Here is pictures inside my new "garage" when I had a party last January. That night was -17 degrees and we were all nice and toasty. I set the thermostat to 66 degrees and by the end of night it was 69 degrees.
http://dakotacountrydanceclub.org/album.php?album=100&page=1&strip=2It's a 36'x56'x14' Menard's pole building, 2" foam under the 5" slab with in floor radiant heat (I put that in myself and built my manifold/boiler system). I also have an extra loop to put underneath the outside slab so I can temporarily rob shop heat to ice melt the outside slab and sidewalk. I caulked all the wall seams on the outside, Spray foam on all the wall seams and around all doors and windows, BIBS insulation (blown in fiberglass), R24 in the walls and R50 in the ceiling, two 12x12 doors and two walk in industrial doors. Cost = a lot, but reasonable. Warm feet = priceless.
What I would suggest is to build a ceiling tall enough for a lift, but not necessarily the whole building. You could build two different ceiling heights. Kind of like two different buildings back to back. Less to heat. I am building mezzanines in my shop to help get things off the floor. By making use of the upper space in my shop I can get more items in the shop and in climate controlled areas. I can even place a car or truck on the mezzanine if I want. Those objects will also hold heat and technically make the shop cheaper to heat. I put my outlets 4.5' from the floor and also put my conduit under the slab to clean up the walls. I have a small bathroom with waterproof panels. The bathroom doubles as a shower. Buy a 30 gallon water heater over a small 5-8 gallon water heater. It costs just as much (sometimes more) to keep a small water heater going as it does a 30-40 gallon. I built a cabinet where the doors are small insulated walls that swing out. This houses my air compressor and keeps it quieter inside the shop. I figure I am more likely to service it in the winter if it is warm too. I also like warm air in the winter, and any accumulation of water won't freeze in the bottom of my tank. If you look at the pictures, my windows are at the top of the shop walls. This lets better light in and helps a bit with security. On the floor, I used a "bridge" sealer with some grit. It is an epoxy that absorbs into the cement and fills any cracks and cuts in the floor (works great for older floors). I used a squeegee to apply it. The surface of the epoxy may come off after heavy use, but since it is absorbed into the cement, it will still stop oil from soaking in.
