New Guy - Insulation / Heating 40x30 Garage

[BetterCallMaul]

Hi, newbie here. I've done a lot of search and reading and was hoping to get some help.

My garage stats:

• Size: 40x30 with loft
• Insulation: None
• Goal: Keep garage above 55° in the winter.
• Heating Options: Electric. No NG available.

I bought this house last year. The detached garage was a big selling point because I'm really into fitness and it would be my gym. I really don't mind the summer heat, but the winter cold is pretty rough when working out in PA.

I just installed the Fahrenheat 5000w heater, but being uninsulated, having big garage doors and it only being rated for 500sq ft, I haven't been using it as it seems like it's just wasting $. Since we just moved here last year, my wife still has a big list of other projects which are $$$...so I'd like to insulate as cheaply as possible.

My big questions are:

1. how do I insulate the ceiling? Do you drywall the first floor ceiling and then do blown in on top of that? or do you insulate the top of the loft with batts (with soffit vents)?
2. Would you run wire for another electric forced air heater or just abandon and go for a mini-split? I really don't care about AC in the summer. To keep this on the cheap, I'd rather do another forced air electric.

I'm not very handy, but I'm sure I can install batts in the 2x6 walls...I'm more concerned about the ceiling.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

First Floor Ceiling

Loft Area

First Floor Ceiling that doesn't have a plywood floor

 

[Randy in Maine]

If it were me, I would first have about 3" of closed cell sprayed on the ceiling and the exterior walls. At that point you could either 1) fill up the remainder of the ceiling cavity with foam (since that is where you will lose most of the heat) or 2) just fill it up with fiberglass batts. YOu will want some sort of covering over it also, like sheetrock or wood.

I am sure you can get propane in PA. It has to be cheaper than heating with electricity.

 

[BetterCallMaul]

Spray foam isn't an option right now due to price. There are numerous competing house projects at the moment and my gym insulation is about number 653 on that list if you asked my wife. If spray foam is the most logical option, insulation would have to wait a while.

Propane is available. I'll have to check my latest electric bill, but I think we're at $0.12/kwh. Since I'm only trying to get to 55°, I don't feel like dealing with refills or renting tanks or venting, the electric forced air heaters are cheap, I'd rather go with electric.

 

[stm317]

The gain from insulating the ceiling above your workout area will be minimal until the whole ceiling is insulated. The warm air that would be trapped in that area would just flow out into the more open part of the building. But if you can keep that air trapped beneath the loft, by hanging some plastic sheeting or something as a temporary wall, it could allow you to insulate just the underside of the loft. It's not an ideal situation but it could work nicely to get you through until more funds are available.

Is extending the loft floor all the way across the building and turning it into a full attic possible? Then you could just insulate with batts in between the joists cheaply and easily, but you'd probably have to add some fold-down attic stairs.

Rigid foam panels might be an option on the underside of the roof as well. They can usually be found on Craigslist for significantly less than hardware stores, and a fraction of what spray foam might be. I think you'd want baffles to keep some airflow between them and your roof decking.

 

[Randy in Maine]

If you heat that place with electric heat you will need a timing light to read the meter.

Don't do anything until you do insulation or you will just be heating the outdoors.

 

[BetterCallMaul]

If you heat that place with electric heat you will need a timing light to read the meter.

Sorry, not sure what that means?

The gain from insulating the ceiling above your workout area will be minimal until the whole ceiling is insulated. The warm air that would be trapped in that area would just flow out into the more open part of the building. But if you can keep that air trapped beneath the loft, by hanging some plastic sheeting or something as a temporary wall, it could allow you to insulate just the underside of the loft. It's not an ideal situation but it could work nicely to get you through until more funds are available.

Is extending the loft floor all the way across the building and turning it into a full attic possible? Then you could just insulate with batts in between the joists cheaply and easily, but you'd probably have to add some fold-down attic stairs.

Rigid foam panels might be an option on the underside of the roof as well. They can usually be found on Craigslist for significantly less than hardware stores, and a fraction of what spray foam might be. I think you'd want baffles to keep some airflow between them and your roof decking.

So are you thinking to lay plywood across the entire second floor and then do batts between the roof joists and plywood?

Forgot to mention that there are already stairs to the second floor. They are open stairs...no door.

 

[stm317]

So are you thinking to lay plywood across the entire second floor and then do batts between the roof joists and plywood?

Forgot to mention that there are already stairs to the second floor. They are open stairs...no door.

Yep. Having a lower ceiling should reduce the amount of space needed to heat and give your small heater a better chance of maintaining a reasonable temp. I think it would be a noticeable improvement, even if it's not perfect. And the impact on your budget should be fairly low compared to some other options. That being said, warm air is still going to rise up your open stairs, so eventually insulating the attic area, or closing off the stairs isn't a bad idea.

 

[cthulu]

If you're looking to do it on the cheap looking at buying used 4x8 sheets of insulating foam. They pop up on craigslist super cheap and are easy to work with. Check out what I did in my pole barn below, it's been working great.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=349135

Pics are towards the back, good luck