How much is it worth it to insulate the shop?

[Michael Yadfar]

Maybe something I wrote was misunderstood, but by energy savings I didn't mean it would make my bill cheaper. What I was referring to is some guy with a 20x20 shop told me it made no noticeable differences in his energy cost to heat the shop. I'm probably going to run a small camper heater or the smallest thing that can be suitable for my space because I don't have money to blow on anything elaborate. A/C is more of a luxury control, but I definetely want one that doubles as a dehumidifier, they actually aren't too badly priced. Right now in the summer, even in my "mild climate", my shed feels like a sauna. Hot and humid. Like I said, my expensive tool is still in packaging grease, and my hand tools are in the garage.

[Mike Cutler]

Michael
My shop space is two 19'x9' sections of my garage that form an "L". Neither is insulated. This is pretty close to what you are approximating. Neither of these spaces gets direct sunlight, and there is only one window. My intent, once some more pressing issues are resolved, is to gut both spaces, and properly insulate them, in addition to some other work.
I currently have a 10Kbtu portable AC unit for cooling in the summer and use a propane heater in the winter. These are barely tolerable solutions. On the hotter days of the summer it's still too hot and on the coldest days of winter it's too cold. I could never do any finishing work in the winter because I can't control the temps for the amounts of time required and some days during the summer are out too because of the opposite extreme. I can assure you that I know pretty much exactly how much it costs to heat and cool it. It's significant enough that insulation and sealing would pay itself very quickly.
Once it's insulated and sealed. I'll be a able to heat and cool it enough to work year round, which is what I'm really trying to effect and not save $$$ on energy bills..

[Tom Rossman]

I turned a 700 sq ft outbuilding on my farm into shop. It is divided into 2 rooms. I insulated the walls and ceiling and replaced an old wooden garage door with an insulated one. I installed two small mini split heat pumps, one in each room, along with an air cleaner in each room. It can get below zero in the winter and very hot and humid in the summer, but it is always comfortable in the workshop as I can lower or raise the temperature in about 10 minutes. The more insulation the less your heating and cooling costs.

[paul cottingham]

My shop is my garage in my house. I took out the garage door, and replaced it with an insulated wall. Even that small act made a huge difference in how comfortable it is to work in, temperature wise. My house is heated/cooled with a heat pump, so conditioned air was already available, but the insulated wall made a huge difference, even though the other two outside walls aren't insulated (yet. I haven't had the courage to pull down the white concrete/plaster/whatever-the-heck-it-is that is covering the interior walls of my garage. My wife is convinced it has asbestos in it.)

[Michael Yadfar]

Did any of you guys that insulated notice any changes in moisture in the shop? Like I said, I go in there and it feels like a sauna, and moisture is one of my biggest concerns. Eventually I do plan to make sure everything's practically air tight and run a dehumidifier, but does the insualtion itself help?

[Peter Kelly]

Insulation always helps but the dehumidifier is going to raise the temperature in there a bit. You might be better off using a window AC unit with a dehumidifier setting instead. Keeps the heat outside.

[Todd Burch]

My shop is my garage in my house. I took out the garage door, and replaced it with an insulated wall. Even that small act made a huge difference in how comfortable it is to work in, temperature wise. My house is heated/cooled with a heat pump, so conditioned air was already available, but the insulated wall made a huge difference, even though the other two outside walls aren't insulated (yet. I haven't had the courage to pull down the white concrete/plaster/whatever-the-heck-it-is that is covering the interior walls of my garage. My wife is convinced it has asbestos in it.)

You could drill holes and blow insulation in.

[Rick Moyer]

It was about 84 here today and I just went out and checked the shop and it is 72. r-13 in the 2x4 walls and r-19 in the ceiling, regular windows, and air gaps in the garage door trim. Definitely worth insulating as best you can.

[Jim Andrew]

Do you have a Menards store near you? They have been running R11 insulation on sale for the last year or 2, and I just buy it and put it in in layers. Put 2 layers in the walls and 3 in the ceiling of my addition. Have been cutting pieces and adding another layer in my ceiling as well. When I get another layer between the trusses, think I will buy some more and roll out another layer over the whole mess. Had R19 in the ceiling, but that is just not enough. A lot better than nothing, but more is better. If you use the building for years, it just keeps paying for itself over and over.

[Michael Yadfar]

Do you have a Menards store near you? They have been running R11 insulation on sale for the last year or 2, and I just buy it and put it in in layers. Put 2 layers in the walls and 3 in the ceiling of my addition. Have been cutting pieces and adding another layer in my ceiling as well. When I get another layer between the trusses, think I will buy some more and roll out another layer over the whole mess. Had R19 in the ceiling, but that is just not enough. A lot better than nothing, but more is better. If you use the building for years, it just keeps paying for itself over and over.

Are you talking about fiberglass or foam board? Because with fiberglass, I've heard that going thicker than the joists is useless. I also don't have the kind of sealing you speak of, my shed has an open cathedral, so unless I put up drywall, I will have sagging insualtion. I'm also putting it over top the rafters (or underneith I should say) to keep 3.5" of "attic" space for ventilation. I do plan to double up the foam board though, I just gotta figure out whats best to use to bond them together. I really wish I could get away with fiberglass; I guess it's because it's newer and less common, but foam board is very expensive. The only 3 local places I found that sell it are Home Depot, lowes, and a local supply company. Lowes had the best value, but it's still $35 for each R-10 2" 4x8 sheet. 90% of my project cost is going into just the ceiling, floor, and door insualtion...

[Glenn Samuels]

I moved into a new workspace last August and found that i could not work in the heat. In the winter, I used a 30,000 BTU propane heater but went through quite a bit of gas. My workshop is 30 x 35 with 9 foot ceilings. In the spring of this year, I added R 13 to the walls and drywalled both the walls and the ceiling. I have one overheat door that I sealed to avoid the massive air leaks. I have not added insulation to the ceiling but I will do it in the future. I purchased an LG ductless unit for both AC and heat. I have seen an increase of $30 per month on my monthly electric bill (it is on a seperate meter) but it is totally worth it. I can now work comfortably and I leave the humidifier function on all the time to keep the humidity at a moderate level. This is my second LG ductless unit and I can not say enough good things about it.

[Andrew DiLorenzo]

I insulated so the air conditioner has a chance to keep the rust forming humidity from adding a bunch of reddish-brown tinges to my tools! One of the downfalls of Florida.

[Michael Yadfar]

I started insulating, I added R-13 fiberglass to the walls, R-10 foamboard to the top of the gable walls, 2" foamboard on the floor with 3/4 plywood on top. Currently I'm working on adding 4" of foamboard to the ceiling, and still to come is sealing these doors and adding new windows. The only issue is that the ceilings about 7" shorter now. As I said, my shop is very small, 15' by 9', but the space is workable and I'm sure my machines and wood will thank me once I get my heat and AC in. I'm thinking about one of those LG units too