Garage Insulation and Heater

[ssscamaro]

Hello, i have acouple questions and i am sure they might of been covered before. i did try the search function and spent hours reading posts.
I have a 24x24 attached garage in western Mssachustes that i use for working on my cars weekends and would also use it on weekday evenings if it wasnt such a hassle to heat.
The house is sealed up well but there is no insulation in the garage ceiling or wallls. Ther is drywall on both which is finished and painted ,done by builder before we purchased house.
I have used torpedo heaters for over 15 years both kerosene and propane. Its to the point now that i cant stand the smell niether can my wife as she says they stink up house but i dont notice. I dont like breathing the polluted air when i am out there and i swear it triggers colds in me several times year.
Without the insulation the heaters need to run way to much( also have a propane connvectiion space heater to maintain temp once up)I can get nice and toasty but shutoff for more than afew minutes and temp drops rapidly.
What i need to know is there is some loose fill bagged figerglass insulation i can get that comes in bags.You jsut empty bags and spread it around. Is this any good? I would not be doing walls yet only ceiling. It looks like 20 bags would give me about 6-8 inches thick.Someday i will do walls with blown in or icynene type material. Can i put the loose fill directly on the sheetrock in the attic? There would be no vapor barrier. Since this is only heated maybe 20-30 days year would the moisture cause problems? Would it cause problems in the humid summers also? I know vapor barrier plastic would be best way to have but since sheetrock is already there whats my options? do i put a blankett of plastic over joists etc or cut strips between the joists 15 inches wide?
I really dont have a ton of money to be spending on insulation and heater but i need to do it hopefully for a reasonable amount.
Another question is about the hot dawg style heaters. Do you still get the co/co2 and smell the propane in my case from them when vented? or do you need to get the seperate combustion style to eliminate the fumes?
I would like to maintain 60-65 degrees on 0 degree days.

Thanks
Ryan

 

[Chetter]

You need to put the stuff with the vapor barrier in, you would just roll it out with vapor barrier down to the sheet rock. I did that in my garage a couple years back. I bought rolls as I could afford them and rolled them out, I got the attic blanket which is 9-10 inches thick and wow what a difference. I just finished the install of a Mr Heater Big Maxx 4500 btu LP forced air heater that vents outside setup with a thermostat and it sure is nice not having the smell or the moisture problems from kerosene or propane style unvented style heaters. The heater I got is not alot of money for what you get and yes a do it youselfer can install with no problems, which is what I am, a DIYer. I set my thermostat at 52 degrees and leave it, runs very little to keep it there and that's here in northern Ohio.

 

[kbs2244]

You can do it without a vapor barrier, but you have to vent the attic.
Get 3 or 4 of those square "mushroom" roof vents and put a 4x8 screened vents in the soffit between every other joist.
Make sure you don't cover the soffit vents when you spread the stuff around.
This is the way it is done on your house.

But you do need to start using a vented heater of some kind.
The unvented torpedo type just put out to much moisture.
Vented means a separate combustion chamber, and no fumes.
The fumes, and moisture, from the fire are vented out the exhaust.

 

[5Cent]

Great question ssscamaro...I'm in the same situation. I would assume since the builder did the finishing job on the garage (most likely when it was built), that there is no fire wall between the garage and house (so your attic is open to both)?

If that is the case then guys, I don't believe he needs a vapor barrier since it's all connected and being directly vented with the rest of the home. Is the rolled insulation w/ vapor barrier more expensive than w/o, or do they only manufacture w/ barrier?

 

[ssscamaro]

5 cent you bring up a good point. My current attic access to the garage is from inside the house. The "mud room" thats next to garage which is part of my heated space has a closet which has the attic access in it.This mud room is 18 foot x 20 foot. When you go up in this heated areas attic there is vapor barrier/insulation on the"floor". One side of this mud rooms attic goes to a wall which is second floor of remainder of house and other end is open to garage, If i recall this has a ridge vent, cant see up ther as its too dark right now but there are soffits under the eaves. When you go over the "threshold" to the garage there is no insulation or vapor barrieronly joists and sheetrocked "floor" There is some plastic barrier between the 2 attic sections but its not sealed.
So is my garage attic vented thru my houses mud room attic? Does it matter that there is insulation/vapor barrier in the mud rooms attic but not over my garage?
Yes the backed insulation is considerably more. I was also thinking of using loose fill fiberglass insulation which is much less expensive if i dont need the vapor barrier.
Also thinking about a big electric heater out there so moisture would be less. Except for the concrete sweating when it gets warm here in springtime.Always seems to sweet when it gets warmer/more humid for few eeeks in spring.
Ryan

 

[ssscamaro]

just realized i goofed on my insulation calculations. taht will be less than i expected cost wise. still curious on the vapor barrier question??
Ryan

 

[5Cent]

Hmm...I would recommend using the backed insulation, but don't know if you absolutely need it. I'm very curious to see what other say here.

I have the same scenario and I heat the garage up to 50-60*'s with just my Big Buddy propane heater, but would like to maintain the heat longer.

Our home is only 5 yrs old, and they used rolled insulation on the house part, and left the garage area uninsulated. I got estimates to do 6" & 8" blown in and I about fell out of my chair! I know it would pay for itself in a year or two, but I just can't do it right now. I'm not familiar with the bagged insulation, where did you find it at? I haven't even began to look, but I know I have to get it done.

 

[ssscamaro]

A local discount building supply place has it. Not sure if these are national or not but you might want to check around. after refiguring this loose fill it looks like r30 backed batts are better value from home depot. A little less money with a higher r value than what i would of spent on loose fill.
http://www.bargain-outlets.com/new_...y, saving, DYI, home, improvement, fiberglass

The innsulation company that makes it is Guardian.
Ryan

 

[bd8134]

I had a 24x22 garage also in MA, making this a 42x30 but not a good story.
I sheetrocked and insulated about 75% of walls, bad and leaky garage doors.
The ceiling I just put plastic sheet up with foil backed foam board for about 66% of the ceiling. The remainder of the ceiling had fireboard. No insulation in the ceiling. I had used torpedo heaters and the smell was horrible.
Got a Sterling propane heater, made in MA, from Littlegreenhouse.com and like it. Mine just vents to the outside but you can get the type that also gets its supply outside also. No odors or smells, 4500 btu's worked well. So much nicer.