Suggest an efficient way to heat shed for winter?

[Jimbob]

Hello everyone. So I have a decent sized collection of mainly roaches with a few other randoms like isopods (20 something bins...). I just moved and we have a wooden shed at the new place where I'm keeping everything. ATM it is not insulated or heated, but summers in PA are warm and humid(80-90s during day) with a nice night drop right now and everything has been happy for a few weeks. Goal is to insulate and heat the shed before it starts to get cool in the fall. I'm also trying to be as safe and efficient as possible, saving as much on heating as I can. Our winters get to the negatives at the lowest, but usually not for too long. I was going to add some sort of wifi temperature monitor to alert my phone incase anything drops too low(it would suck to wipe out everything overnight!).

So onto my heating options. I've been thinking an electric oil heater would be the best option, maybe set at like 60-70 degrees and then have heat tape or ceramic heat emitters(idk which would be better) to add warm spots on the sides of the bins. I've been hesitant to use heat pads or tape with fire risks though. If not that, I was thinking maybe just run the oil heater at a higher temp and arrange my bins on shelves so the warmer loving critters can be up high with cooler being lower.

Main priorities are safety and saving money. Would appreciate any input!

 

[bulbophyllum]

what are the dimensions of your shed? There are those base board heaters. https://www.homedepot.com/p/KING-K-...5ZB3JaZmWaDiq-akvAhoCnTsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[StampFan]

I suspect you would have to insulate the shed pretty well. And if the shed has windows you'd likely lose most of the heat out of those as the windows in most sheds aren't set up to keep the cold out.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com...lectric-heater-120v?returnurl=/equip/heating/
I use this heater to heat my greenhouse of tropical fruit trees overwinter. My plants have been warm, even when outside temperatures were in the single digits. Since your shed should be much better insulated, I think this heater would be powerful enough.

 

[Jimbob]

what are the dimensions of your shed? There are those base board heaters. https://www.homedepot.com/p/KING-K-3-ft-120-Volt-750-Watt-Baseboard-Heater-in-White-3K1207BW/307675034?cm_mmc=Shopping|G|Base|All-Products|All|All|PLA|71700000014585962|58700001236285396|92700010802552403&gclid=CjwKCAjw-ITqBRB7EiwAZ1c5UyFC3XAFlU7g_0APKPMWROU_gpZm8GfrPs85ZB3JaZmWaDiq-akvAhoCnTsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Just eyeballing it, I'd say the shed is about 9-10 feet front to back, 8 feet wide, then 9-10 feet tall. No windows on it. Do you think this heater would beat an oil heater?(honestly, I'm a newb with insulation and heating, so open to any input)

I was going to use the foam insulation around the top where the roof connects. Then I was going to either use the pink rolls of insulation or rigid boards... or both... not quite sure what to do about the door yet. Might need to do something about the floor too as the wood is pretty flimsy.

 

[basin79]

Just eyeballing it, I'd say the shed is about 9-10 feet front to back, 8 feet wide, then 9-10 feet tall. No windows on it. Do you think this heater would beat an oil heater?(honestly, I'm a newb with insulation and heating, so open to any input)

I was going to use the foam insulation around the top where the roof connects. Then I was going to either use the pink rolls of insulation or rigid boards... or both... not quite sure what to do about the door yet. Might need to do something about the floor too as the wood is pretty flimsy.

Use foil backed insulation boards. The type used in cavity walls. Cheap, easy to cut to shape and are really efficient.

Boards come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses.

 

[G. pulchra]

I suspect you would have to insulate the shed pretty well. And if the shed has windows you'd likely lose most of the heat out of those as the windows in most sheds aren't set up to keep the cold out.

This....

Without pictures of the "shed" it's tough to offer an opinion. I will say, in midwinter your going to have a tough time keeping the temperature up without some serious insulation work.

 

[Jimbob]

Sure I can post a picture. A few friends I talked to seem to think it shouldn't be too difficult, but IDK?

 

[bulbophyllum]

Use the r-13 fiberglass batted for the 2x4 walls. You can get r-19 bats for the roof. 2" foam board is only r-10 and it cost about $35 for a 4x8 sheet. It's pretty expensive compared to fiberglass bats. The shed looks pretty tight. Does it have a regular exterior door on it? You will still loose a good bit of heat through the floor. Most sheds are not high enough to get under to insulate.

