car crash wrote:

I have a cold storage room underneath my front porch. It is poured
out of concrete. It is around 20 long wide by 5 feet Wide. We don't
use it at all for cold storage, but want to use it for regular storage
year round. Obviously it is very cold in there during the winter.
How do I Insulate a cold storage room to make it useful at room
temperature ? Should I frame the whole thing and then use R-12
insulation or something else ? Should I just spray foam everything ?
Should I use Styrofoam ?

20 by 5! I'd love to have that for storing homebrew!

Big questions:
1. Where do you live (City/State)?
2. How deep is the frost line there?
3. How is the other part of your basement currently heated?
4. How cold does other part of your basement get unheated?
5. How is other part of your basement currently insulated?
6. How cold does the storage area get when it is 0F outside?

Unless the temperature where you live is well-below
freezing for 6 weeks, it is unlikely anything will
freeze. I'd be more concerned about moisture than
cold. First thing I'd do is apply waterproofing -
as many coats as needed.

Afterthat I'd put down a flooring of 1x6's on top of
half inchers. Store what you want in there without
putting up shelves. BUT leave cloth on top of some
things so you can check for moisture. AND leave a
closed plastic container half filled with water so
you can check for freezing.

It would also help to put a thermometer in the room
so you can periodically record the temperature in the
storage area as well as the temperature in the other
part of your basement.

If you do that, you may avoid the expense and the
labor of insulating.

Dick