Heating a really drafty barn

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DaveInPA

New Member
Sep 4, 2020
3
Bucks county PA
Hi - i have an old hay barn that I’m going to covert the second floor into a home office. I can live with less than ideal heating on really cold days and I’d be fine with a design temp of 20 degrees and max heat of 65 - so 45 degree split. Here is the thing....it’s 30’ x 22’ and 18’ tall to the peak. I’d like to use the minimum insulation and the windows are all (100 sq feet) single pane true divided lights. If it helps I can do maximum insulation on the floor. I did a few heat loss calculators and I’m getting and 50,000 BTU.

I’m still learning about wood stoves so wondering if I’m naive to think I can be a 75k BTU unit, place it near where I’ll locate in the space most often, get some fans to blow hot air from ceiling back down, and wear a sweater on really cold days.

Or is this too large of a space to heat without really making sure I maximize the insulation r factors?
 
I don’t expect that any stove capable of making 75k btu at its peak will be able to make even 50k btu for very long.
 
Is it still used to store hay? If so, woodstoves and hay are a bad combination.

I know some people here do not like them, but a double barrel stove will crank out a lot of heat, fast. Make sure you use thick walled barrels, not cheap thin ones (there are many different gauges available). Also, they will not pass a permit inspection.
 
Its too large and too odd of space to heat when its really cold. You could try radiant heat in the floor. it works remarkably well in garages.
 
Is it still used to store hay? If so, woodstoves and hay are a bad combination.

I know some people here do not like them, but a double barrel stove will crank out a lot of heat, fast. Make sure you use thick walled barrels, not cheap thin ones (there are many different gauges available). Also, they will not pass a permit inspection.
It is a barn converted to a house as the op clearly said
 
Seal up the leaks. There is no point in heating outdoors.