Insulating fish room

[Andy's Fish Den]

If I were setting up the fish room, I would have at least two circuits in there. One dedicated for the air pump and the other to run whatever else you need. This way, if something like a light shorts out and causes a breaker to trip, you will still have air going to your tanks. I have my room set up this way now, and am going to also run another circuit just for lighting so I can put a timer on the entire circuit and not have a bunch of plug in timers all over the fish room.

[Jimmy]

On 8/5/2021 at 3:56 AM, Andy's Fish Den said:

If I were setting up the fish room, I would have at least two circuits in there. One dedicated for the air pump and the other to run whatever else you need. This way, if something like a light shorts out and causes a breaker to trip, you will still have air going to your tanks. I have my room set up this way now, and am going to also run another circuit just for lighting so I can put a timer on the entire circuit and not have a bunch of plug in timers all over the fish room.

That’s one consideration. Being so small I only really plan on running 6 shop lights for the 2 racks and maybe one over head on a switch. I contemplated having a battery back up for the linear piston air pump  

[gardenman]

Back to the insulation for a minute. Wet insulation (fiberglass, blown in, etc.) is a very bad thing. In a wall cavity it tends not to dry out once it gets wet and it loses much of its insulating ability when wet, so keeping it dry is wise. For a fish room build, I might invest in having spray foam insulation applied. Wet insulation against wood or drywall will cause the wood/drywall to fail over time. Foam insulation is virtually moisture-proof and retains it's insulating properties through its lifespan. That upfront cost can repay itself several times over if you stay in the house for long. A fish room will have high humidity and that humidity, even with a vapor barrier, will find its way to the insulation. The sprayed in foam eliminates that worry.

[Jimmy]

On 8/5/2021 at 6:11 AM, gardenman said:

Back to the insulation for a minute. Wet insulation (fiberglass, blown in, etc.) is a very bad thing. In a wall cavity it tends not to dry out once it gets wet and it loses much of its insulating ability when wet, so keeping it dry is wise. For a fish room build, I might invest in having spray foam insulation applied. Wet insulation against wood or drywall will cause the wood/drywall to fail over time. Foam insulation is virtually moisture-proof and retains it's insulating properties through its lifespan. That upfront cost can repay itself several times over if you stay in the house for long. A fish room will have high humidity and that humidity, even with a vapor barrier, will find its way to the insulation. The sprayed in foam eliminates that worry.

I will look into that. To clarify The space is a detached shop. It’s very breathable and not insulated at all. It will be a room within it. I anticipate keeping the humidity down to 40%. Everything will have a tight fitting lid.  Other measures will be in place. I certainly appreciate the feedback and happily take any advice

[Torrey]

@Jimmy when I first moved to the PNW I was told the weather was like NM: west of the Cascades the snow will melt by noon, and east of the Cascades the snow will stick around. 

 

Two days into my move, I-25 was closed for almost 2 weeks.🙄

 

I was also told we didn't need A/C... 8 years later we had a (then) record heat wave that killed a dozen people. 

 

My lessons learned were it's better to overplan.

 

Build to code to save hassles. 

Vapor barrier pays off in preventing black mold, and we actually used the roll out insulation plus the foam board because it kept us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. ArchwayAquatics had it right with flex on the outside of the walls to make future additions to electrical needs easier. 

 

GFCI is not as complicated as people make it out to be,  and an exhaust fan can make both heating and cooling the room easier. 

 

Look forward to following the journey!

[Jimmy]

On 8/5/2021 at 9:33 PM, Torrey said:

@Jimmy when I first moved to the PNW I was told the weather was like NM: west of the Cascades the snow will melt by noon, and east of the Cascades the snow will stick around. 

 

Two days into my move, I-25 was closed for almost 2 weeks.🙄

 

I was also told we didn't need A/C... 8 years later we had a (then) record heat wave that killed a dozen people. 

 

My lessons learned were it's better to overplan.

 

Build to code to save hassles. 

Vapor barrier pays off in preventing black mold, and we actually used the roll out insulation plus the foam board because it kept us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. ArchwayAquatics had it right with flex on the outside of the walls to make future additions to electrical needs easier. 

 

GFCI is not as complicated as people make it out to be,  and an exhaust fan can make both heating and cooling the room easier. 

 

Look forward to following the journey!

Your opinion is faced batt insulation, vapor barrier and then foam board? I understand corys argument for treating it like a normal room but I’m trying to see my options. I’ve also way over complicated this LOL. People are going to get frustrated with me. 

[gjcarew]

On 8/6/2021 at 4:14 AM, Jimmy said:

 People are going to get frustrated with me. 

No frustration, everyone's excited to see your fish room! A lot of opinions here of course but nobody is going to be mad if you don't follow someone's advice. 

[Torrey]

@Jimmy unless your garage is pretty well insulated already, I would go for the extra insulation which will be more expensive upfront, but save $$$, frustration and fish long term... especially if there's more 116° weather in the future. 

Does that help explain my logic?

Venting the room with an exhaust fan may be less expensive than running a dehumidifier, unless you are planning on using the dehumidifier for temp control, too.

 

I don't think anyone will get annoyed at having an opportunity to explore the pros and cons of insulation, especially after seeing the video(s) of Dean's home during the heatwave.

[Jimmy]

On 8/6/2021 at 9:35 PM, Torrey said:

@Jimmy unless your garage is pretty well insulated already, I would go for the extra insulation which will be more expensive upfront, but save $$$, frustration and fish long term... especially if there's more 116° weather in the future. 

Does that help explain my logic?

Venting the room with an exhaust fan may be less expensive than running a dehumidifier, unless you are planning on using the dehumidifier for temp control, too.

 

I don't think anyone will get annoyed at having an opportunity to explore the pros and cons of insulation, especially after seeing the video(s) of Dean's home during the heatwave.

I’m thinking about wiring in a exhaust fan or just getting a plug in one. Likely use something like a inkbird controller to manage it for me. 
Since it’s a room within the shop the exterior wall will have 2 inch foam board then dried in with felt or leftover tyvek from my house THEN I will frame in the 8x8

[ArchwayAquatics]

On 8/7/2021 at 10:05 PM, Jimmy said:

Since it’s a room within the shop the exterior wall will have 2 inch foam board then dried in with felt or leftover tyvek from my house THEN I will frame in the 8x8

Now that sounds stout! 

Project creep is a real thing. Add to that the open forum with a bunch a Nerms and we'll overcomplicate things if you let us (but think of the room it'd be! lol). Boil down the above. Maybe triple-distil my advice. 🤣 Plan for the future. You're going to end up with a great space in which to enjoy your hobby. I can't wait to see it come to fruition! 

[Jimmy]

On 8/7/2021 at 11:31 PM, ArchwayAquatics said:

Now that sounds stout! 

Project creep is a real thing. Add to that the open forum with a bunch a Nerms and we'll overcomplicate things if you let us (but think of the room it'd be! lol). Boil down the above. Maybe triple-distil my advice. 🤣 Plan for the future. You're going to end up with a great space in which to enjoy your hobby. I can't wait to see it come to fruition! 

I got tired of watching everyone’s hobby on YouTube advance and only keeping one aquarium for years. This was my wife’s idea. I thought I’d have to wait til my children had grown. This is a dream for me. I got the space cleared yesterday, hopefully I can start slowly building next weekend. I will start a thorough build thread/journal