very aware of how nice it is to work in a heated area when the temps outside are well below zero.

The entire thing will be conditioned space - I only plan on utilizing the venting either when I have to, or when the outside temp / humidity are advantageous.
My wall mounted gas heater is vented, so it doesn't add net moisure to the air like an unvented heater. I'm also debating maybe just quickly framing in some sliding windows - that would kind of be the best of both worlds - insulated closure with accessable venting, but that relies on the the wind and isn't a power vent solution.

Funny you mention a mezzanie - I'm building a loft for the space as well, just send my order into the truss company

Thankfully I had my heat and electrical in last november, and using that before I had the siding in was still 100% better than no heat here. Once I finished the insulation in january, it was nice and cozy.

 

[mm08822]

Look in to whole house gable fan....36" x 36". Motorized louvers on both ends of the building would be best to avoid the wind slapping non-motorized louvers about on windy days.

Also look into using two pendant ceiling fans to circulate air when the space is conditioned/comfortable. These fans can also eliminate some of the need to run ac or furnace.