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Can you heat an uninsulated shed?

An uninsulated shed, whether it's a studio, workshop or potting station, can be an unpleasant place in which to work when it's chilly outside. Heating a shed can be a simple matter of adding a space heater in a building with electricity or as complex as adding a solar or geothermal system.

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An uninsulated shed, whether it’s a studio, workshop or potting station, can be an unpleasant place in which to work when it’s chilly outside. Heating a shed can be a simple matter of adding a space heater in a building with electricity or as complex as adding a solar or geothermal system. Factors like cost, the size of the shed and the climate in your region should come into play when you’re deciding what option to choose. Whether or not the shed has a floor affects heat retention. Consider pouring a concrete floor or creating a raised surface with shipping pallets or other found materials. Take the time to eliminate sources of drafts, like cracks in the walls or poorly fitted doors and windows. Of course, insulating the shed increases heating efficiency, but if that’s not possible, there are several heating options available. The size of the building is an important consideration when thinking about the best heater for a shed, and the reason for heating is another. Do you need to keep it just above freezing a couple of nights a year to protect plants overwintering in the shed, or do you need a comfortable working temperature? According to North Dakota State University , an uninsulated shed requires 50 British thermal units (Btu) per square foot per hour for a reasonable level of warmth, but an incandescent light bulb or a heat lamp might suffice to keep the interior just above freezing. While there are mathematical calculations you can do to determine what heater to buy for your shed, it’s usually not necessary to be that precise. Almost all heaters now state on the packaging or in the user manual how many square feet the device will heat. To determine the square footage of the room, multiply the length by the width. For instance, a 10 x 10-foot room is 100 square feet. If the heating capacity of the appliance isn’t apparent, the rule of thumb is that you’ll need 10 watts for each square foot. A 1,500-watt heater is sufficient for a 150-square-foot room. Infrared heaters, whether wall-mounted or free-standing, heat the objects in the room, including yourself, rather than the air. These cost-effective appliances use infrared radiation to heat as the sun does, and the heat from the objects then radiates into the room. They are among the safest ways to heat a room.