Advice on an outbuilding??

[waskelton4]

Hey group.. not sure where this needs to be posted so i'm dropping it in here...

as my brewing equipment is speeding its way towards me via a big brown truck Ive been realizing that i really don't have a ton of space in the house to dedicate to this new hobby.

We also happen to have a "store room"/laundry room/tool room that is almost not useable because of the amount of junk in it.

I'd like to build an outbuilding to be a workshop/brewhouse/hobby room and was looking for some advice.

I live in central Mississippi and it isn't entirely uncommon for the temp to get into the upper upper 90s during the summer and ocassionally into the 100s. I'd be sure to have at least half of this building insulated and airconditioned for anything needing a climate controled enviornment. the other half to have tools and yard equipment and such.

Have any of you who live in the south built or maintainted such a building and what does it take? will my energy bill skyrocket from running a window unit heat/ac unit 24/7? will it even run 24/7 if I take proper precautions and insulate well enough?
would it be cheaper to not worry so much about keeping such a building at 70deg all the time and just buy a frezzer chest for fermenting?

what are everyones thoughts on this??

many thanks!
Will

 

[david_42]

Insulation, lots of it. There's a thread on the boards about a chill room in a garden shed, but the basics are 2x4 walls with R-13 batts and 2 inches of foam on the inside. Use 2x8s in the ceiling and floor and high R batts. Aim for R20+ walls & floor and R40 in the roof.

If you convert the existing shed, use 4 inches of rigid, hydrophobic board on the walls and floor, 6-8 in the ceiling and cover with "tile" board for easy cleaning. Be extra careful about air leaks, you don't want to waste energy pulling water out of it.