How would you insulate your pole barn in Idaho? (homeowners insurance, house)

[Sagle Sam 2016]

I'm looking for ideas on how to economically insulate a 30x40 pole barn. It is going to house our pets and has our well tank in it so we will be keeping it at about 50 degrees in the winter. It doesn't have to be dirt cheap and I want to look at long term fuel savings as well. Right now, I am considering R-10 or R-13 rigid foam vs tacking down rolled fiberglass (R-14 I think) and then pinning it in with chicken wire. I already have plastic vapor barrier stuff inside of the steel.

Any insight is appreciated.

[mistyriver]

For our shop we used rigid styrofoam with chicken wire and then finished it with plywood. In the roof we used fiberglass bats backed with that foil stuff.

In livestock barns, you don't insulate. Ventilation is important.

[banjomike]

No insulation may be better for your pets, as an unheated insulated space tends to stay colder in the winter than warmer. Insulation works both ways- while it's quicker to cool, its also quicker to warm up, and it tends to stay where it is longer in either extreme.

Your well tank could be heat wrapped if it looks like it might freeze. A heating lamp or even a 60 watt bulb is all a dog needs to stay warm if they have a well insulated bed and a contained small space like a doghouse to curl up in.The doghouse can easily be 50 degrees just from the heat a dog gives off in an otherwise 32º shed that's wind-tight and waterproof.

But if you are planning to spend a lot of time in the shed, you may want some insulation. You would probably want a space heater, too.

[Cnynrat]

If you put your well tank in a small room/closet inside your barn it may be easier to keep above freezing vs. needing to keep the whole building above freezing in winter. Our well tank is in the bathroom in our shop, and there is a small electric wall heater in there that we keep on it's lowest temp in the winter to keep the bathroom warm.

Dave

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Cnynrat

If you put your well tank in a small room/closet inside your barn it may be easier to keep above freezing vs. needing to keep the whole building above freezing in winter. Our well tank is in the bathroom in our shop, and there is a small electric wall heater in there that we keep on it's lowest temp in the winter to keep the bathroom warm.

Dave

Definitely cheaper. Heat in a big open space always rises to the ceiling, leaving everything below still cold. Enclosing small spaces makes much better economic sense.

[Sagle Sam 2016]

Thank you for the insight all. I am in agreement with you three, but the space also contains my workout area and I'd probably do some winter projects in there too so I may as well set it up to be heated and insulated. I was even considering putting a wood stove in there so I don't have the cost of propane heating.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Sagle Sam 2016

Thank you for the insight all. I am in agreement with you three, but the space also contains my workout area and I'd probably do some winter projects in there too so I may as well set it up to be heated and insulated. I was even considering putting a wood stove in there so I don't have the cost of propane heating.

There's nothing wrong with wood heat except the trudge factor. A wood stove has gotta be fed to work, and sometimes that takes an hour of breaking the ice of the woodpile first.

And making the woodpile every year is another big part of the deal. While the fuel itself may be cheaper, the sweat equity has to be factored into the equation. The first woodpile is fun. The second tends to lose the fun factor, as does the 3rd to the 34th, especially when time spent making the woodpile is time that could be spent on the job making money.

So it's all a trade-off. Propane is not the only alternative- a radiant electric space heater only heats the objects inside an enclosed space, not the air, and they don't require a lot of electricity. Look over all the possible options, and make the decision after you've checked out as many as possible, because the wrong initial choice isn't usually cheaper to abandon later on.

[Cnynrat]

Originally Posted by Sagle Sam 2016

Thank you for the insight all. I am in agreement with you three, but the space also contains my workout area and I'd probably do some winter projects in there too so I may as well set it up to be heated and insulated. I was even considering putting a wood stove in there so I don't have the cost of propane heating.

Keep in mind that the heating requirements may be different between the area where the well tank is, and the general area. Our overall shop space is heated and insulated, but we don't necessarily run that heat 24x7 in the winter. OTOH, the heat in the shop bathroom where the well tank is is always on at a low level to keep it above freezing. It may make sense to keep these areas separate.

We also have a wood stove in the shop. You may want to talk to your homeowners insurance agent since some companies will not insure a property with a wood stove in an unoccupied building (e.g. State Farm).

Dave

[Sagle Sam 2016]

Thanks for the great information and input all. I have decided that considering we want all of the usable space within the pole barn to stay above freezing, that I will just frame it and put in fiberglass insulation. I may still enclose and heat some space within the main area even more but to keep the water tank, pets, and stuff that's in there above freezing I figure I might as well just insulate all of it. I still have to figure out what the main heat source will be but that doesn't seem to be as big of a deal to figure out and decide on.

Well, at least I know what I'm going to be spending a lot of time on in the next couple of months.

[thummmper]

four months later--with winter just a week old-- I read that it wasn't framed yet--there are these amazing things called Insulated concrete forms-- or ICF's. if you aren't a construction addict then straw bales are next at 10.00 each or so--stack them like bricks and restrain them with strap, wire or mesh to discourage chewing animals. then, theres earth. soil or thermal mass. within two rows of walls you can fill dirt after draping polyethelene sheet down both walls and it will stay 50f summer and winter-- Styrofoam on the roof controls heat loss and solar bombardment in the summer. todd