New shop ?'s?

Question

I just put up a new farm shop & was wondering what type of heating system is best. I'd rather not get in floor heat but what do you think? I also wonder do I need foundation under floor or can I get by with a floating floor(gonna be 6" of cement) It is a 60'w x 80'L x 20h' wood frame building. Its in mn so the winters get bloody cold. TIA

Answer 1

If you are only using it during the day consider heating with solar. Put up a double wall poly hoop house. Solar will warm the hoop house and you can cycle it threw your shop and back to the house. Install a greenhouse heater blower that can heat the hoop house, or just the shop, or both. Given that you can use the hoop house to start any veggies that you might want to farm or have year round produce for your home, or both.

Another idea, if you have a good supply of manure and grasses/ plant waste is to build a bio gas digester/ burner to use with a heating system.

The two ideas above can be combined. I have some files about these projects I can send if you need.

Answer 2

That's a good sized shop. What kind of equipment are you going to put in it? 6" of cement many not be enough if you're going to be pulling tractors, combines, etc in and out for storage. I know you would rather not go with in floor heat, but, up there it may be the most efficient. You could suppliment it with a waste oil heater if you will have enough equipment to have a good supply of used motor/hydraulic oil. I agree with the gent about lighting. I grew up in WC Illinois, so I know a little about cold winters. Insulate it good and think hard about at least putting a footer around it. Freezing and thawing will play havoc with a floater. Good luck.

Answer 3

If you want to go green, Mike's idea looks good. If you want to stay warm all winter I would get a big wood burning heater for the shop. Or a heater that burns corn for fuel, whatever type of fuel that you can supply from your own farm. About the floor, if you are going to be driving large tractors into the shop to work on or store, I think you might consider the foundation. You could go a lot cheaper by just floating the floor and not worry about getting some cracks in it.

Answer 4

Whether you have a poured footer or post construction, you might just consider the floating floor.  Use plenty of rerod and wire.  You might think of what you're going to have and where.  If you're going to have lightweight equipment at the rear or side, you could keep the floor a bit thinner there or even leave it gravel.  You don't need concrete under a planter setting in the back of the shed all summer and fall.  Where you'll be pulling combines or tractors in for service, you might think about having that area maybe 8" thick to support the weight.  

As far as heat goes, it depends upon how much time you're going to spend out there.  I sure wouldn't be trying to heat the entire shop unless you plan on being all over the entire building in the winter, unlikely if it's a machine shed.  I'd definately look at an enclosed shop area with maybe a ventless LPG heater.  In very rare cases there could be some super cold days when the LPG wouldn't vaporize, so I'd consider placing the tank on the south side of the building.  If you have an area where you plan on doing most of the repair work, consider having plastic tarps you can pull out like a stage curtain to enclose a smaller area.  Much easier to heat that way.  For that area I'd look at the used oil heaters.  Also think about the smaller, portable radiant heaters that you can set up in your work area.

In your work areas, install LOTS of lights.  For candlepower requirements, I double what the ag engineers suggest.  Not double the bulb size but double the bulbs.  Nothing worse than working in your own shadow.  Better think about incandecent bulbs because flourescent are hard or impossible to start in extremely cold weather without special ballasts. Even then, it takes a while for them to get up to full output.

Answer 5

personally i would go with in floor heat. a neighbor has it in his shop and it is very efficient. it also is nice to unthaw equipment thats been sittin out in the cold. another possibilitie is a corn furnace. another neighbor heats their shop with one of them. he fills up old bulk seed containers and made a hopper for the corn to gravity flow from the bulk seed container into the furnace. thats what we might go to as soon as our fuel oil furnace quits