As I wrote in this article on insulating my shed walls, a little over a year ago I purchased a Rinnai EX08CTP Propane Heater for my 12′ X 20′ shed. I really wanted to use my shed during the colder months to do woodworking and to work out with weights which are two of my passions.
I did a lot of research on what would be the best model of propane heater to purchase for my size shed and I settled on the Rinnai EX08CTP Propane Heater.
I really like the Rinnai propane heaters because we have a much larger one in my home that does an awesome job during the colder months. The heater shown on the left here is the one that I ended up purchasing and I’m so glad that I did.
When I first bought it I asked myself, will it work for me if I don’t even insulate my shed? The answer was a resounding No and I immediately started researching insulating the interior of my shed. Without insulation all of my heat was just going straight out of the walls and ceiling of my shed.
I started with my shed walls that I wrote about in this article and then moved onto the shed ceiling. Both this article and the shed wall insulation article include youTube videos on me actually working on the projects. (By the way, feel free to click on this link and click on the Subscribe button to subscribe to my YouTube channel.)
So, I did as much research as I could on insulating a shed and found out that it was more important to get insulation with a higher R value for the ceilings in relation to the walls.
I settled on the Rockwool ComfortBatt R15 Insulation as you can see on the left. I bought mine at Lowes as they had exactly what I wanted for my shed ceiling.
They have an R value of 15 which is enough for my needs. You can actually purchase insulation with a higher R value but these have suited my needs brilliantly. Each of these batts are 3 1/2″ thick X 16″ wide X 47″ long. They fit perfectly in between the 16″ on center rafters because they compress and grab the rafters when inserted. They have stayed in place perfectly for me over the past year without any fasteners at all to keep them in place.
You can check out my YouTube video below of me installing insulation in my shed ceiling.
My shed has maintained temperature perfectly throughout the winter so far this year. I keep my Rinnai EX08CTP Propane Heater at Low which maintains about 55 °F at all times. When I am in there I will turn it up a bit but if you walk into a 55 °F shed from 10 °F temperature outside it feels plenty warm enough to work out or to work with wood. I also house my Generac RS5500 generator in this shed which makes it a lot easier to start when I need to do so.
I hope this article and video helps you out if you need to tackle such a project on your own in the future. Good luck in your DIY endeavors! If you have any questions at all please leave them in the comments below or contact me directly via my Contact Me page.
