I'm worried about canned goods freezing.

[Jay]

My supply of food I keep in an insulated out building, and I'm concerned with freezing at this time of year where one night might be above 32, and the next day or two, in the mid to upper 20''s. I do have a small heater out there to keep the temps above freezing but only turn it on if necessary. At what outside temps should I be concerned, as I sure don't want the products damaged, or use electric when not needed. I have always heard people talking about freeze, and hard freeze.

 

[Pearl]

My supply of food I keep in an insulated out building, and I'm concerned with freezing at this time of year where one night might be above 32, and the next day or two, in the mid to upper 20''s. I do have a small heater out there to keep the temps above freezing but only turn it on if necessary. At what outside temps should I be concerned, as I sure don't want the products damaged, or use electric when not needed. I have always heard people talking about freeze, and hard freeze.

I've always heard that a true hard freeze is 28° or lower for 3+ hours. Hubby's shop is insulated only with insulation board and rarely freezes. We have a small electric heater in the bathroom that has a timer. We will get in the mid 20's tonight, will set it to come on at 2 or 3 am, that has saved us on electricity use in the past. Hope that little tidbit is helpful!

 

[elkhound]

set thermostat on heater and forget it.

 

[hiwall]

Pearl is correct. The difference between a freeze and a hard freeze is not the temp but the time.
Example: your freezer is likely 10* below zero inside but you could set a glass of water inside for 10 minutes and it would not even get a skim of ice. Why? Because the cold has to have time enough to overcome the mass of the water to bring it down to a low enough temp to freeze.
The same in your building. Even if it gets down to 20* outside, the temp inside your shed will drop the temp much slower. At least if the daytime temps are high enough to warm the inside of your building during the day. Put a remote reading thermometer inside your building so you will know what the temps inside really are.
Still worried?
Like said above: set the thermostat on your heater and forget about it.

 

[zoomzoom]

What heater has a thermostat setting that goes as low as around 35°?

 

[hiwall]

What heater has a thermostat setting that goes as low as around 35°?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Romacci-...V0gytBh3l8wEXEAQYAyABEgKcF_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Cascadian]

We used a 60 watt lightbulb in our well house on a timer. If it well insulated it shouldn't take much.

 

[UrbanHunter]

They make thermostatically controlled outlet with a fix temperature settings that can be an inexpensive solution, most come on at 35F and off at 45F and cost under $20. Thermo Cube is one brand, I have used something like that with success.

They also make them that come on at a high temperature and shuts off at a lower temperature (I think they come on at 100F off at 85F)

 

[Terri9630]

What heater has a thermostat setting that goes as low as around 35°?

We had one in the well house at our last place that had a freeze setting on it. It turned on at 33°.