MINI barn

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killian

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I just bought a house in june and I'm just starting to put some work into my brew shed,12-20' mini barn. Now that winters on its way, I need to start thinking about putting in some insulation. Well I would like to use R-30 on the whole thing but that seems like it would get real expensive real quick.

Anyone got any tips for keeping costs down on a project like this?
 
You would only need R-30 on the ceiling (that's where most of the heat escapes) and R-11 to R-15 on the walls; depending on your wall stud thickness.

I had a 32' x 56' barn at my last house (god do I miss that now) and had R-11 in the walls and blown in cellulose in the ceiling to about 12 in. thick (probably around R-40) and was plenty toasty with just a small propane heater in the winter, but then again I also put in radiant heat in the floor so it could never get below 50 F.
 
The only way to get an R-30 all the way around would be to increase the stud thickness on the walls to a 2x10 and that is just overkill. You would be doing fine using standard 2x4 framing in an application like a brewbarn. One of the best things you can do it make sure it's sealed really well so no air leaks are present in windows, doors and walls. Or you can use 2x6 framing with the studs placed 24" on center as opposed to the 16"OC that standard 2x4 construction requires. This way the deeper wall cavity of an 2x6 can up your R value to about an 19.
 
I had soy based spray insulation put in our house and I like it. It's R value is ~5.5/inch. The only problem might be finding someone to do a space that small?
 
So the previous own built the barn and I believe the studs are 2x6"
so from what you are saying it looks like I could go with r-15 at most is that right?
 
A standard 2x6 wall stud can be filled with fiberglass roll type insulation and achieve a r-19 value.
Are you going to keep this heated all the time or just on a temporary basis? If you are trying to maintain temp constantly, then I would opt for the best r-value. If your only going to heat it occasionally, then the r-11 would be fine.

Bull
 
It looks like I have a 20 Amp box in the brew barn, is it possible to wire a 240v out let with this size box?
What is the mains breaker for that circuit in your CB panel? Do you know the routing and wire size from the main panel to the barn? Is it overhead, buried, in conduit or something else? Lots of info needed to make ANY recommendations.
 
Find some insulation that is proper thickness/R value for your studs (2x6 you say?). However you are planning on heating/cooling it eventually, you know you will need insulation. Once that is done, since you only have a single 20amp circuit into the structure, I would instead opt for a portable ceramic element propane heater to be used on brew days.

I'm at a loss to recommend something for the boil burner however. I don't know if others here have found any ventilation systems that can make a propane burner function safely inside?
 
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