Insulation and heating Qs.

[copenblend]

Gentlemen,

My wife and I recently purchased a home, with a pretty nice garage.

By her rough estimate (I am deployed) it is 23x22 in the main room and the ceiling looks to be about 12 feet at the center (cathedral?).

I want to be able to heat the garage mainly to be able to work out in it. So i wouldnt really be needing heat for much more than an hour a day. I do want it to be comfortable. I would like to be able to heat the garage quickly and have it heated for about an hour.

This is a mid Michigan garage.

I am looking at a 50-80k BTU heater.

I am wondering, if I have insulation (I am thinking R13 all around);

Would it heat up significantly quicker?

Since the heater (propane) would only be running for approx. 1.5 hours, how much do i really stand to save on heating by putting in insulation? Assuming I would turn off the heater at 30 minutes with insulation.

EDIT: This is a DETACHED garage.


Thanks for any help guys

Regards,

Ben.

 

[Angelfire]

My garage, attached to the house, is similar in size. I believe the walls are insulated with R13 and the ceiling is R19 (not certain on that but pretty sure). I went with a 45K BTU and it heats the place up from the teens to 65 in about 20-25 mins. I think going any bigger on the furnace would be overkill and is actually detrimental to the furnace (excessive cycling etc.). The advantage of having the insulation is that once the space is heated, it will stay warmer longer so the furnace will not have to constantly run to keep the area warm. If you go with fiberglass, it's cheap and I think would make an all around better space for you. My work patterns appear to be different from yours however in that I typically get in there and work for much longer than an hour at a time.

I just built a detached shop and will eventually insulate when funds allow. I'll be using mineral wool for higher R value/better sound control/etc... I haven't decided on a heater yet but will probably be in the 75K-90K BTU range (space is 1200+ SF).
Cheers.
cc

Edit: I should add I'm at a mile high altitude wise so had to derate my 45K furnace accordingly. I'm probably only getting 29K BTU output and it works well.

 

[Falcon67]

It was in the high 40s all last weekend. I tested the 5000 w heater in my 12x24 work room section and had to turn it off in 15 minutes. The space is 960 sq/ft total and never got below 64F all weekend with no heat used, except for the test run. Insulation is r13 batt in the walls and ceiling. Last winter it was dried in but no insulation or ceiling. With electric and propane running - total about 45K BTU- for hours I could get it into the 60s.

 

[nwav8tor]

If the walls aren't already covered on the inside, adding insulation is easy and not too expensive. It'll make it much easier for the heater to warm the space and will keep the space warmer for longer after the heater is shut off. I'd insulate...

BTW, pretty ballsy of you to have the wife purchase a house while you're deployed. Guess you'd have to trust her to ensure that you'd like the place too. But I guess Marriage Rule #1 applies: "If mamma ain't happy, then ain't nobody happy."

Paul

THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE

 

[dave67fd]

X2 on what Paul said. Insulate, insulate, insulate.

 

[copenblend]

Thanks for the quick responses gentlemen. Now i have on further question.

If I am leaving the ceiling open (just insulating, but not creating an attic) Will i need to install baffles? I have seen alot on them, but they all mention attics. I have no intention of having an actual attic. So just wondering if i would need them? (or just space between the insulation and wood)

 

[nwav8tor]

I'm not an expert, but as I understand it: anytime you insulate, you should have some sort of ventilation/airflow on the non-conditioned side of the insulation. If you're not going to have an attic (cathedral), there still should be an air gap between the insulation and the roof deck. If there's no flow through that gap, it just becomes dead airspace which doesn't do much of anything to help the situation. I'd recommend incorporating a ridge vent at the peak of the roof along with continuous (slot) soffit vents to allow the proper airflow between the roof deck and the insulation...

By the way, is this an attached or detached garage?

My .02,
Paul