Hanging fiberglass is easy. Its kinda nasty to work with but, it wont take long. Do you plan to cover the insulation with any kind of wall board? Consider if you have the amperage to run a heater. If there is a bunch of other high drawing things on the circuit you may be throwing breakers all the time.

Any of the heating element type heaters are going to be pretty inefficient. I spend about $30 a month heating a, 8X10 greenhouse in georgia. I have one of those oil radiant heaters on a thermostat set to keep it from going below 55 degrees. My green house has an insulated roof and north wall. The other 3 sides are double paned glass.

 

[The Snark]

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com...lectric-heater-120v?returnurl=/equip/heating/

From word go regarding heaters: watch out for BS. The above is an excellent example. On the info sheet it is rated in watts and BTU/h. The rating is calculated and assumes 100% efficiency. (1 watt=3.412 BTU/h). Fan forced heaters, forced convection, are the most efficient. Radiant heat is the least efficient. (Air does not heat easily - it acts as it's own insulator).
Oil filled radiators are the least efficient but use the thermal battery principal. They keep emitting heat when the power is off. Thermal batteries aid in maintaining a median heat level, avoid high and low temperature spikes. The most small area efficient heating is a combination of forced convection and thermal batteries like an oil filled unit.
Best efficiency is forced conduction, heat pipes in a floor made of high density materials such as concrete and insulated from below. After the initial heating this method uses the least amount of energy to keep a median temperature.

9.5 x 9.5 x 8=784 cubic feet of air in shed to be heated. = 58.8 pounds of air. It takes .24 BTU to raise one pound of air by 1 degree F. =188 BTU = 55 watts assuming 100% efficiency and zero heat loss.

So your 784 cubic feet of air shed. Outside air temperature drops to 20F. Desired temperature of 60F. Uninsulated, the room will require 127,000 watts/h, dead air space, to keep it at 60F. (Without insulation you are trying to heat the great outdoors)

So your above fan forced heater at 1300 watts takes about 15-20 minutes to raise the temperature to 60F. This is where a thermal battery comes into play. The fan forced unit shuts off and an oil filled radiator kicks in. The radiator is horribly inefficient at raising temperature quickly, but it being a thermal battery it maintains the temperature with greater efficiency than the fan forced unit.

Obviously heat loss is a huge factor. Average recommended is R-13 insulation nominal in the walls, R-60 in the ceiling which will reduce heat loss by 90% +.
Do NOT forget the R factor of walls and ceilings. Lack of insulation translates into anti heating. Watts into waste.

 

[Jimbob]

Use the r-13 fiberglass batted for the 2x4 walls. You can get r-19 bats for the roof. 2" foam board is only r-10 and it cost about $35 for a 4x8 sheet. It's pretty expensive compared to fiberglass bats. The shed looks pretty tight. Does it have a regular exterior door on it? You will still loose a good bit of heat through the floor. Most sheds are not high enough to get under to insulate.

Hanging fiberglass is easy. Its kinda nasty to work with but, it wont take long. Do you plan to cover the insulation with any kind of wall board? Consider if you have the amperage to run a heater. If there is a bunch of other high drawing things on the circuit you may be throwing breakers all the time.

Any of the heating element type heaters are going to be pretty inefficient. I spend about $30 a month heating a, 8X10 greenhouse in georgia. I have one of those oil radiant heaters on a thermostat set to keep it from going below 55 degrees. My green house has an insulated roof and north wall. The other 3 sides are double paned glass.

I'm going to need to add a power outlet by the shed for heating. Yeah it has a regular shed door. I need to get a better picture(sorry all, I've been in the middle of moving and have a 1 month old and 1 year old lol so things are crazy atm). I think something will definitely need to be done about the floor. It bends with me just walking on it. However the sides seem pretty sturdy. There's a little opening that needs sealed where the roof connects. My goal for this winter is to do whatever possible to make it efficiently heated. I'll probably need temps in the 60ish-90range(from top to bottom), idk if I'll even bother with the heat tape. 30/month in Georgia, wow that scares me a little lol... most of the time our worst winter months(usually jan/feb/ early march) hang around 20-30s outside. I like to prepare for the worst though with our lowest reaching several degrees under 0 with wind chills around -15 or so.

