Building a Shed. Need some help

Hello fellow brewers. I am starting to plan a shed that I will be building to store all of my equipment and plan to brew in the shed also.

My first concern is moisture. If anyone out there has experience brewing in a shed I would like to know what you did for steam that comes off of the kettle and HLT.

I wont be running electric out to the shed because of the distance from the house so I cant install permanent fans.

I could however run an extension cord out there.

Any links or knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

 

My guess is if you have enough air flow to brew with propane it should vent the steam as well.

 

I'd move the shed closer to the house. I couldn't imagine brewing without water & electric.

 

Well I run a greenhouse which has a lot of moisture inside, a lot of humidity and a lot of heat. Why not run a direct burial 12-2 cable..edge out a tiny ditch and push it in. Honestly if I were doing a shed like that you would want adequate ventilation. I would install an exhaust fan that would be capable of moving enough air to exchange it once every couple minutes. You would just have it on during brewing, I know you said a permanent fan isn't an option, but I mean are you miles away? Running a line isn't hard. Not to mention, don't you want lights?

 

+1

I brew outside on my deck, probably 20ft from my sink. It's a pain in the as to get sticky wort all over something and have to run into the house to clean it, or grab a few quarts of water. If your planning a brewery build do yourself a favour and put some water/electricity out there.

 

Good point on the cable. It isn't too far from the house. I would like to have lights in there too. If I run the cable I might be able to do some other stuff like taking my freezer out there.

This is good info. Thanks

 

If it is just a shed why not construct a hatch directly above the kettle that you can open while brewing?

 

In my experience with cooking, especially a lot of sauces (I do 5-10 gallon batches of hot sauce inside (which puts off a hell of a lot more acrid fumes than beer), an opening isn't enough to make air move through it, you have to pull. It wouldn't be a big deal in a house, because you already have a ventilation system, it just smells up your house nicely, in a more contained smaller area, I think it would raise heat concerns, and a lot of steam...you'd be pretty soaked at the end of a brew day in the spring, summer, fall.

 

My 1st suggestion....keep the wife, girlfriend, or significant other away from the shed at all times....or else they will think it's a great place to store all the stuff they don't want in the house. Learn from my mistakes young one.

As for steam etc well placed exaust fan will help.

I agree you will definlty want to run electricty and some type of plumbing out to your shed.
You will need light's etc....
Just make sure your electric service to the shed is big enough, plan on expansion, it will be cheaper in the long run to go a little bigger now instead of having to upgrade your electrical panel in the future.
Also concider water, buying juged water can get expeeeeensive and it's a pain when it's time to clean up.
I have a system set up where I can run water out to my shed via a hose made for potable water.
Your in Colorado so insulate the puppy unless you plan on only brewing in the spring and fall.
Also toss in a CO detector just to be on the safe side for when your brewing in the winter months and keep the door closed.

Concider some kind of flooring/mats under your brewing area that are easy to clean and can catch spills. You don't want water standing on wood floors.

 

I see you live in Denver. While you're digging a trench for your electric, consider digging one to bury a water line below the frost level. You just may get the urge to brew during a blizzard! LOL!

 

I really dont have a concern for water supply. I am close enough to a shed and don't typically brew below freezing temps. If I were to brew in that cold I would deal with it on that specific day.

I do like the idea of running electric. I dont really have experience in electrical work other than basic home improvement stuff so I will have to do some research on that.

 

Well if you are just going to run a fan and some lights, you could do it with one 12-2 direct burial cable. Very very small ditch for a wire, shove it in the ground, run it back to your panel on a separate breaker. Wire it into a GFIC outlet inside the shed, and jump from the GFIC to a switch then to the fan. To be honest, it is a relatively simple and cheap endeavor.

It is made more expensive if you want more electronic equipment, such as electric burners or heating elements, then you would want to run a bigger line and put a sub-panel in.

 

With the 12-2 cable do I need to make sure my electrical in my house would support the added power? My house was built in the late 50's.

 

If you are asking this, you need to get a licensed electrician to wire it up for you.

 

Agreed

 

I would just get your dad, a buddy or a neighbor who knows how to do some electrical work to give you the scoop before you go the electrician route (look at the load center and give you the "what's what" so you can talk shop with the electrician). It is always good to kinda sorta understand something before you go forth willy nilly.

Sounds like you have a lot to figure and plan, in particular how much power you want out there. Will you ever go electric? (if so you should plan on at least a 50 amp subpanel to the shed).

Take your time to plot and plan so you are only building it once.

Good luck!

 

Do a search on some solar attic fans, they are usually not cheap and you will have to swap out the thermostat for an on/off switch but it should suit your needs.

Make sure you find one with a battery backup as well or look for a solar light controller to add into the loop.

 

If you know an electrician, just bury the wire and run it to the panel yourself, and get him to just hook it up. Don't pay for the ditch digging everyone can use a shovel. Of course there are licensing and zoning considerations that vary state to state as well.

If you are in a house built in the 50's it is possible you just have 100 amp service. It isn't really whether or not your board can "handle" the load. It distributes the power amongst the breakers, if you have spots open (I would want a dedicated circuit), the breaker would kick before anything happened to the board. Worst case scenario would be that you are filled up in your panel and would need to replace it with a higher service panel, would need a new line into the house (possibly) and would have to get an inspection (likely).

