Insulating a Shed?

[Bob5150]

I recently moved from a house with a basement and a garage to house with neither. I have a shed in the back yard that I keep my automotive/yard stuff in.

I have to bring my stuff inside in the winter to prevent things like paint, car wash soap and compounds/polishes from freezing.

Does anyone know if adding insulation to an unheated shed would make enough of a difference to keep these types of things outside.

I would cut the insulation to fit between the studs and then cover it with sheets of wood.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[BigCahuna]

Unless it's going to be heated, what's the point?.,,

 

[yonyon]

If there's no source of heat inside the shed it will get cold in there even if you pack the whole shed with nothing but insulation.

 

[Boomer]

All insulation does is slow down the transfer of heat from the warm side to the cold. If there, is no heat in the shed, the temperature will just equilibrate with the outside temperature; it may just slow down how long it takes from minutes to a few hours.

 

[Texan4Life]

In mild climates like down here yes insulation can stop overnight freezing... but up north I suspect it stays to cold to long.

A little insulation and a heat lamp goes long way.

 

[Warstud]

Insulation just helps the air from escaping...whether it's hot or cold. Your refrigerator has insulation.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

You could run an extension cord over to it to power a milkhouse heater on low or a 100w light bulb if you can find one. If you own it invest in your above ideas as well.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
If there's no source of heat inside the shed it will get cold in there even if you pack the whole shed with nothing but insulation.
This.

 

[Bob5150]

I appreciate all the (very quick) replies!

I guess I'll have to figure something else out. Is there any way of safely and reliably heating a stand-alone shed?

I am a new first time homeowner, and there is almost an overload of often conflicting information on the Internet. This site if full of do-it-yourselfers so that's why I've been reading and finally joined up. I hope to be able to contribute as I learn.

 

[fdcg27]

What you're proposing will help under most winter conditions.
In an unusually cold period, where you have a number of nights that are very cold and not much warming during the day, you'll still reach below freezing temperatures in the shed.
The first below zero night probably won't bring temperatures below freezing in the shed, but the next one preceeded by a day that doesn't warm up much probably will.

 

[GreeCguy]

Does your new house have an exterior electrical outlet? If so, what you can do is run an extension cord from the outlet to the shed. Bury the cord in conduit underground so that when the weather turns cold, all you have to do is plug the extension cord into the outlet and you have a ready supply of power without doing a lot of electrical work. The conduit means the cord will be protected in case you are digging a hole in that area, (you won't cut it with a shovel), and putting it under ground keeps it out of sight and away from the lawn mower during summer. Make sure both ends of conduit face down, (upside down "U" so rain/snow won't get trapped in the pipe, (you could even seal the ends with silicone).

 

[hisilver]

Insulation would make it a furnace in summer too.

 

[Rolla07]

Run a 100 watt lightbulb in there and see how cold it is on one of your coldest days. I guess it depends how cold it gets there too..most likely you would need a heatsource.

 

[eljefino]

How far is that shed from power? The newest code says you can run ONE 20 amp 115 volt underground rated romex naked under one foot of dirt, so long as there's a GFCI on the power side of things. That would be enough for a space heater which would do that 10x10 shed fine.

I would worry about vapor, condensation, and mold putting insulation in a mostly cold/dry shed. If you had to, though, I'd put foil-backed 1/2" foam up like sheetrock, it will reflect your body heat back to you and make it feel a lot warmer, while still letting the stud cavity breathe. Put it in "loose" with a 6" gap at the floor level so if a mouse dies it'll fall out, air can breathe, etc. An added benefit is the foil will reflect natural light around or if you have one 100 watt bulb it'll go farther.

I have a shed that some previous owner sheetrocked and insulated. It's disgusting, full of mouse poo, rotting from the inside out, and we just use it for garden implements so we're not in there breathing Hanta virus all that long.

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Put it in "loose" with a 6" gap at the floor level so if a mouse dies it'll fall out, air can breathe, etc.


Wish I would have thunk of that before I put OSB in my workshop - last summer a rat passed to his reward behind the wall and I could hardly stand to be in the building for more than five minutes. To kill the smell, I finally poured some diesel fuel in a metal pan and lit it on fire - potent but effective.

 

[Bob5150]

I am planning on building a small garage attached to the house in the future. I will just have to bring my paints inside for the winter.

Heating the shed for a little while when working in there is no problem, but keeping it warm 24/7 doesn't seem like it will be feasible.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

Originally Posted By: Bob5150
I am planning on building a small garage attached to the house in the future. I will just have to bring my paints inside for the winter.

Heating the shed for a little while when working in there is no problem, but keeping it warm 24/7 doesn't seem like it will be feasible.


I have a small shed/pump house that is insulated and dry walled. I run a milk house heater on low and set it to just keep the pump house/shed about 40 degrees.....