Heating a pole barn for the winter

cool beans...i didn't know what they were or how they operated. pretty clever. when i was young, my grandparents, in rural upstate n.y. had a 3 holer out back. i remember helping move the outhouse one summer. not a fun chore. they should have used this meathod.
thanks for the enviornmental lesson. i could keep one on hand for when the power goes out and not worry about not having a well and having to keep a generator on hand......which brings up another question. will you have power? generator or power company lines. I know it can cost a fortune to run them if you have to pay for the line to be strung.

cass

mcdanie1 said:

No septic yet. Waiting to determine where the house will go. We are using a sawdust toilet. No moving the camper every couple days. Once the barn is in we will have a gutter system and use water from a rain catchment system.

I hadn't thought about insulating the floor of the pb. That would prolly be a great idea, wouldn't it? Prolly use some styrofoam panels, wouldn't you think?

Thanks,

M ac

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Is the pole barn built yet, and yes doing something with the floor would be a very good idea.

I read up on this years ago and do not think the basic facts have changed, you can insulate the perimeter of the slab to below the frost line and have it work well, in fact they claim the can be the best way to do it. Maybe some others have some thoughts but you can google it and I might also to see if that is still the best way to do it. 2 inches of the good foam insulation should do it.

I built a 4 season room for my wife thats on a slab. Its poured over 2" of foam. The slab has pex in it for future heating of the floor.

wkpoor said:

I built a 4 season room for my wife thats on a slab. Its poured over 2" of foam. The slab has pex in it for future heating of the floor.

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Yep if you know (or think) you will ever have heat in the floor you insulate under the floor but if you know you will just heat the air space you can insulate the outside of the slab.

mcdanie1, welcome to the forum. Here's my two cents: I bought an Osburn 2400 insert from dynamite buys around this time last year. It is a great unit, and www.dynamitebuys.com have great service, with what I found to be the lowest price for inserts. That being said, if I were you I'd be looking at an Englander NC30. Similar sized firebox at a much lower price. That Buck stove oldspark mentioned looks like a monster. I'm nor sure what that sells for but it's worth looking into. However I do respect your intent to support the local guy. There is a lot of value in that. I had a smaller Napoleon insert before my Osburn. I really like the product. It was just too small for my home.

And lastly, I definitely recommend insulating that floor.

Congrats on the purchase of the new land and good luck figuring out what to do with a house. Sounds really exciting.

I built a 40' x 60' x 12' steel pole barn w/concrete floor to live in a camper before the house was built
and have learned a few things:

1. It's easier to heat a small space than a large one.
* Insulation inside and/or outside the camper with inside heat (electric, "safe" LP heater) works well.

2. The raw concrete floor will slurp up heat even if the walls and roof of the PB are insulated.
* Hence, refer to 1. above.

3. Insulating a large building to spend 5% of your time in after your house is complete is a waste of money.
* Hence, refer to 1. above.

Aye,
Marty

Marty all good points but I have a berm house with a concrete floor with insulation around the outside, and it will suck up the heat but once you get it warm it serves as a heat sink and moderates the temps in the house. An uninsulated concrete floor just sucks heat.

1. But the PB: what about time spent in v cost of insulation?
2. Yes, insulation under a concrete floor is better than none.
* House > PB (see 1. above)

Aye,
Marty

Just so you know, it is against the building codes and specifically the fire code to install a solid fuel burning device in a garage which a pole barn is if you have a drive in door.

Here is how I insulated mine. I don't think I would want insulation under the main slab. Too soft.

The biggest mistake I made was not running floor heat lines in before pouring the concrete. It's not that expensive to do. Then you can get a wood or wood/coal boiler and heat the floor. There is no better heat than the heat emanating from the floor.
Even if you never hook it up, it's there.

Currently I do not heat the pb. It's not insulated and there is no heater in it.

Highbeam said:

Just so you know, it is against the building codes and specifically the fire code to install a solid fuel burning device in a garage which a pole barn is if you have a drive in door.

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Does everyone have that code, I know it does not seem to be a problem here in Iowa for the most part. Actually the terms "attached, garage, shop, all come into play on that code so I do believe he will be OK.

woodmiser said:

Here is how I insulated mine. I don't think I would want insulation under the main slab. Too soft.