You can always just run a heavy duty extension cord out there when you brew, but I still would run it off a dedicated circuit inside the house. I don't know how big your workshop is but likely that a 1250-2500 cfm fan would do depending on the size of your "shop". You can get a shutter fan for around 125-150 that would do the job. Greenhouse Megastore has some good ones. Or you can get the hobby kit that comes with motorized intake shutters and a thermostat for around 310-400 (once again depending on the volume of air that is needed to be moved)

 

I don't mind doing all of the work and then having someone come wire that knows what they are doing. I have thought about running a heavy duty extension cord also. Thanks for the feedback

 

Moisture's going to rise to the highest point in your shed. Assuming you have a pitched roof and not a flat one, that's going to be the ridge line on your roof. Your best bet to get the hot air and moisture out at that point is to use a ridge vent. You can get the material at home depot like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...53&langId=-1&keyword=ridge+vent&storeId=10051
I used it on the shed and it definitely keeps the moisture down(I live in the pacific NW, the land of constant water). You can also install some solar powered lights to provide backup lighting whenever you go out there. They're probably not bright enough to see everything by, but they're helpful if you want to just run out and move something or pick up a tool or whatnot.

You can also put in some soffit vents or some vent pipes on the roof to have a way for the moisture to escape. Either one is pretty easy to install and have working.

 

Do a search on making maple syrup. The buildings have a vent area that opens up to allow moisture out. Let rope pulley down when finished. If it works to condense 32 parts of sap to make 1 part of maple syrup it will work to boil down a little wort! Good luck. Sounds great so far.

 

Rural folks have only had electricity for the last 60 years or so; why not take a lesson from their books. Since the heat and humidity will raise to the highest level, why not put it above the roof-line.

Maple Sugar House

Barn Cupula

 

Go take a look at your panel. If there is an open slot, its a pretty easy exercise to add a new circuit breaker. Keep in mind a blank in the panel cover doesn't mean a spare opening inside so turn off the main, open the panel, and double check theres space on the bar. It should be obvious by just looking.

If you dont have a spare or none of the above makes sense, call your local sparky.

Also don' t double tap a single breaker - thats no good el stinko.

 

I agree with most posters, do it right and bury a line. 50A (or bigger if possible) service from the house. You WILL be using this for more than just brewing! You won't regret it.

Please find someone who knows about electricity though, seriously. You can get hurt very badly. Like one of the posters stated, you can do most of the grunt work to save some $$, but let a knowledge worker do the dangerous stuff.

Something also to consider, if distances due to ordinances and such are an issue, solar power (more than just the fans).

Todd.

 

Hey dude what distance are we talking about and what load? I think a 4mm 4 core should do but give me some details first still reading the thread

 

I'm in a similar situation. Just put in a 12' x 16' shed. Installing the 60A subpanel now. Already regretting not putting in 'attic' ventilation up front. The brew bench will be set up below a window that I can open during brewing, at which point I'll take notice of the condensation - maybe even set up a portable dehumidifier in the 'storage loft'.

That said, at the end of the day I'll likely install a ridge vent come fall.....

 

look into local zoning/permit ordinances before building...my brew shed was delayed almost a year due to a stop work order because the town couldn't decide if my shed was attached or detached, and if it needed to be 10ft from the house or not.

 

The load I dont know. But the distance is about 15-20 feet from the house. I have already been talking with my dad about running a line to the shed. He said I probably need to check with an electrician because the area that we would run the line out of might be overloaded if we add more to it.

I have purposely stayed away from doing electric work because of dangers of being dumb about it. I will have someone look at before I hook anything up.

The shed is going to happen for sure and I really want to run electric so it will happen. All of this advice is very helpful.

BTW I will probably be doing a shed that can hold my brew system, the rest of my gear, and my freezer I use for temp control.

 

I brew in a shed (and have an electric brewery so I've got a 30 amp 10/4 wire running out to it). A simple solution for the water supply is to buy RV hose (its a white, lead free hose for potable water) from Sprawlmart, I think they're made by Camco. Sprawlmart also carries a Camco inline active charcoal RV water filter that screws onto the hose. I built a ball valve shutoff for the hose, so on brew day I just run the hose out to the shed and have water on demand. I filter the strike and sparge water with the inline filter. At the end of the day, roll up the hose and store it in the shed. Just be sure to get all the water out of the hose in the winter so it won't crack if it freezes.

 

When you open up the trench, you might as well toss a couple 2" electrical pvc runs in there. Its cheap and if you do upgrade in the future to a more substantial electrical service - your back will thank you.

 

Excellent advice because I will be running a hose.

 

yeah I have been thinking about getting one of those hoses to fill my 25g hlt from my . I will have to check that out!

 

I do the same thing except for the filter.
Works great, and sure beats carrying water bottles.

 

Yeah here in VA, I actually run water lines and spigots everywhere...but our frost line is only 18 inches..in Colorado, it may take you more time with a shovel

 

I was doing some work yesterday, running some electric and repairing an AC Unit...it occurred to me that the fan on AC Unit compressors, is a perfect exhaust fan, very powerful. (If you are looking to do it cheap, maybe you could find an old AC Unit with a working fan).

 

Interesting... I have an old ac unit sitting in my closet. I was actually thinking of using that in the shed to cool the place down in the summer but maybe I could pick one up for cheap on craigslist.

 

I have two through the wall exhaust fans (110volt) that could safely run off an extension cord. 10 bucks each pluss shipping. You are gonna run the cord... you need lights out there for when you are "hiding" from SWMBO.