insulation in 4x6 shack

[mwal]

My brother in law is building small 4x4 spear shack. DO you think its necessary to insulate such a small space? he is going to use a Mr heater Buddy heater. He is putting several 2 inch soffit vents in the walls for ventilation. I think it would be warm enough. He thinks he should put 1 inch Styrofoam up and try to paint it black. what are your guys thoughts that have built smaller permanents? I know the buddy keeps my quickfish 3 tolerable and it more square footage than this will be.

Mwal

[Gordie]

Both of my 4x5 house are insulated, it really help on both warmer days and those artic blast polar vortex type days, When its warmer your heater is turned down so low and sometimes just the pilot light is enough, and when its really cold your heater doesn't have to work as hard ,and use as much propane.

I use 3/4 white styro in mine and buy cheap flat black interior paint and spray it black in side.

[Jameson]

My 5x7 shack is not insulated and I was spearing in a t-shirt when it was -10. But I also have a wood burning stove. My guess is your buddy would be fine on 20 degree days, and on below 0 days he would have to spear with the jacket on and scrape a little ice off the top off the hole.

I wouldn't insulate it, but I value a light weight shack more than the warmth at below 0.

[Jessie_H]

For my 4x6 house, my husband used insulated panels and covered it with plywood, we did put a vent it. It stays plenty warm with my small buddy heater. If I turn it off, it still holds heat pretty well. It turned out a little heavier then what he wanted, but the 2 of us can still move it around the lake and get it on and off a trailer with no problems.

[hillbilly...]

spray foam.

[MJ1657]

I used 1" Styrofoam and lined the interior with luan plywood in my 6x8 and you can cook yourself out if you want. I heat it with a buddy heater and on those well below zero days we had recently had I ran it on pilot about half the time.

[mwal]

He is going with the white Styrofoam sheets painted black. Thanks for the advice

Mwal

[SevenTine]

I would say the floor is the most important part to insulate. Really helps keep the hole from freezing very think if your gone a few days.

[mwal]

He insulated hole cover but not rest of floor. Would you insulate whole floor? why or why not. The small buddy heater is working fine in it. The hole cover is limiting ice buildup to 1/2 inch or less between trips.

Mwal

[SevenTine]

If he's only getting 1/2" between trips I'd say that's good!

[Gordie]

He insulated hole cover but not rest of floor. Would you insulate whole floor? why or why not. The small buddy heater is working fine in it. The hole cover is limiting ice buildup to 1/2 inch or less between trips.

Mwal

I have done both and the insul floor is really nice when its super cold out, and it does help with the hole not freezing as bad, but the new house I built does not have a insul floor and it sat empty for almost 8 days with out being used and that was threw that cold stretch and it only had about 8 inches of ice built up thats with a cover over the hole but not insul.