 

[Jimbob]

Here's a pic I got off my phone real quick

 

[Jimbob]

From word go regarding heaters: watch out for BS. The above is an excellent example. On the info sheet it is rated in watts and BTU/h. The rating is calculated and assumes 100% efficiency. (1 watt=3.412 BTU/h). Fan forced heaters, forced convection, are the most efficient. Radiant heat is the least efficient. (Air does not heat easily - it acts as it's own insulator).
Oil filled radiators are the least efficient but use the thermal battery principal. They keep emitting heat when the power is off. Thermal batteries aid in maintaining a median heat level, avoid high and low temperature spikes. The most small area efficient heating is a combination of forced convection and thermal batteries like an oil filled unit.
Best efficiency is forced conduction, heat pipes in a floor made of high density materials such as concrete and insulated from below. After the initial heating this method uses the least amount of energy to keep a median temperature.

9.5 x 9.5 x 8=784 cubic feet of air in shed to be heated. = 58.8 pounds of air. It takes .24 BTU to raise one pound of air by 1 degree F. =188 BTU = 55 watts assuming 100% efficiency and zero heat loss.

So your 784 cubic feet of air shed. Outside air temperature drops to 20F. Desired temperature of 60F. Uninsulated, the room will require 127,000 watts/h, dead air space, to keep it at 60F. (Without insulation you are trying to heat the great outdoors)

So your above fan forced heater at 1300 watts takes about 15-20 minutes to raise the temperature to 60F. This is where a thermal battery comes into play. The fan forced unit shuts off and an oil filled radiator kicks in. The radiator is horribly inefficient at raising temperature quickly, but it being a thermal battery it maintains the temperature with greater efficiency than the fan forced unit.

Obviously heat loss is a huge factor. Average recommended is R-13 insulation nominal in the walls, R-60 in the ceiling which will reduce heat loss by 90% +.
Do NOT forget the R factor of walls and ceilings. Lack of insulation translates into anti heating. Watts into waste.

Wow, thank you for all of that good info! So you're saying to use an oil heater and fan heater, unless I want to basically rebuild the shed? Just making sure I'm following, still learning.

On a side note, if anyone can recommend something that would alert my phone of alarming temp drop/spikes, I'd appreciate it. If the power went out for whatever reason, it'd probably only take an hour to wipe out my entire collection.

 

[The Snark]

On a side note, if anyone can recommend something that would alert my phone of alarming temp drop/spikes, I'd appreciate it.

Like these?
http://www.nwclimate.org/reviews/remote-temperature-monitoring/

Wow, thank you for all of that good info! So you're saying to use an oil heater and fan heater, unless I want to basically rebuild the shed? Just making sure I'm following, still learning.

Fan forced heat for rapid heating, oil filled radiant type for energy efficiency and maintaining temperature with minimum fluctuations. The best oil filled type will have gradient regulation, not just turning on and off.
Remember, insulation is yours and your critters friend. Optimum: 3 1/2 inches in the walls, 6 to 12 inches in the ceiling.

 

[Jimbob]

Like these?
http://www.nwclimate.org/reviews/remote-temperature-monitoring/


Fan forced heat for rapid heating, oil filled radiant type for energy efficiency and maintaining temperature with minimum fluctuations. The best oil filled type will have gradient regulation, not just turning on and off.
Remember, insulation is yours and your critters friend. Optimum: 3 1/2 inches in the walls, 6 to 12 inches in the ceiling.

Thank you so much for the help. One other thing I was wondering about, there are vents at the top of the shed... should those be covered with something?

 

[The Snark]

One other thing I was wondering about, there are vents at the top of the shed... should those be covered with something?

With that small an area you don't need vents. Just opening the door once or twice a day would be enough. Vents waste heat and cause you to lose control of the humidity in the room. The humidity becomes whatever it is outside. In an enclosed space like that, unvented, if you wish to reduce humidity all you need is a precipitating surface. As example, a 1 square foot window down at floor level. Even desiccant could reduce humidity significantly. Sodium silicate or baking soda or even an open container of commercial unscented laundry detergent. When the desiccant becomes soggy or caked like a rock, just bake it for a few minutes at low heat and allow to air dry as it cools.