MisterMike
Well-known member
Mornin', all . . .
I'm a Chicago suburbs guy. Over the past couple of years, my wife and I have been working on what we hope will be our retirement home in a couple of years time. I'll spare you the less relevant details, but part of where we're going with all of this involves a 30' x 48' pole shed with 14' sidewalls that we refer to as "the Barn."
The Barn is off to a good start. It has a concrete floor and a full bath built in, but, apart from this small area in a corner of the Barn, it's currently uninsulated. That's changing soon, as we have just contracted with a local company to spray the interior with closed cell foam. We should have a pretty decent thermal envelope once this is done.
The Barn serves as storage for a UTV, a small tractor and a few implements. It's the only garage space we have. Equally important, it serves as a party barn when we get the extended clan together. So far, the largest gathering has been about 150 family and friends.
It doesn't seem to make much sense to heat the Barn constantly (we have LP gas and electricity is not cheap in our location), but it would be nice to have a system that could bring the temperature to a reasonably comfortable level in a few hours.
My current thinking is that an LP-fueled radiant (infrared) tube system is probably the best option, along with a couple of fans to circulate the warm air that will rise to the roof level. At some point, I might add a supplemental wood stove, since we have an abundant supply of firewood in the forested land that we own.
However, I've arrived at this plan with no practical experience in tackling this sort of project in this sort of setting. Therefore, I ask: Is this a sensible approach? Is there some other type of approach to heating that would be superior (and which has a relatively low up-front cost)?
Thanks in advance for your pearls of wisdom . . . .
I'm a Chicago suburbs guy. Over the past couple of years, my wife and I have been working on what we hope will be our retirement home in a couple of years time. I'll spare you the less relevant details, but part of where we're going with all of this involves a 30' x 48' pole shed with 14' sidewalls that we refer to as "the Barn."
The Barn is off to a good start. It has a concrete floor and a full bath built in, but, apart from this small area in a corner of the Barn, it's currently uninsulated. That's changing soon, as we have just contracted with a local company to spray the interior with closed cell foam. We should have a pretty decent thermal envelope once this is done.
The Barn serves as storage for a UTV, a small tractor and a few implements. It's the only garage space we have. Equally important, it serves as a party barn when we get the extended clan together. So far, the largest gathering has been about 150 family and friends.
It doesn't seem to make much sense to heat the Barn constantly (we have LP gas and electricity is not cheap in our location), but it would be nice to have a system that could bring the temperature to a reasonably comfortable level in a few hours.
My current thinking is that an LP-fueled radiant (infrared) tube system is probably the best option, along with a couple of fans to circulate the warm air that will rise to the roof level. At some point, I might add a supplemental wood stove, since we have an abundant supply of firewood in the forested land that we own.
However, I've arrived at this plan with no practical experience in tackling this sort of project in this sort of setting. Therefore, I ask: Is this a sensible approach? Is there some other type of approach to heating that would be superior (and which has a relatively low up-front cost)?
Thanks in advance for your pearls of wisdom . . . .
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