A/C to be in the shop in 1 week - can't wait

[Glen Blanchard]

I pulled the trigger this week on an air conditioner for my 1 car garage shop. After some due diligence, I have purchased a 22,800 BTU Mitsubishi ductless split system. I had it priced as a turnkey purchase by two local A/C contractors and my jaw hit the floor when I got the bids. Still paid much more than I would have preferred, but by buying the equip. mail-order and arranging for installation by a local contractor (both A/C and electrical) I have saved $1500 - $1800. The system I bought also has a heat pump, so I can keep the shop warm in the winter. Very anxious to enjoy the climate-controlled air.

[Ken Garlock]

Sounds like a good buy. The split unit would be my choice if I were in your place. :cool:

One comment: INSULATION :eek: Put as much on your garage door as you can, and put at least 15 inches in the attic. It is money well spent. :)

[Bill Lewis]

INSULATION :eek: Put as much on your garage door as you can, and put at least 15 inches in the attic. It is money well spent. :) You know, having the garage doors made tight with good fitting weatherstripping to block air infiltration is probably more important than having them heavily insulated. I think the best money spent is in the ceiling. 15" is a good start for sure.

My garage is 34'x24' with (3) 9'x8' Wayne Dalton doors. They're not the top of the line doors, nor the bottom either. They have some insulation, but mostly, they are well weatherstriped. The garage walls are 12' high and are 2x4 construction with R13 fiberglass batts in the walls. I have a room over the garage that is conditioned space. The floor for the room above was foamed with icynene insulation by our insulation contractor, buy then also had R19 fiberglass insulation installed by the builder's insulation contractor (they goofed). So the garage ceiling ended up being very well insulated.

My garage never gets below freezing even for extended periods of severe cold weather. It gets its heat from our vehicles. If I want to warm it up to work out there, I have a 55kBtu kerosene Reddy heater that does the job pretty quickly.

In my last garage the heater could run all day and barely take the chill off. Though it had insulation in the walls, I didn't have it long enough to put it in the ceilings. Actully it had a room above too, but with an open stairwell up to it.

It's common knowledge that heat rises, but for me it is a pretty dramatic demonstration of it by comparing these two expamples.

On the other hand, it get's pretty hot in there in the summer time. The doors face south, and like I said, it really traps the vehicle heat. I just started thinking about ways to forcibly vent the heat out of there. I'm still in the pondering stage on that one though. Thankfully, my workshop is in the basement.

[Dale Rodabaugh]

Hey Glen,bet that will make a huge difference.I know you get a lot of heat down there in Texas.Up here in NE Ohio we have had a very hot summer,not complaining mind you but some days its just too hot to work in my shop.If its like this next summer I will definitly go with AC,probably a window unit.My shop is in part of my garage,actually a barn.The woodshop is insulated,and has a gas furnace for heat in the winter.Anyway hope you enjoy the AC.:p :p :p

[Ken Garlock]

You know, having the garage doors made tight with good fitting weatherstripping to block air infiltration is probably more important than having them heavily insulated. I think the best money spent is in the ceiling. 15" is a good start for sure.

<<<< snip >>>>

On the other hand, it get's pretty hot in there in the summer time. The doors face south, and like I said, it really traps the vehicle heat. I just started thinking about ways to forcibly vent the heat out of there. I'm still in the pondering stage on that one though. Thankfully, my workshop is in the basement.

Bill, I was going to add a word about sealing up cracks around the doors, but just didn't. :confused:

Our garage faces south and catches almost a full day of Texas sun. When we built, I had Overhead Door Co. install their R-19 doors. On a hot day, you can't keep your hands on the outside of the door, on the inside you could hold your hand on it all day. I have never seen the garage temp over 90 even when it was 110 outiside. :cool:

Oh yes, the trapped car heat is a real pain. I usually try to keep the door open for an hour of two in an attempt to mitigate the problem, all the time LOML is complaining about the door being open. She claims the insects, and vermin a getting in with the door open. I tell her that is why you buy DeCon bait. :rolleyes:

Regarding the R13 in the walls, have you ever seen how the workers install that stuff? When they are done, it is nearly crushed up against the exterior sheathing. Oh well, at least it helps keep the air still, and that is what you want anyway. :)

[Chris Padilla]

Ken, my garage door faces West and the afternoon sun is unbearable in the summer...no need for light when the sun seems to be at the end of the driveway! :( I'm trying to convince my neighbor to allow me to plant a tree at the end of the driveway near his side...one grown, it should work well to shade my garage....

