Ceiling Mount Electric Heater Placement

[Jflege2856]

I need help with Electric Heater Placement in my 32x48x14 Pole Barn. The barn does NOT have insulation, but does have 6mil plastic on the ceiling and vapor barrier (home wrap) under the metal siding. Metal ceiling with Insulation and wall insulation will happen, just not for another year.
I Currently have a large wood stove (35K ish BTU when working) located in the South east Corner of the pole barn but it does not have the ability to heat the barn without insulation. I have been running a propane 45K BTU torpedo heater along with the stove to keep temps comfortable. I can usually heat +30° - 40° above ambient temp when using my 100" Ceiling Fan.
I purchased (2) 10,000 Watt 34K BTU electric heaters and need help with placement on these heaters for best distribution. What location do you think is best, Black Boxes or Green Boxes? Do you have a better idea? Any Help is greatly appreciated.

 

[jeepxj]

have you considered electric radiant for the popular hangout area?

 

[Jflege2856]

have you considered electric radiant for the popular hangout area?

I haven’t. I just figured another 68k BTU’s moving around Will work

 

[u3b3rg33k]

I see a ceiling fan, so I'd say it doesn't really matter.

 

[jeepxj]

I haven’t. I just figured another 68k BTU’s moving around Will work

without insulation you're kinda just ******* it away. radiant will make you feel warm without having to heat the world. might be worth a look.

 

[Jflege2856]

I see a ceiling fan, so I'd say it doesn't really matter.

Yea it’s a 100” HVLS fan. It moves 21,000 cfm

 

[PoorUB]

Hang them where ever you want. Without insulation you are just ******* in the wind.

What is the hold up on insulation? The money spent on heaters would certainly help the insulation budget. You buy the heaters, next summer you insulate, you just spent $1,000+ on heaters you don't need.

Radiant heaters over the "hang out area" would go a lot farther to make it comfortable.

 

[nadogail]

My overhead fan forced Electric heaters are pointed towards the area most likely to be occupied when heating is desired.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

Hang them where ever you want. Without insulation you are just ******* in the wind.

What is the hold up on insulation? The money spent on heaters would certainly help the insulation budget. You buy the heaters, next summer you insulate, you just spent $1,000+ on heaters you don't need.

Radiant heaters over the "hang out area" would go a lot farther to make it comfortable.

$1000 for heaters that burn $2.8/hr in electricity!

 

[Jflege2856]

$1000 for heaters that burn $2.8/hr in electricity!

I have a pretty good kWh rate and I estimate it to cost me about $.86/hr. At most the barn will see about 40 hours a month so, about $40 a month.

 

[PoorUB]

I have a pretty good kWh rate and I estimate it to cost me about $.86/hr. At most the barn will see about 40 hours a month so, about $40 a month.

Really? You get roughly a 4 cent KWH rate?

 

[American Locomotive]

What is the hold up on insulation? The $1000 you spent on electric heaters would buy quite a bit of fiberglass insulation. Factor in the $500 worth of 6-gauge NM-B wire you'd need and the $100 worth of other misc items, and you're $1600 deep into this project. That's probably about enough to insulate the whole space, at which point your woodstove would likely keep it pleasant enough on its own.

As others mentioned, there really is no optimal placement. Electric heaters like these don't really move enough air that it will matter all that much. You will still need the ceiling fan to circulate air. If you want the hangout area to feel warm, a radiant electric heater would be a better idea and cost much less to run.

 

[danho]

I would put them in the corners (green boxes) and utilize the fan for distribution as you have been.

 

[Jflege2856]

Really? You get roughly a 4 cent KWH rate?

Yea, $0.043217 kWh to be exact. My house is actually cheaper at $0.031482 kWh. This is how i could justify the electric heaters and not being used all that much.

 

[Jflege2856]

What is the hold up on insulation? The $1000 you spent on electric heaters would buy quite a bit of fiberglass insulation. Factor in the $500 worth of 6-gauge NM-B wire you'd need and the $100 worth of other misc items, and you're $1600 deep into this project. That's probably about enough to insulate the whole space, at which point your woodstove would likely keep it pleasant enough on its own.

As others mentioned, there really is no optimal placement. Electric heaters like these don't really move enough air that it will matter all that much. You will still need the ceiling fan to circulate air. If you want the hangout area to feel warm, a radiant electric heater would be a better idea and cost much less to run.

Honestly, time is the hold up. The amount of time it would take me to insulate the barn vs when I need to be able to occupy the space for events. I have 2 hours in installing these and wiring them up. I was always going to install electric heaters to help get the space up to temp quickly. Yes, the wood stove should take care of heating the barn, but it takes a good hour + for it to get up to temp, blower fan to kick on and start moving warm air. I would completely agree, for the money I have in the two heaters + wire ($1256) would have likely got me most, if not all insulation.

 

[Jflege2856]

UPDATE!!!
We hosted a Super Bowl party in the Barn this past weekend! Both Electric heaters on high, facing the congregation area and the Wood Burner doing its job, we were able to maintain a 70°F temperature with an outside temp of 30°. Yes, they could become pricey to run at $.86/hr but they heat up the barn fairly quickly. Metal Ceiling going in this week and insulation in the next few weeks. I plan to go with the PRODEX Insulation hung vertically and attached to the Girt boards in between the post. This will leave a 1.5" Air Gap. Supposedly this will get me an R15 on the walls.

Any questions, just let me know.