Pole Barn Heating Options

[Big CC]

Hi all. I am in the process of having a pole barn built on my recreational property to give me a place to spend the night when I am there for long weekends. Previously I stayed in a travel trailer that I heated using a Big Buddy heater and a 20lb propane tank. I kept the tank outside and ran a hose through one of the windows to connect to the heater and then also kept another window cracked for ventilation.

I am really unsure of the best way to heat the pole barn (it is 30x30 but I plan to block off probably half as a living space so the heated portion will only be about 500 sq. ft.). Originally I was thinking about a wood stove since I have pretty much an unlimited supply of trees but I think that the small space may not warrant a large heat source like a wood stove. So I have been thinking more about a direct vent or a vent free propane heater. From the limited knowledge that I have and little research that I have done it sounds like the vent free are the simplest and most efficient but I really worry about the safety. I will not have windows on the barn so it will not be well ventilated.

I am open to any and all opinions and ideas and look forward to hearing some thoughts. Thanks in advance.

 

[DAKSY]

Without any windows, I wouldn't recommend a room-vented (NOT vent-free) heater.
I just don't trust them. A DV stove will probably work if you can insulate the crap out
of that 500 sf so that the heat stays in there.
That will also allow you to get by with a smaller BTU unit & as a result, burn less fuel.

 

[Highbeam]

How tall are the ceilings? Is the slab insulated? Walls? Ceiling? My pole barn is the same sf as my house at 1800 but with 14 foot ceilings has almost double the volume. Also, you won't be keeping it heated full time so when you arrive you want more horsepower.

The most common gas heater for a pole barn is a hanging unit heater. Cheap and powerful. Up off the floor and vented.

I use a woodstove and with super insu, okay very good insulation, it works pretty well. It's fun too.

 

[Big CC]

The ceilings are 10 ft. The slab is not insulated. The pole barn is actually still being finished up and the builder is basically just putting up the barn and not doing any work on the inside - I will be doing that myself. I will be insulating the walls and ceilings and I have been thinking about using foam boards but I am still researching and am not sure what I will do so if you have recommendations for that please provide them. I am new to all of this.

Since I will not be there very often I am not planning on buying/renting a large propane tank that requires a service to come and refill. I may go that route if I have to, but as of now I would like to avoid it if at all possible.

Like I mentioned originally, I would not mind going the wood stove route. That is what I planned on originally but I have been re-thinking since the space is kind of small so I am not sure that it is really worth it.

Thanks for the responses so far, I appreciate it. Please keep them coming.

 

[jebatty]

Plan well and do the heat as best you can the first time. Re-do's are expensive and somethings are very difficult to do at all if they are not done during construction.

When I had a contractor build my 32x48x14 pole building with slab, I planned the heating before construction started: 2" perimeter foam 4' down; 2" foam under the entire floor area; 6" fiberglass with vapor barrier on the inside; 18" fiberglass wool blown above the ceiling. Then before the floor was poured, six loops of 1/2" pex for radiant in-floor heat, together with conduit for insertion of a sensor into the concrete to control the floor heat. Next a Tarm wood gasification boiler inside at one end, together with a heavily insulated 1000 gal old LP tank for hot water storage. I also plumbed in two stubs for a hot water unit heater.

As it has turned out, I never installed the unit heater. I keep the radiant floor at a constant 61F during the heating season. Wood consumption is about 4 cords of aspen (equivalent in heat content to about 2-1/2 cords of oak). And I only need to burn at most about six hours every other day, even during the coldest Minnesota winters have to offer with temps in the -30 to -40'sF range. A 5000 watt electric space heater is the backup if we take a trip and are gone longer than 1-2 weeks in the winter. Otherwise, the heated floor mass and hot water storage keep the building well above freezing.