[Ken Garlock]

Ken, my garage door faces West and the afternoon sun is unbearable in the summer...no need for light when the sun seems to be at the end of the driveway! :( I'm trying to convince my neighbor to allow me to plant a tree at the end of the driveway near his side...one grown, it should work well to shade my garage....

Chris, that is a real problem, and as someone once said, I feel your pain. :rolleyes: Have you come up with a solution other than bricking up the doorway? :eek: :D

My shop doors face west, and in the afternoon the door is too hot to touch. But, on the inside it is nice and cool. It is a Stanley steel door with the solid foam insulation. Of course, having the shop air conditioned helps the inside door temp as well.

Chris, your problem just reinforces my opinion that there is no perfect place to live. There is always a problem of some type. I used to think that Hawaii was "the" place to live until a friend who grew up there told me that you needed to have your home fumigated twice a year for termites. Heck, I don't need to move to Hawaii to have termites. :)

[Martin Shupe]

Glen,

Please let us know how happy you are with your new AC system.

Currently my "shop" is in a garage that faces west...big mistake. The afternoon sun is great for lighting, but in the summer I struggle to keep sweat from dripping on my projects. I will have to wait on AC until I can build a stand alone shop. :(

Ken, I have overhead doors, uninsulated. I think I can get some "install it yourself" insulation to slide into the doors. I think I may try that, as it would maybe keep the garage a little cooler when the doors are closed, and maybe warmer in the winter time.

[Bob Noles]

Glen,


No where near the maganitude of your situation, but I recently installed a window AC unit in my small shop and I cannot believe the difference in temp and humidity. Nothing like working in a cool 70*-72* shop :cool:

[Bill Lewis]

Our garage faces south and catches almost a full day of Texas sun. When we built, I had Overhead Door Co. install their R-19 doors. On a hot day, you can't keep your hands on the outside of the door, on the inside you could hold your hand on it all day. I have never seen the garage temp over 90 even when it was 110 outiside. :cool:I know what you mean, we have an uninsulated overhead door at our (work) facility. It's like a big radiator on the inside! I'm glad I'm not paying the bills on that building. OTOH my garage doors also face south and they are insulated with about an inch of foam. This seems to be more than adequate. It helps that they are white too, a darker color could present a bigger problem.
Oh yes, the trapped car heat is a real pain. I usually try to keep the door open for an hour of two in an attempt to mitigate the problem, all the time LOML is complaining about the door being open. She claims the insects, and vermin a getting in with the door open. I tell her that is why you buy DeCon bait. :rolleyes:Yes we've been doing the same, trying to leave the doors open as much as possible. We have another problem though, we're trying to keep the vermon IN the garage, well, maybe not vermon, but rather the doggies. This will all be made much simpler in a couple of weeks (long story there).


Regarding the R13 in the walls, have you ever seen how the workers install that stuff? When they are done, it is nearly crushed up against the exterior sheathing. Oh well, at least it helps keep the air still, and that is what you want anyway. :) All the rest of our house is 2x6 walls with icynene foam insulation (like the use on TOH), I opted to do the garage with 2x4 walls, and fiberglass. The installers did a decent job without crushing it. I think what has mattered more is the heavily insulated ceiling.

[Bob Marino]

I pulled the trigger this week on an air conditioner for my 1 car garage shop. After some due diligence, I have purchased a 22,800 BTU Mitsubishi ductless split system. I had it priced as a turnkey purchase by two local A/C contractors and my jaw hit the floor when I got the bids. Still paid much more than I would have preferred, but by buying the equip. mail-order and arranging for installation by a local contractor (both A/C and electrical) I have saved $1500 - $1800. The system I bought also has a heat pump, so I can keep the shop warm in the winter. Very anxious to enjoy the climate-controlled air.

Glen,

This is a sytem I also am considering. If you saved $1500-$1800.00, can I ask what the sytem cost?

Bob