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Renovating a Shed to be Climate Controlled - Where do I begin and how much will it cost?

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TxCoolGuy94

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Oct 18, 2022
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I have a 10 x 8 Shed that was built wrong to begin with, and as a result, the front door doesnt shut unless I put force on it, and rodents and wasp have infested it.

Some issues include:

  • Rodent droppings everywhere (I'm wondering do I need to get a storage unit to put my tools in there first, then wear a respirator suit and sweep the droppings into a box or get a one time use wet vac, etc)?
  • Shed is sitting very low (I guess I need to raise it up 6 more inches)?
  • The rat problem is big like I'm thinking of getting wire mesh around the shed, and putting poison bait underneath it.

I'm on a very tight budget, so the goal is to renovate it to be climate controlled and store electronics, prevent rodents and make it almost like a home without water/gas.

I created a thread awhile back explaining this, and just listening to some suggestions, it was best to just buy a ac unit and connect it to my breaker instead of spending thousands on batteries and such.

And so thats where I left off, and need some assistance. I dont know where to begin or how much this will cost.

This is what I have:

 
I put in a Senville 9000BTU mini-split for my 7 x 14 trailer and love it - https://senville.com/9000-btu-mini-split-air-conditioner-senl-09cd/
You get efficient (electricity usage) heat and cool and it's whisper quiet. One of the features is "FP" (freeze point) mode which causes it to come on when the temp drops below 46F - which I use in winter to avoid freezing in the trailer.

Not pushing it but at $740 (link above) it may be competitive to the AC you listed - and does both heat and cool - e.g. "climate control".
 
OffGridInTheCity said:
I put in a Senville 9000BTU mini-split for my 7 x 14 trailer and love it - https://senville.com/9000-btu-mini-split-air-conditioner-senl-09cd/
You get efficient (electricity usage) heat and cool and it's whisper quiet. One of the features is "FP" (freeze point) mode which causes it to come on when the temp drops below 46F - which I use in winter to avoid freezing in the trailer.

Not pushing it but at $740 (link above) it may be competitive to the AC you listed - and does both heat and cool - e.g. "climate control".
Click to expand...

That looks like a great mini split. The only reason I got this unit is because they person selling this let me have it for $186 brand new and threw in a brand new oil filled radiator, which I guess was a pretty good deal.
 
get everything away from the shed. critters LOVE all that stuff leaning against it. get all that away from it first off. then you'll want to inspect the base of it near the ground to find where the critters are getting in. grass right up to the base is bad. is it on blocks? if so, pull all that grass back and put in some type of rock around it. seal it all well, repair any rot and damage and make sure you have good drainage for water.

then, clear it all out... clean it, do inside repairs. you can probably get away with a cheap N100 respirator and get after it. sweep as much up. bomb it. then leave it open for a few days to air/dry it out.

hard to say if it can be salvaged from the pics. sometimes it's cheaper in terms of time to rip it down and start over.
 
as far as climate controlling it.... i personally don't think it's necessary if you provide sufficient air circulation in the shed. you can easily put in a solar powered attic fan that will draw out all the heat from the shed. do it right, and you can pull colder air in from the ground beneath the shed.
 
I am assuming he is in Texas so that thing will be an oven in the summer.
On a budget and crappy shed do not bode well lol.
 
Quattrohead said:
I am assuming he is in Texas so that thing will be an oven in the summer.
Click to expand...
granted. you can easily dig a root cellar below the shed, line it with cinder blocks, put rock down on the floor and install your components below the shed. draw cool air from that area below the shed and exhaust hot air out of the roof. panels on the roof will provide shade and reduce thermal input. paint it a light tan/sand color, and that will further reduce the heat soak. there are absolutely options to mange the thermal load that are much less expensive than running AC.
 
very manageable. besides... it's TX not WA or OR. people have been storing food in root cellars for centuries.
 
TxCoolGuy94 said:
I have a 10 x 8 Shed that was built wrong to begin with, and as a result, the front door doesnt shut unless I put force on it, and rodents and wasp have infested it.

Some issues include:

  • Rodent droppings everywhere (I'm wondering do I need to get a storage unit to put my tools in there first, then wear a respirator suit and sweep the droppings into a box or get a one time use wet vac, etc)?
  • Shed is sitting very low (I guess I need to raise it up 6 more inches)?
  • The rat problem is big like I'm thinking of getting wire mesh around the shed, and putting poison bait underneath it.

I'm on a very tight budget, so the goal is to renovate it to be climate controlled and store electronics, prevent rodents and make it almost like a home without water/gas.

I created a thread awhile back explaining this, and just listening to some suggestions, it was best to just buy a ac unit and connect it to my breaker instead of spending thousands on batteries and such.

And so thats where I left off, and need some assistance. I dont know where to begin or how much this will cost.

This is what I have:

Click to expand...

Again, back to the start. The beginning is where everyone should start...

The doors aren't going to close until the building is leveled and has a foundation to keep it level. Use big paver/garden stones, pour concrete pads or whatever, but without foundation its not going to stay square, and doors/windows need square openings.

Those doors aren't going to keep bugs/rodents out unless you get them square in the openings, and since they are rough framed, they need bug/rodent proof weather stripping. Doesn't matter if its the cut to fit, screw on the door type, but you have to seal it up.

Next step is insulation. No point in trying to keep bugs out if the building isn't sealed up with some ventilation.

Just incoming hot/moisture laden air will enter, when it cools it will shed the moisture inside the building. Ventilation with bug screens stops this.

No point in trying to heat/cool economically without insulation. You can't afford to equalize the outside temp, so containing your conditions inside is a must. Once its insulated, the better the insulation the less energy you need to change inside conditions. Save you money/energy 24/7/365.


Just some thoughts based on science facts
 
$3,000


$1300 - 2x 12v 200ah lifepo4 batteries
$280 - epever 80 amp controller
$300 - 4k watt inverter
$300 - 4x 300watt used phonosolar panels
$400 - insulation fiberboard r-9
$120 - transfer switch
$900 - pioneer 9k btu mini-split
$ the rest - cabling and misc.

Finally adding the transfer swith made it workable in Texas. It probably runs on solar only 80% of the time. We’re going to experiment with angle actuators soon and see how much closer we can get to 100%
Of the 1200 watts of panels, we only get about 600-700 watts during the day in summer, and 400 watts in winter in full sun, This is if you want to comfortably work in there, at 72-75 degrees. much less if just control the temp, but you mentioned as if it was the house without water.

There were a fair amount of corners cut here, so this is pretty close to best case scenario. Solar and, especially batteries, that will cycle 4,000 times are expensive. But this is a pretty much forget about it system that just works. This whole project was to see what something like this would cost, and just how cheaply it could be made to be reliable with what is actually, a small amount of, fairly expensive, batteries. The batteries will kill ya, if you want them to last.
 
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