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I have a Q-Style Quonset Hut in eastern Canada where it gets quite cold in the winter time. We have that white batton style insulation pinned to the walls but I know the building isn't ventilated properly because the floor is soaked and moisture is on everything.

I plan on putting an old wood furnace in it to heat when I have to be in there in the winter (we store all our lawn/yard equipment in there). But my main concern is will the turbine vent make the shop freezing in the winter? And if I fire up the furnace to heat the shop, I don't want the turbine vent to just suck all that heat right outside?

Can anyone point me to potential solutions for this?

I was thinking about removing the old white batton style insulation and doing spray foam? But I'll likely need to wood frame in the arches and cover the spray insulation with OSB or drywall. Or can I run duct work down to the floor so when the turbine spins and creates suction, it pulls the cold air from the floor outside and not the warm air from the ceiling?

I want air exchange but not heat loss.

Thanks for any insight.

Xmalevolencex
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  • Obviously it's coming up through the dirt floor. I don't think a turbine vent will help you *at all* there, your problem is water ingress from the soil! Try laying a concrete floor on top of a vapor barrier and optionally, on top of quality foam insulation so the concrete becomes part of the interior thermal mass of the building. Spray foam tends to be a disaster but mostly the stuff is practically napalm when it burns. They do make better closed-cell foam products which have better fire resistance. There's also a foam coating that goes on the outside of the roof, insulating and sealing. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Oct 26 '22 at 03:13
  • This seems to be _very_ broad: turbine vent making it freezing in winter; turbine allowing heat from the stove out; current insulation vs spray foam; ducting the turbine from the ceiling to the floor. As the [tour] and the [help] indicate, please pick _one_ question at a time. Feel free to ask multiple questions about the same project, nobody will look down on you for that - it's actually _expected_ here. – FreeMan Oct 26 '22 at 11:37
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica we do have a concrete floor with a vapour barrier under it. – Xmalevolencex Oct 26 '22 at 13:35

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Given a very broad question, I'm going to take this part, as the distillation:

I want air exchange but not heat loss.

For this, they make Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV) and Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV.) Which are heat exchangers for ventilation air. Outside air is brought in, and inside air is sent out, and they pass each other in a heat exchanger core; warming the outside air coming in by cooling the inside air going out (in heating season.) You probably want an HRV for this job since you are not trying to preserve inside humidity, which is the main difference between the two types.

Other than that, insulation is the big deal, and as Harper comments, spray foams for exterior roof application are common, and solve several issues (plus, you don't need to remove the interior insulation you already have.)

The other approach here would be to run a dehumidifier to remove water directly without actually ventilating - in this case the waste heat (which can be objectionable in some applications) would be a plus.

Ecnerwal
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