Portable ref. air

[Harvey M. Taylor]

Dont think I need to tell you guys about Texas weather. Today it is 94 with 42 % humidity, latest report at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Lowes has a roll around air conditioner with 11000 output for the tidy sum of 400.00+tax. I know that is lots of money, but come high noon, no turning in a shop with no windows or insulation. Do you think this might alleviate my problem and let me stay in the shop for another 3, maybe 4 hrs. a day barring any interference, or would it not give enough spread of cool air to be comfortable? Thanks for any experienced input. Max/

[Scott Lux]

There is one problem with a portable AC unit: unless it vents outside, it'll make the space hotter.

Even if it has a hose to vent it outside, you'll have a hot hose in your shop. That doesn't help cool it much.

[Harvey M. Taylor]

Scott, I am not trying to cool the whole shop, that is nearly impossible as I stated, no insulation, no windows. Just want a cool breeze blowing on me. Yes, it has provisions for venting to the outside. Max

[Joe Adams]

I'm not sure how big your space is but I would recommend that you install a window air conditioner through a hole in the wall. You'd be surprised how well they work.

I'm building a house in Houston and by Memorial Day it was hotter inside than outside. The house is dried in but still has bare studs inside with no insulation yet.

I installed three 10,000btu window air conditioners (about $250 each from Home Depot) with energy saver digital thermostats. They have kept the house between 75 - 78 degrees all Summer long. August was brutally hot.

We couldn't have completed the mechanical work (electrical, plumbing, & HVAC) without them.

[Bob Hampton]

Harvey
my son has one of those a/c units and it does good for a bedroom or some small room ...but here is an idea to try that i did years ago when i was in an old shop building built in like the 30's....no insulation and bare walls so it got really hot in there in the afternoon like yours...
Take something like an old blanket or heavy tarp and if your lathe area is kinda isolated from the rest of the shop take the tarp or blanket and make a false wall that will enclose the the lathe area and fit just the front of the a/c into it and leave out the exhaust hose..
By cutting down the area that the little unit has to cool it will work alot better and may cool it down to a reasonable level.
just a thought
BOB

[Lee Koepke]

I have the same roll around unit in my shop. The exhaust hose they give you is real short (5' or so), so I attached another 10' flex hose (like for bathroom exhaust fans) to that with silver metallic duct tape (regular duct tape doesnt work well because of the heat).

I either have the exhaust poking out the window or under my overhead door. that leaves the door up about 4", but like you say, its just for tempering the shop. It did a decent job during the hottest parts of Georgia's summer for me, I moved the cooler air around the shop with a few small box fans too.

I liked the portability of it, but the main drawback is the exhaust. Soon enough I will poke a hole out the back and attach it to an exterior vent, but that project is far down my list.

[Joe Adams]

I forgot to mention that the house is 2,200 square feet (one-story). I remain astounded that three window AC's are doing such a good job of keeping it comfortable despite Houston's heat & humidity.

[Allen Neighbors]

Harvey, I have an old swamp cooler in a window in my shop, that makes it somewhat bearable.
Our tire shop, here in town, has a large swamp cooler on a rolling stand, with a funnel stuck through a hole in the top, with an attached hose that goes to the tray. They pour a bucketful about every 3 hours, to keep the pads wet.
Just a suggestion.

[Bill Boehme]

Max,

I think that you need to build a big fancy new shop -- I mean studio that is well insulated and has central air conditioning. I sure do hate to sweat when I come over to "evaluate" one of your many lathes. How many lathes do you currently have, anyway? (Must be 4 or 5).

Bill "Never Sweat" Boehme