Heating/Cooling rodent room.

[OhhWatALoser]

My old rat room was in the basement and temps pretty much self regulated for the most part down there. I have since moved and now am going to be building a rodent room in the back of the garage. Should be everything I could want, big sink for cleaning, charcoal filter exhaust. I am trying to figure out what might be the best way to heat and cool the 15 x 15 room. Energy efficiency is my main concern and a close second is getting a unit that won't be affected by the dust. I have killed a few dehumidifiers from the dust sticking to the wet coils, so a filter is almost necessity I would assume. I was wondering if anyone has already has done a little research on this an had some input.

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

I had a similar set-up except I was trying to heat a workshop closer to 700 square feet. I settled on a 5k watt electric garage heater from Northern Tool. It's hardwired and wall mounted. For a smaller space, they have smaller wattage heaters. It probably cost $30-40/month during Winter to run for this size and space. They make a propane version which is probably more cost efficient if you have already have a propane pig. Along these lines, if you have access to natural gas, that's going to be your best bet hands down. These garage heaters come with a built in thermostat that is fairly accurate. Mine failed the first winter in the on position but it was not a serious issue for a whole room heater in the middle of winter. Never got hot enough to harm any animals though did do some serious damage to my electric bill. I can't say that I'm extremely satisfied with my heater choice but it was the best I could find in my case.

In Michigan, you are probably not going to need any cooling at all if you design it right. I have no A/C but heavily insulated the ceiling and installed a large Vortex fan. Even on the hottest VA summer days (upper 90s low 100s), it never peaks much above the low 80s and usually stays in the low to mid 70s. For both heating and cooling, pay close attention to insulation and do as much as possible. Even a couple shade trees outside can make a big difference.

[PitOnTheProwl]

I have a window a/c though the wall and use an oil filled heater for our short winter.
My shed is 10' X 16'
The best thing you can do in insulate the hell out of it.
As far as the dust goes.......... I try to shop vac the building at least once a month.

[wolfy-hound]

If you have racks, when it gets cold, you can just put cardboard covers over top of each bin(on top of the wire, not inside the bin) and the rat body heat keeps it pretty toasty. When I did it during a hard freeze, I had to only cover 2/3 of each bin or the rats got overheated, with no additional heat in the room. So the room got kind of close to freezing but the rats weren't even staying all the way towards the back where it was more covered. When I put a hand in, you could feel the warmth.

So if it gets really super below freezing cold, I wouldn't try to heat it TOO much, if you use the covers. Here, it's heat you have to watch and I use a window AC which hates dust but I clean the filter a lot. When I've needed heat, I use a oil filled radiant heater.