Insulating converted granery

last year

Want to use radiate floor heat in this Zone 5, central Nebraska, granery conversion to a living quarters. How best to insulate for good energy efficiency and preserve some of the rustic timber interior look? Ideas? Suggestions?

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Comments (7)

apple_pie_order
last year
Photos?
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
last year
Depending on the construction details of the granary and what you'd like to keep as exposed surfaces, rigid insulation can be added to the exterior. This applies to both the roof and the sides of the home.
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Just a couple of points, If you're presently using heat pumps and you say they work fine then your duct work should be OK. It should be checked for leakage and repaired, perhaps some modification may be in order but it doesn't sound like it needs to be ripped out and replaced. As for the desuperheater for domestic hot water production, I would definitely have this option because you're in an A/C dominated climate, probably very hot and humid. The desuperheater is a BIG plus and will help as you are extracting heat from the envelope which will go into your hot water tank rather than being sunk into the ground. If you were in the North where you would have a heating dominated climate and were trying to heat your home as well as heat the hot water then there may be some merit to the recommendation but not in your case. I would also absolutely have the desuperheater feed a buffer tank that then feeds your active hot water tank. Your hot water should be virtually FREE while you're air-conditioning. As for your ground conditions, is the ground wet or dry? How deep is the undisturbed earth (overburden) till the bedrock? I would be careful about horizontal ground loops if your soil is mostly clay and sand - not the best conditions! I'm not saying it can't be done, just be careful about what you do. If you do a horizontal ground heat exchange be sure it's properly sized and I would recommend installing a 'soaker hose' so that should you have a very long dry spell you have a method of rehydrating the ground loops otherwise you'll be up a dry creek without any A/C! As for the mini splits, I'd sooner air-condition in your area with the ground at around 65F to 67F than with the air when it's blistering hot! SR
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We put actual glass in ours. So glad we skipped on vinyl panels. They scratch and dull in time. Not windows. And a local glass company was almost the same price and delivered! We are not trying to winterize our deck though. We are in Washington State and that would cost way more than we can afford. We used some boat carpe for the floors, kept the carpet 3 feet in from all sides so it doesn't take on water from the 1/2 inch gap under the sides. We did have to insulate and enclose the tin roof above with tongue and groove so it doesn't get condesation. If you are building, make sure you use real roofing, not tin roof. They condensate big time. That was our one big mistake. We can store stuff out there, as long as we keep them in plastic bins. Nothing cardboard will last. Even though the dirt under the deck has a vapor barrier and we have rain gutters, it's not enough. For air flow we put in 3 large windows that are nothing but wooden blinds. I don't have pics of the tongue and groove yet. Besides a bit of moisture in the air, it's still pretty nice out there. We are going to get a propane heater out there. That will do it for us.
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What I have done before is get a hole saw 1 1/2" and drill 3 holes in between each stud. 1st hole about 2' from the floor then one in the middle and one 8 to 10 from the ceiling. Then rent one of those insulation blowers and fill from the bottom up. You can set the machine outside and you should have enough hose. The big show stopper is if you have fire blocking which means really just drilling more holes. Don't paint the brick Tape and float your good to go. You will need help for someone to open and pour the the bags of insulation into the hopper. What is left over just put in your attic or take back.
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I'll be doing one here shortly only it will be living space. They are going to have the slab leveled as it is sloped and walls framed on a stem wall. If you have an older bungalow, your slab might not have a pitch to it like newer homes.For the miniscule pitch if it has one, you might want to keep it that way if you plan on re-converting to an original garage.
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
We have a grain elevator in our town and the cost of getting rid of all the grain dusts was a fortune it is very volatile and all needs to be professionally removed before any one can use the space . So I need pictures and a lot more info
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
last year
While we don't have photos, the OP's description of a rustic timber interior leads me to believe they're not planning to live in a grain bin or a grain elevator. Most grains are combustible dusts and can serve as fuel for a combustible dust explosion under the right conditions. So can sawdust. It's a manageable hazard and it doesn't require a team of guys in zoot suits to mitigate.
decoenthusiaste
last year
You should be talking to the dealer who provides the heating system; they'll know what is required for their system to work optimally, if the granary is a viable option in reality.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
IMO we need more info I so wanted to convert that grain elevator but at 50-60K for the removal of the dust was just not feasible. Our town decided to save the elevator so footed the bill which BTW was 100K . I only asked becuse sometimes what you want and waht you can have are not the same. Since we hear nothing from the OP who knows .
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
last year
@Patricia Colwell Consulting,

Contractors are usually regulated in how they mitigate certain hazards and dispose of hazardous materials e.g., lead paint, asbestos, etc.) Hiring a specialty contractor--particularly in a remote area--for hazard mitigation usually ups the price and often by a lot when they're the only one available. Those same tasks can usually be performed by a homeowner unencumbered by the same level of regulations.

With regard to combustible dusts, removal can be performed on a DIY basis. I would recommend use of an explosion-proof vacuum cleaner and non-sparking tools for cleaning up dry grain dust, but pressure washing with water may be applicable for some portions of the building.

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Insulating converted granery

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Charles Ross Homes

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