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View Full Version : New house - basement shop - how to separate AC in shop from rest of house



Roger Feeley
03-19-2016, 2:45 PM
In our last house, I just sealed off the vents in the basement and let it coast. It was kind of cold in the winter (Kansas) and warm in the summer and I had to use two de-humidifiers.

Now we are starting from scratch and our builder recommended a Mitsubishi compressor with multiple heads. I was kind of jazzed about that. It meant that I could put a head in the basement and my shop would essentially have its own HVAC.

Now the builder isn't so sure about the idea and thinks we might have to have an air handler for the main house. I want to know if I could still have a mini-split driven from the same compressor?

The house is pretty simple. It has one bedroom, one bath a kitchen/living area with vaulted ceiling and a loft. there is a spiral staircase connecting the three floors. The staircase is fully enclosed in the basement (dust) but otherwise open.

Lee Schierer
03-19-2016, 4:21 PM
I have a ducted HVAC system in my house and my shop is heated and cooled with it. We don't have dust problems in the house. What I did was build custom filter boxes for the air returns and put in Merv 11 filters in them that I change regularly.

Mitsubishi makes multi zone mini split systems that have air handlers and the wall mounted units running off a central manifold system.

Todd Mason-Darnell
03-19-2016, 8:05 PM
Does the budget allow for a separate mini split for just the basement? I have one for my home office and I highly recommend them.

Chris Parks
03-19-2016, 8:59 PM
Perhaps ask a AC installer rather than a builder. Me I would just install a separate mini split and be done with it.

Roger Feeley
03-20-2016, 9:57 AM
Lee,

I like your solution as a fallback. What I don't understand about these multi-head systems is why they should care whether the thing calling for chilled (or heated) coolant is a mini-split head or a full HVAC system. I will be asking these questions at a meeting this Friday.

Could you post pictures of your solution?

Randy Red Bemont
03-20-2016, 12:48 PM
I was in the same boat when I built. What I did was put a mini-split system in my basement workshop so I can heat and cool without using the geothermal system of the house. The mini-split works awesome and I can have the workshop as hot or cold as I like. My next workshop will be a separate free standing building and I will do a mini-split for that also.

Red