Pole barn heating options

I'm in planning phase for building a pole barn next year. 

Size 60x70 18' clear height  

I am trying to decide on heating it. I know I want heat. The inside will be insulated and have steel panels over the insulation. 
 

I would really like radiant in floor heat with a propane boiler, but the price for that is double to triple what I expected. 
 

What other options should I be considering? 
 

Right now if I don't do the infloor heat, I would be leaning towards something like this radiant tube from the ceiling. But I don't know the pros and cons. 
 

I want to keep a min level of heat at all times. Maybe 40-50 degrees, I am in northwest Ohio so winters get cold but not crazy cold. 
 

I don't know what R rating you're looking at and that'll likely influence your choice but I'd be tempted to at least look at a heat pump as an option. If you plan to keep the heat on all the time then the difference between infrared and forced air will be minimal. The other option is a propane or oil furnace if you don't have access to natural gas. I was heating my 2400 square foot shop with an oil furnace but have switched to a heat pump and the bill has been cut by more than half.

Are you concerned about the cost to heat?   Putting the tubes in the concrete shouldn't cost that much.  I'd do that no matter the case just to have it for future usage.  From there a solar heater either connected to the floor tubing or a southern wall like Robbie did would be my first choice.  If you don't mind the electric usage I've seen a guy on YouTube that heated his radiant flooring with a hot water heater.  IIRC he was northern like you.  He said he had to start the heat early in the season but as long as he had it on constantly it was able to heat throughout the winter.  Don't forget insulation under the slab.

Build a solar collector on your south-facing wall. Free heat. If it only gives you a few thousand BTu's, at least it's free. I build one in my door years ago, and when the sun is out (not enough in MI) it works amazingly well.  

I feel the 18-foot height would make forced air less than desirable.  I like radiant-- if not in-floor, then on-ceiling.

If not radiant floor heating, overhead radiant tube heaters also work well in a situation like yours.  Insulation is key, along with sealing up the building.

Tube heaters work nice but unless you have a grip of them, the heat is pretty uneven.  Since they heat the meat and not the air you get hot and cold spots that can't be well distributed with ceiling fans.

Forced air heaters and 18 foot ceilings are gonna be pretty spendy to run but have a low initial purchase price.  Some fans to circulate the air will help make the heat even.  

If it was my forever garage and I wanted the whole thing to be warm I would bite the bullet and do in-floor heat.  Can always mix up the source of the "hot" as budget and tolerance for BS allows - geothermal, heat pump, wood fired, soloar, good ol natural gas, all will work well. 

Do you need the whole thing heated?  Maybe consider splitting half of it as heated and half of it as cold storage.  

Is this a long term situation for you? If so, I'd say in floor is still the best option, find extra savings or a side gig or just save longer to make it happen. In 5-15 years, you'll be wishing you had figured out a way to make it happen. Not to mention the additional efficiency. 

A slab that size is going to suck out a lot of heat. I'd insulate under the slab even if you skip the in floor plumbing. It will reduce the heating load by a significant amount. And obviously, the walls/ceiling need to be very well insulated too or running costs could get out of hand.

As 93gsxturbo says... "Do you need the whole thing heated?  Maybe consider splitting half of it as heated and half of it as cold storage".

Think insulated work area within main building...

Gordon 

Thanks for all the great replies sounds like I at least will have a starting plan:

1. insulate under slab and add the tubing to start either way. 
 

2. figure the rest out later as time and budget allows. 

3. I will have to look into the solar heating option some more. 

This is our "forever home". So might as well make the building the "forever building l" as well. I do  want to be able to heat the whole all the time at least up to a minimum amount. 

Part of the other question is what are you using this space for?  

• Climate controlled storage?  Recovery demands are pretty low, but you will need an air conditioner too.
• Workshop where the doors are down for days or weeks on end?  About the same as climate controlled storage.
• Bringing a lot of cold, wet, and snowy items indoors?  Gonna need a real ripper of a heater to get acceptable recovery time.

Some of the nicest systems I have seen use radiant floor heat to maintain all the items at a relatively low temp - 45 or 55 degrees.  Its pretty cheap to run, keeps the floor warm, keeps your tools warm, etc.  Then use a forced air gas heater for makeup heat when you bring in a cold item and need the air to recover quickly.  Handy if you are in and out all day in cold weather or your doors are open for long periods and you need to warm the shop back up.  

A nice part with the radiant tube heaters is you can run them as-needed and only heat the space where you are vs the whole enchilada.  For a privateer with one or two lifts and no employees, radiant tube coupled with in-floor would make the most sense.

Forced air will require the use of ceiling fans to push the hot air back down but the advantage of a forced air heat pump system is it provides AC in the summer. Just dehumidifying the air in the summer makes a huge difference.

Somebeach (Forum Supporter) said:

Thanks for all the great replies sounds like I at least will have a starting plan:

 

1. insulate under slab and add the tubing to start either way. 
 

2. figure the rest out later as time and budget allows. 

3. I will have to look into the solar heating option some more. 

This is our "forever home". So might as well make the building the "forever building l" as well. I do  want to be able to heat the whole all the time at least up to a minimum amount. 

Since you answered a bunch of my questions already....  Forever homes need to get consideration for future you. So in that light, here's my vote:

There is no substitute for radiant floor heat comfort wise and I get that it's the most expensive option.  Spend the money on the infrastructure now; insulate the floor properly below so your slab isn't trying to heat the earth below and install the tubing.  If you can, zone the system in the floor in case there are areas where you may want to have a finished office, play room, etc. in the future so you can have separate temperatures in the future if desired.  Once it's roughed in you can save up for the future mechanical installation and do that over time as budget allows.  As mentioned by others with radiant you can keep the space temperature fairly low and still be comfortable working.

Radiant floor is one of the few ways to really take advantage of solar collectors due to the low water temperature needed radiant heat, it's also where high efficiency condensing boilers will operate at their maximum ratings due to the low supply and return temperatures. (You could have a hybrid solar / mechanical heating system with some planning.)  There are also some manufacturers now making air source to water heating heat pumps that would work with radiant and depending on your location the utility may have a generous rebate program for that type of application.  Geothermal water to water heat pumps are also a thing but another layer of complexity and expense.  Good luck with the barn!

Ceiling fans regardless of the type of heat you decide on.