Scotto
Well-known member
I finished my insulation and heating in my pole barn and it came out quite well so I wanted to share what I did.
I'm in NJ and have a 30'x40'x12' pole barn (with 12' of it with scissor trusses for a 2 post lift). The plan from the beginning was to have it heated in the winter about 50 degrees, and then be able to heat it more when I go out there. I also wanted to do this on the cheap, which meant fiberglass batts and blown-in insulation (best bang for buck).
First off, I ran 1" Home-Flex Underground Yellow Polyethylene Gas Pipe about 250' back from the house to the garage. When I had the natural gas run to my house I made sure they left a tee outside for me to tap into. By my calculations that length and diameter will sufficiently provide up to 80k btus - well within what I needed.
Once the garage was up, I put in a 60k/btu 95% natural gas furnace I got off FB marketplace (for $300 brand new!). The high efficiency was important for me due to the cheap PVC intake/exhaust vs a traditional chimney and more efficient in the long run. I think the 60k is perfect for this size garage, when insulated. It did NOTHING when it was unfinished so you'd need a much larger furnace then but it's been fantastic even with a garage door open for a short period of time.
I got a local HVAC sheet metal place to create a plenum and provide enough ducting to have a trunk go down the center of my garage (with registers pointing down both sides). Cost me $350 for the ductwork and it was pretty easy to install.
For insulating the wall, I framed out 2x4s 16" on center between the 6x6 posts and then used R13 kraft-faced batts between them. Then I drywalled. I didn't use plastic sheathing on the walls because I didn't want the building SO tight that fumes stayed in there - besides most home construction doesn't have a barrier. I think it was about $600 worth of R13 insulation.
The ceiling I did use a vapor barrier - 6 mil plastic. Then I covered it with steel panels on the inside. Once done I then blew in about $800 worth of blown-in insulation. I used Atticat from Lowes - fantastic stuff and only took a few hours to blow in 20 bags. The worst part was going to 5 different Lowes stores trying to find a working unit for blowing in the insulation. I blew in about 12-14".
Now that it's all done I'm really happy with how it went. The last 2 months I've kept it at about 50 degrees and then go up to about 58 when I'm out there (with ceiling fans running on low pushing the heat down). The average temp on my gas bill has been 32 degrees the last 2 months and I'm using about 40 therms of energy more this year than prior years to account for the new furnace. All in all, it's been about $50 more a month to heat the garage in the dead of winter, which I think is fantastic considering it's always comfortable (and it's been a cold winter!).
I also got a free ecobee4 thermostat from my utility company so I can turn up the heat an hour before going out in the garage from the house
.
Hopefully this info is helpful for everyone planning their garage.
Next in the spring I get to charge and test the $75 FB marketplace A/C R410A I installed - hopefully it works! I spent more on the lineset for it
I'm in NJ and have a 30'x40'x12' pole barn (with 12' of it with scissor trusses for a 2 post lift). The plan from the beginning was to have it heated in the winter about 50 degrees, and then be able to heat it more when I go out there. I also wanted to do this on the cheap, which meant fiberglass batts and blown-in insulation (best bang for buck).
First off, I ran 1" Home-Flex Underground Yellow Polyethylene Gas Pipe about 250' back from the house to the garage. When I had the natural gas run to my house I made sure they left a tee outside for me to tap into. By my calculations that length and diameter will sufficiently provide up to 80k btus - well within what I needed.
Once the garage was up, I put in a 60k/btu 95% natural gas furnace I got off FB marketplace (for $300 brand new!). The high efficiency was important for me due to the cheap PVC intake/exhaust vs a traditional chimney and more efficient in the long run. I think the 60k is perfect for this size garage, when insulated. It did NOTHING when it was unfinished so you'd need a much larger furnace then but it's been fantastic even with a garage door open for a short period of time.
I got a local HVAC sheet metal place to create a plenum and provide enough ducting to have a trunk go down the center of my garage (with registers pointing down both sides). Cost me $350 for the ductwork and it was pretty easy to install.
For insulating the wall, I framed out 2x4s 16" on center between the 6x6 posts and then used R13 kraft-faced batts between them. Then I drywalled. I didn't use plastic sheathing on the walls because I didn't want the building SO tight that fumes stayed in there - besides most home construction doesn't have a barrier. I think it was about $600 worth of R13 insulation.
The ceiling I did use a vapor barrier - 6 mil plastic. Then I covered it with steel panels on the inside. Once done I then blew in about $800 worth of blown-in insulation. I used Atticat from Lowes - fantastic stuff and only took a few hours to blow in 20 bags. The worst part was going to 5 different Lowes stores trying to find a working unit for blowing in the insulation. I blew in about 12-14".
Now that it's all done I'm really happy with how it went. The last 2 months I've kept it at about 50 degrees and then go up to about 58 when I'm out there (with ceiling fans running on low pushing the heat down). The average temp on my gas bill has been 32 degrees the last 2 months and I'm using about 40 therms of energy more this year than prior years to account for the new furnace. All in all, it's been about $50 more a month to heat the garage in the dead of winter, which I think is fantastic considering it's always comfortable (and it's been a cold winter!).
I also got a free ecobee4 thermostat from my utility company so I can turn up the heat an hour before going out in the garage from the house
.Hopefully this info is helpful for everyone planning their garage.
Next in the spring I get to charge and test the $75 FB marketplace A/C R410A I installed - hopefully it works! I spent more on the lineset for it
Just kidding, grew up in North Jersey