Insulated tarping/drapes as seasonal workshop walls......

Hoping this is the right forum in which to place this.  We have much square footage enclosed within steel walls and ceilings, regretably un-insulated.  Northern Minnesota winter temps preclude spending much time in them unless producing wildly wasteful amount of heat to achieve adequate comfort.  And yet I've not been satisfied with any of my envisioned subdivision of the space into permanent, enclosed, insulated workspace. In the interest of deploying my half-baked rocket heater to function in heating a future workspace, I could actually envision insulating one wall (through which the rocket heater would vent) permanently.  With that vision in place, I began to wonder if others had ever subdivided.....temporarily or seasonally.....a workspace using insulated tarps and/or drapes of some sort, including a ceiling.  The permanently insulated wall would provide the main entry and exit door, but any movement of shop materials or equipment could be done by raising or drawing back the tarps during non-heating periods and then ensuring they were closed again before another heating run.  With little need for such insulation in non-winter months, the tarps could be taken down and stored until the following winter.  Anyone employing such an approach in their heated workspace?  Thanks!..

It's a good idea. Our winters are so blessed long that some sort of heated workspace is necessary. There is lots to do, and I can't sit around for half the year.

I have been considering a "hot shop" corner in my garage using tarps and a small heater. Just enough space to repair fix the snowblower or whatever. I don't need to heat the whole building, I just need a spot with a little heat and good light so I can work with my gloves off. I'll probably use a small propane heater at first, although I have notions of  a wood stove outside in a small open shed that can be "connected" with tarps.

I also have ideas of a skiddable version of this that I can move to various work areas on my property. My thought is to use the same small open shed with a stove inside plus an extension made of the ribs of an old fabric-covered shed covered in clear 8 mil plastic to let in lots of light.

Though my application is not a shop (not dusty), does not cover the ceiling, and not nearly as cold as MN, I am using the curtain approach for insulation. I have a large rectangular adobe room (30' x 18') with 10' insulated ceiling that is heated by passive solar. Cloudy days and nights require electric space heater as indoor temps get down to the 40's. To help hold the costly electric heat on cloudy days, I cover windowed walls with black thermal grommet style curtains. To secure, I put pipe around the upper wall perimeter at 8' and run curtains through the pipe in bunches up to each section of the pipe mounting-hardware. Hardware to hold the pipe is handmade metal brackets bent 90 degrees for wall end and hammered over a heavy pipe for a 180 degree curve allowing 6" between wall and curtain-rod pipe. Pipe sits on top the curve like a shelf for easy removal. The ceiling is insulated so no fabric there. The curtains and 6" airspace hold the interior temperature 30 degrees higher than the temp without the curtains. Without the curtains the electric heat ran constantly. I am very happy with this approach for walls.

John is there a reason you don't want to permanently insulate the ceiling? It seems to me that an insulated ceiling would make the area nicer to work in both summer and winter. Ceilings would be more difficult to do temporary insulation on also.

So far as the wall, I wonder if Amy could post a picture? What she's describing sounds very good.

I totally agree with the need for warmable workshop space - I'm getting tired of using my dining room table! My climate is considered moderate, but very damp in the winter and I'm much more likely to hurt myself if I'm chilled.

Yes, I really should learn how to take and post pic's. Composing words takes a lot of time.
I agree with Jay that ceiling insulation is the way to hold that rising heat.

Thanks for all responses and ideas to date in this thread.

The buildings were all erected by the same local manufacturer and the last one to go up, a larger animal barn/building, was insulated as was my wife's desire.  Not Permie, but the spray-on foam insulation was used on the walls and a flat ceiling installed above which was placed insulated batts....all doors and windows in that structure were of an insulated nature on purchase.  I installed a smaller, 7000W 220V electric garage heater in there and am amazed at how well it can heat that 1200 sq. ft. space due to the insulation.

The building that I wish to have some small amount of insulated shop currently doubles as a chicken shelter.  I don't really want the chickens running around on the insulation above any flat ceiling that I would permanently install, and would need to somehow barricade them from moving from the rafters ('rafters' photo below) of the open span region of the building to the part that was insulated.  I could forego a ceiling and insulate around the ceiling trusses ('Arched Ceiling' photo below) and against the roof metal as well, but I guess I feel that seems to end up heating wasted space.  A final, but not trivial, consideration irrespective of how the roof/ceiling might be insulated is our history with rodents.  As my wife cares for many animals tucked here and there around the property, keeping rodents at bay....and their hiding and nesting places....is a pretty never-ending job.  Insulation seems to be one of the worst magnets for these critters and temporary insulated 'walls' seemed to be at least one way to combat this issue.  At least with the one wall that would be permanently insulated, I hope to chose an insulation that either will minimize rodent damage/hiding or at least be relatively easy to remove and replace if necessary.

I'm taking note of the ideas Amy G. outlined here as they provide a framework for adapting the idea for the walls and rafters of our building.  Thanks!....and keep the ideas coming.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:
I also have ideas of a skiddable version of this that I can move to various work areas on my property. My thought is to use the same small open shed with a stove inside plus an extension made of the ribs of an old fabric-covered shed covered in clear 8 mil plastic to let in lots of light.

I've considered this as well!.....  Do you have a tractor to move this around with?  Most of the 12 X 12 floor plan structures that I've built around the property can be assembled pretty quickly and 2 or 3 of them are "skid-friendly"    Such a building with some heat and oriented to take advantage of passive solar through insulated windows could be used for many projects across the seasons.....with a sturdy floor, even lawn tractors, etc. could be worked on.  The 'tarps-in-the-garage' idea would serve as a place to work on my tractors in the winter if need be and would house shop equipment too large to be useful in the skid-structure.  One last aspect of the project I'm entertaining is to add an attached, windowed solarium-type lean-to to the building in question shown below.  The windowed-side is south-facing, but I would install a door in that side and cover that door with the new addition.  That would allow the addition to 'generate' heat when the sun was strong and the open door would allow that heat into the space in the building.....that would have the insulated drapes.  The rocket heater would be inside the building, but ported out the wall at a point *not* covered by the new lean-to....possibly even on the west-end.  Clearly, there are additional issues when considering the large tracks on the ceiling trusses for the large west-facing garage door,....... but there is always some new challenge to consider!

I once built a  steel shed out in the bitter cold..
It has a thousand tiny pieces, 3 or 4 where one would have done, built that way to save money.
The only thing that kept me going was a hairdryer, used to defrost my hands every 5 minutes.

My chicken coop is insulated with fabric.
It's a cage, set under an open sided awning, with layers of blankets on the top and sides.
Come summer time,  two of the sides and the bottom are nothing but mesh, for maximum ventilation.

A pop up canopy or a homemade frame could be a solution for supporting the fabric.

I think I would hang moving blankets or wool blend blankets, then spray them down with a Borox solution.
Tarps can be great when layered with blankets, especially when the space doesn't need to "breath"

Light socket to receptical adaptors, and heat lamps could add utility to a string of outdoor lights.
Hairdryer optional, but hopefully unneeded!