Heat For Pole Barn Any Thoughts?

[samdog1954]

I had a 30'x40'x12' pole barn put up about 1 1/2 years a by Shirk Pole Barns, now in the process of insulating & heating. I'm located in southern New Jersey about 6 miles inland of Ocean City, it does get as low as zero degrees fahrenheit on occasion.
It would be a Great help getting feedback on my thought on a heating solution.

I am thinking of going with electric heat, I have 200 AMP service. The heater i plan on using is a Markel | HF2HUH10C03 Fan Forced Horizontal Discharge Electric Unit Heater 10/7.5 KW with thermostat & fan delay.

http://www.h-mac.com/markel-hf2huh10c03.html[/url]

My reasons for choosing electric are: cost of running gas line to barn is $8000, propane prices are insane in our area. Right now the building is taxed as a shed or barn. The permits required to install natural gas or propane will result in a major change of tax status.

Any thoughts?

 

[rustyjames]

I hear you about the propane prices here, it's nuts! You really need to think about insulating the Chit out of it if you're thinking about going with electric. Nice shop btw.

 

[ambenz]

$8K for natural gas line...OMG!...and higher taxes after install?!?!
No brainer, pay the electric bill.
Having said that, I don't ever see electric prices going down...but I do see fluctuations in NG prices....the latest trend is NG is very cheap!
In the long run, I bet you wished you installed gas...doing the work yourself a save on that install...if you just run a line and wait for some cash flow, install a force air furnace in the future. I waited 6 years after the gas line was buried before I got heat in the garage. I used a turbo heater and a propane bottle when I need heat those first few years.

 

[jvitez]

Nice shop! But your devil-dog has his own leather couch to sleep on? Who's in charge there?

Based on your parameters, going electric does make sense for you. But with your NE electricity prices you'll be very glad if you install more insulation that generally required for your climate zone.

You're close to the ocean so humidity is a problem. Your best bet would be high density closed cell polyurethane spray foam. Your roof is not vented, correct? If not, I'd spray the inside of the roof and the walls, then finish the walls with the material of your choice, easiest being metal liner.

Your heater choice is fine. 10kW might even be too much, as you want the fan running longer to reduce heat stratification with your tall ceilings. If you can change it to 7.5kW in the field you've got that covered. But a better bet would be electric radiant heaters mounted on the ceiling, run in a row in the center:

http://www.ouellet.com/en-us/products/commercial-products-en.aspx?product=OKB (ORR)

Radiant heat will feel warmer period, but especially in damp conditions. You'll have no fan so no cool breezes, and there is little stratification with radiant heat.

 

[ebgb68]

I just finished the inside of my 30x40x10 with insulation and osb . Mine is built with osb and vinyl siding with 5.5" fiberglass in the walls and 18" of cello in the attic . A friend install a 95% propane furnace and duct work for me . I just had my propane filled and since Christmas I used 70.5 gallons to keep it minimum of 45 degrees . The thermostat has a occupied button that tacks it two 60 degrees. I figure about 150 gallons a season to heat it.

 

[samdog1954]

Thanks for the input, I will go with the electric heat & 1 1/2" R-9.6 Polyiso Rigid Foam Insulation Board or 2" R-13.1 Polyiso Rigid Foam Insulation Board.
I had the roof insulated when Shirk put the barn up.

I gotta keep the Devil-Dog warm!! She's the Boss!!!!

For anyone interested, Shirk Pole Barn Builders were great to deal with.

 

[Elginz]

SERIES OKB (ORR)
RADIANT HEATER




as mentioned above, something like this "http://www.ouellet.com/en-us/product...uct=OKB%20(ORR)"


Comfort in large spaces

The OKB series is designed to heat specific areas within large spaces. These low-inertia heaters are able to make an area comfortable in minutes. An anodized aluminum reflector allows maximum heat distribution.

I use something like this TPI Corporation OCH57-240V Quartz Electric Infrared Heater, Outdoor/Indoor Rated, Stainless Steel, 3000W, 240V only a Marley brand,
in my 24 x 24.

 

[dw1]

Nice barn, that is just about what I want. I would like to see how and what you use to insulate, I am still uncertain on what I want or need to do in that area. Do you heat it now (portable heater?) do the walls/ceiling sweat or condensate alot?

 

[kmcphee]

I would do the electric but maybe also consider a wood stove, will make it cozy on those really cold days. Nice building by the way, I'm considering that exact size build next year.

 

[CNGsaves]

Beautiful "barn" you've got there !! We would all call that a shop or garage !!

Heck I'd call that kick-*** shop !!!

What is story on crazy $8K estimate for running NG service?? Is that "barn" on separate lot, across a river, across R/R tracks, or something ?? How far??

Do you have NG service at the house?? Why can't you run your own NG sub-service from the house??

 

[slowtwitch]

For anyone interested, Shirk Pole Barn Builders were great to deal with.

I'm located just north of Philly. I had my 30x32 pole barn built by Shirk Pole barns about 5 years ago and I'm still amazed how great of a job they did. Their carpenters and concrete guy are fantastic.

As for heating, have you thought about using a mini split heat pump setup????


pete

 

[kbeefy]

nice shop!

 

[HemiRamOn22s]

I dont live far from you in central delaware. Our shop (pole barn construction) has 2" of spray foam on the walls and 18" of blown insulation in the ceiling. If youre going to heat it at all you need to insulate and put a ceiling and walls on the shop. We have heat and air in the shop. I believe its a commercail Train Unit Not sure how many Tons. The Air we have never used in 5 years and the Heat is only used a few days out of the year. Its so well insulated the temp rarely falls below 50 inside. It was so cold this winter that the condensation line froze in the attic unit whne i tried to turn it on, and it was still in the mid 40s in the shop and the heat had not been on in over a year. It takes a long time to heat up the shop 10 degrees but the shop is 60x104 with 16' ceilings. I use ceiling fans to push the warm air down. Its pretty comfortable at 55 im often in a tshirt while working. The concrete floor is cold to lay on but i do most of my work from a lift.

 

[jonjon1]

I would go a different way heating your building.
FIRST- perform an actual heat loss, there are some free programs on the internet that will get you in the ball park.

This will get you sized correctly which is the most important part of any hvac install..

Next consider your budget, if you want a $700 electric heater and its all that is in your budget then go for it, that unit is not bad at all.

If you can spend a bit more, I would say use a heatpump with aux electric coil. Something like this can be had installed for around $3500 saves some electricity and gets you a/c too... For your size building I would do 3 tons with a 55K BTU electric add on {a heatloss would be needed to confirm the load}...

If you are just looking to heat it and don't mind coal one of these would be a good choice, they are around $2K http://readingstove.com/heating-stoves/coal-stoves/juniata-stove.php but you will heat that building for $300 a year vs what electric would cost you... I use a coal stove to heat my entire house, 4300 sq foot home in CT I heat for just over $1000, I load the furnace about once a week and empty the ash bin at the same time...

 

[theoldwizard1]

If electricity is your only choice, then you should consider a mini-split heat pump. A place that large would require at least 2, more likely 4 air handlers. Also you need to choose a heat pump that will work efficiently down to 0F. All of these DO exist, but are not cheap.

The win is, electric resistance heat is 100% efficient. Heat pump can be as much 300+% efficient. Also your get AC installed for free !