Pole barn shop insulation question

[nsargeant]

I have a 30x36 pole building that i have recently upgraded insulation in for better climate control. It originally didn't have a ceiling in it but had 1/2" foil backed foam on the walls and roof. I have since installed a metal ceiling and added r-13 fiberglass batts in between the trusses which are 4' oc. After that I installed 1.5 inch polyiso foam snugly in between all of the girts and behind all of the poles. All of this up to this point made a tremendous improvement to the way it originally was. With it like this it would only get up to 77-78 degrees inside with it all locked up when it was 88+ degrees outside. I have a 10,000btu window ac that will hold it at 73 in there if I start it up early enough in the morning but will run non stop. In effort to help the ac out as much as I could I added around 4 inches of cellulose on top of the fiberglass in the ceiling hoping it would help out some. So in my walls I have somewhere around r10-r13 and in my ceiling somewhere around an r25.

The baffling thing to me is the inside temp hasn't changed any when its locked up (77) and it will still only get down to 73 with the ac running non stop even after adding the cellulose in the ceiling. It seems like nothing has changed. Does this seem normal?

Sorry for the long post but thanks in advance,
Nathan

 

[racecougar]

Are your overhead doors insulated? What have you done with regard to air sealing the building?

 

[billconner]

What climate are you in? Seems like mainly a cooling climate. I have same question about air sealing and vapor barrier.

 

[nsargeant]

I located in southern indiana. I have 2 overhead doors an 8x9 and an 8x12. They are Wayne Dalton 9600 series. I don't like them but I think they are fairly insulated. The weather seal around them is in good shape and sealing well. Outside of a handfull of cans of sprayfoam to assist the polyiso where it needed it I haven't done anything else. The fiberglass batts are faced but I just laid them on the topside of the metal snugly. I figured the cellulose on top would help with the air sealing there. I know after I finished installing the polyiso that when I shut the entry door it will pull on and rattle the garage doors a little. Seems like it would have to be reasonably tight if its doing that.

In terms of a vapor barrier the all there is in the ceiling is the facing on the fiberglass and the 1/2 inch foil/foam on the underside of the roof and inside the walls just inside the metal.

 

[billconner]

The walls are nearly bare except behind posts and the bubble wrap, which is just reduce condensation on metal. Seems you need wall insulation, and more cellulose on ceiling wouldn't hurt.

A larger or second ac couldnt hurt. 10,000 BTU for over 1080 sf isn't really enough, considering thin insulation.

Just for fun looked up code. You're in zone 4, which requires R49 ceiling and R20 walls and R10 under slab.

 

[racecougar]

More insulation all around would be a good thing. That 1.5" polyiso on the walls is about R-9. The ceiling with R-13 batts and 4" of cellulose would be around R-27. That's all better than nothing, but could certainly be improved upon.

 

[nsargeant]

The walls are nearly bare except behind posts and the bubble wrap, which is just reduce condensation on metal. Seems you need wall insulation, and more cellulose on ceiling wouldn't hurt.

A larger or second ac couldnt hurt. 10,000 BTU for over 1080 sf isn't really enough, considering thin insulation.

Just for fun looked up code. You're in zone 4, which requires R49 ceiling and R20 walls and R10 under slab.

Here is a picture of the wall as I was doing it. I know that is what would be ideal for a house. I'm mainly out in the shop on the weekends hanging out. Just trying to get it to where the temp/humidity doesn't swing so much. I would have figured that adding cellulose to the ceiling would have helped but it doesn't seem like it has so far.

Underneath those headers are insulated and blocked off as well now.

 

[billconner]

The walls are nearly bare except behind posts and the bubble wrap, which is just reduce condensation on metal. Seems you need wall insulation, and more cellulose on ceiling wouldn't hurt.

A larger or second ac couldnt hurt. 10,000 BTU for over 1080 sf isn't really enough, considering thin insulation.

Just for fun looked up code. You're in zone 4, which requires R49 ceiling and R20 walls and R10 under slab.

I misunderstood polyiso - didn't.know it was all of wall.

Still more is needed.