I'd like to use my wood shop in the winter. It's a detached, 20×14 shed and I installed a 5000watt garage heater already but it takes a while (hours) to heat up and it's probably very wasteful since there is no insulation. I'm looking for the best place to start to help heat it up quicker and keep it warm longer. The walls are 2×4 studs so I could use bats and the ceiling is gabled with storage above. I did noticed that it appears the eves are open vented too so heat is probably just rising right up and out the eaves, is it okay to block these?
I'm in New England so it gets pretty cold, it's about 19F right now. Ideally I'd like to work comfortably when it's 30F>
I'm worried if I add bat insulation I'll have to cover it which adds to the expense not to mention at like $40/section it would cost a lot to do the walls let alone the ceiling.
Update with picture.
Could I vault the ceiling so it stays vented but still gives me space up there? Basically insulated with rigid foam and plywood up the rafters?
Best Answer
edited after picture added to question
It's tough to get a big shed like that warm when everything's cold. You can heat up the air quickly, but the slab, the walls, the contents all soak up that heat so it takes a while to warm up. That happens even with insulation, although it probably won't be as cold first thing in the morning if it's insulated.
I'd probably go across the collar ties so you have a little less space to heat and a good area above for ventilation. You'll want to cut in a small gable vent at either end. I'd say I'd use foam board on the ceiling, it will be easier to deal with than bats. To use bats you'd have to add collar ties. The foam board will leave some space so air can flow up from the eves over the insulation to the space above the rafter ties and out the gable vents.
It will be a lot cheaper to use bats on the walls. Left uncovered they'll be prone to tears. You could cover with pegboard halfway down and hardboard from the pegboard down to the floor.
Not really a cheap project unfortunately, it adds up to a few bucks any way you slice it. You could buy one of those battery powered jackets ...