The biggest mistake I made was not running floor heat lines in before pouring the concrete. It's not that expensive to do. Then you can get a wood or wood/coal boiler and heat the floor. There is no better heat than the heat emanating from the floor.
Even if you never hook it up, it's there.

Currently I do not heat the pb. It's not insulated and there is no heater in it.

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Too late for me to do it that way but I like it. I wish I would have know about that when they poured the floor, I bet it will keep the slab much warmer on the edges.

Highbeam said:

Just so you know, it is against the building codes and specifically the fire code to install a solid fuel burning device in a garage which a pole barn is if you have a drive in door.

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I guess nobody told anybody that in Ohio because I personally know at least a dozen people who heat with wood in the garage, pole barn, machine shop, auto repair shop or you name it. Everybody does it here and never heard it was against any code. But we have few codes of any kind here and where I live there are no building codes.

woodmiser said:

Here is how I insulated mine. I don't think I would want insulation under the main slab. Too soft.

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Back in my dump truck driving days here in Michigan, our shop had a heated slab over foam board. Drove 150,000+ lb trucks over it all the time.

wkpoor said:

Highbeam said:

Just so you know, it is against the building codes and specifically the fire code to install a solid fuel burning device in a garage which a pole barn is if you have a drive in door.

Click to expand...

I guess nobody told anybody that in Ohio because I personally know at least a dozen people who heat with wood in the garage, pole barn, machine shop, auto repair shop or you name it. Everybody does it here and never heard it was against any code. But we have few codes of any kind here and where I live there are no building codes.

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Ignorance is no excuse. It is one thing to know the law and choose to ignore it, quite another to be ignorant and unsafe.

In the end I am with you, I will be putting a stove in my new pole barn. That is after I have become informed and grown comfortable with the risks and benefits.

Highbeam said:

wkpoor said:

Highbeam said:

Just so you know, it is against the building codes and specifically the fire code to install a solid fuel burning device in a garage which a pole barn is if you have a drive in door.

Click to expand...

I guess nobody told anybody that in Ohio because I personally know at least a dozen people who heat with wood in the garage, pole barn, machine shop, auto repair shop or you name it. Everybody does it here and never heard it was against any code. But we have few codes of any kind here and where I live there are no building codes.

Click to expand...

Ignorance is no excuse. It is one thing to know the law and choose to ignore it, quite another to be ignorant and unsafe.

In the end I am with you, I will be putting a stove in my new pole barn. That is after I have become informed and grown comfortable with the risks and benefits.

Click to expand...

Usually people don't think about or question something that is very common place and that everybody does. Not saying there couldn't be some dangerous situations out there but its like saying since its illegal to drink and drive how can anyone be allowed to drive to a bar while many or most do. The factor is in how much you had to drink while there or don't store you gas cans next to the stove in the shop.

Highbeam said:

wkpoor said:

Highbeam said:

Just so you know, it is against the building codes and specifically the fire code to install a solid fuel burning device in a garage which a pole barn is if you have a drive in door.

Click to expand...

I guess nobody told anybody that in Ohio because I personally know at least a dozen people who heat with wood in the garage, pole barn, machine shop, auto repair shop or you name it. Everybody does it here and never heard it was against any code. But we have few codes of any kind here and where I live there are no building codes.

Click to expand...

Ignorance is no excuse. It is one thing to know the law and choose to ignore it, quite another to be ignorant and unsafe.

In the end I am with you, I will be putting a stove in my new pole barn. That is after I have become informed and grown comfortable with the risks and benefits.

Click to expand...

Look it up, it is not a blanket statement that you can not put a wood burner in a pole barn, there is more to than that.

oldspark said:

Look it up, it is not a blanket statement that you can not put a wood burner in a pole barn, there is more to than that.

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Gentlemen,

I'm going to respectfully attempt to weigh in on this one.

I'm a first time poster, but I've been lurking for a while now. I too would like to install a wood burner into my pole barn, so I've been searching for info for a few months. I live in eastern Washington, Spokane County to be exact.

Please find attached BP-38 "Wood Stove Installations" from the department of building and planning in Spokane County. I have highlighted the area that says that if a wood burning device is to be installed in a garage, it needs to be 18" off the floor. My guess is that each individual locality has their own rules, and the rules change constantly. Check with your building department.

Have a good day!