Air conditioning a shop?

[Dick Sylvan]

I have seen more articles than I can count about heating a shop, but here in Houston that can be handled easily and, of course, is largely un-needed. But, I am about to put A/C in what will be a soon to be improved , but still too small, workshop, and I was wondering what special considerations I need to take into account with a workshop instead of a house. Thanks.

[Jim Becker]

The biggest consideration is cleaning it frequently...your shop is much more dusty by magnitudes than your home. I blow out my A/C each day...if I remember to do so...when I'm using it during the appropriate season.

[Tom Jones III]

As another houstonian who put A/C in the shop, besides Jim's suggestion to clean it out daily, insulate, then insulate some more, then clean the filters again and put in more insulation. Closing the doors and turning on the A/C accentuated how much I need to work on dust collection.

[Dick Sylvan]

What do you blow out, and do you use compressed air or something more gentle?

[Jim Becker]

Compressed air for me...

[Al Willits]

Are you putting in a air exchanger with the condensing unit outside or just a window unit?
Window unit these guys have covered pretty well, a air exchanger set up could include pre filters that would help keep the evaporator clean.

Al

[Ron Blaise]

Great insulation and daily cleaning & eventually a good air cleaner too. My airconditioner stays much clearer after I installed one. I clean that at least once every other day too.

[Fred Voorhees]

Man, I would LOVE to air condition my shop. But, there are two major problems. First and foremost, my shop is a fairly large shop in area and it would take a decent sized conditioner to do it competently. Second, my shop is on the second floor of a big two car garage and the cooled air would drift down the stairs and keep our cars cooler than my butt in the shop. That can be remedied by hanging a sheet or something across the stair opening. However, I need to remedy the first problem before tackling the second. I have two fans up there, but it still gets pretty danged hot up there in the middle of the summer.

[Jeff Wright]

I have been pleased with the mini-split system I installed late last year in my 2-car garage shop. The mini-split has been popular in Europe for over ten years. It consists of a unit high on one of my concrete block walls and that is connected to a compressor outside. It provides heat/air conditioning/dehumidification. Unlike window a/c units, the mini-split is quiet running . . . you don't even know it's running. I have yet to insulate my garage ceiling and have been surprised at how little my electric bill increased - and I have used it during some pretty hot weeks/months, plus a cold spell (which isn't saying much here in Florida).

I have yet to find much dust accumulated in the system's inside filters from wood dust. That could be due to the efficiency of my Oneida 3HP DC. Mini-splits are not cheap; mine cost $1,600 installed, required 220V (which I was installing for the wood shop anyway), and I am told systems would cost closer to $2,200 today for the equivalent system. But it is nice using the remote control to regulate shop temps. No rust so far!

[Andrew Williams]

At the moment, the easiest way to air-condition a shop, in fact to make it downright cold...

Is simply to build the shop in New York State

[Carroll Courtney]

If your shop is the size of a one car garage then the best thing would be a window unit.If its bigger then that then a package unit or a wall mount unit would work.You can figure about 5-600 sq ft per ton if ceiling and walls are insulated.With the last two items there is no duct work to run inside or up in the attic.Package units are on the ground and duct to the wall, all you see is the grills. Wall mounts are as the name applies is mounted to wall (ext.)and no duct work just the grills.Looking at about 3000.00 up front,but if taken care of will last a long time.Here in Houston, the heat,humidity and the though of walking to a cool shop,its worth it.Service-just like your house.Check once a yr and as others said,keep the filter clean.A unit has to breath also.What it takes in it will put out in cool air.

[Cody Colston]

My shop is 600 sq.ft., insulated, and I put an 18000 btu window unit in the wall when I built it. As long as I keep the coils clean, the unit cools my shop very well, even in the high heat/humidity of E.T. in the summer. As a bonus, the unit also heats it those few times I require heat during our mild winters.

My DC does a very good job but I can tell almost immediately when I use a router or belt sander without dust collection. The filter and then the coils clog up and the AC quits cooling. I've taken to using a pump sprayer with clear water in it to flush out the dust from the coils. That seems to work better than compressed air for me.

[Al Willits]

Might wanna be very careful with the mini split systems, at least the Fujitsu, LG and Samsung lines, if your evap blower or coils ever do get dirty, plan on spending a few hours at least cleaning them.
Not very friendly.

The Fujitsu seems to be the latest greatest minie going lately, least here anyway.
Pretty high seer ratings

Al

[Tom Hamilton]

Yes, Dick, A/C is essential to shop time in Houston for at least 6 months of the year.

I've got a three car tandem garage with the shop in the third bay. Fortunately the master bedroom it above and the two outside walls are insulated. I found a large, 7500BTU, 120 v window unit on sale at Sears and it, plus a floor fan placed in front of the window unit, keep the shop useable and comfortable.

Like others have suggested, I wash the filter frequently.

You're welcome to inspect the set-up. I'm in Pearland, pick a warm day and give me a call.:D

Best regards, Tom

[Thomas Canfield]

If your shop has some space, take a look at a standard house type split air conditioner unit with the air handler inside the shop and compressor outside. I installed a 2 ton unit in a 22'x24' with 10' side walls here in East Texas and have had good cooling and moderate bills. I normally keep the thermostat set at 80F during the air conditioning time, and 60 F for heat using electric heat strips (OUCH - that is expensive heat). I did install the air handler on a raised platform with 2 additional filters in parallel ahead of the unit, and have not had any problem with excessive dust collecting on the unit filter. I do have a dust collection system for the larger equipment, but there is still dust from the miter saw, sanding, and lathe work to deal with. You don't need much for duct work if any from the unit to circulate air in the shop.

My unit is an upright floor mounted unit, but one of the attic style could be adapted to hang in a shop also. The regular split unit cost less than some of the wall mount units, and the filter arrangement is much better.

My air return is down near the floor, and the fine dust seems to hang in the air about head height. Wood Magazine had a review of air filters a while back, and tested a regular box fan with a filter attached, and found it to nearly match the units that hang from the ceiling. I hung a box fan (with filter taped to inlet) by the handle on a rope so I can lower it to blow out or change the filter and have had good success. I need to change my hanging method to put the fan switch on the bottom to be able to use the speed swith and not just a line switch to turn it off and on.

Good luck. The wife talked me into the air conditioned shop, and it has been a real joy to be able to work no matter what the weather and have no rust or humidity problems.

[Richard Butler]

My two story 15x30 shop has a 2 ton heat pump that I kept when I replaced my home heat pump 2 years ago. It is an upflow unit. I put it upstairs and cut a hole in the floor/ceiling for the return. I fashioned a couple of twist blocks to hold the air filter in place. I can look at the filter or change it in seconds without going upstairs.

[David Giles]

Dick, the Houston humidity makes me sweat no matter what. But the inside shop temperature is rarely above 80-85 degrees. Rather than spend the time and money that AC would entail, I have insulated the fool out of the ceiling, west walls and metal doors. A couple of BIG fans blowing at my back keep me cool enough and push all the dust away from the work area. Keeping paper plans in one place is a problem though!

[Jim Bell]

My shop is 500 squ ft. I installed a/c last yr. The dust was unbearable. I installed a Clearvue and all is well. I am able to pull air from inside the shop to the cyclone and return clean air to the inside. There is a small loss of a/c but not real noticeable. I have an 18,000 btu window unit. The shop is insulated but sits in the sun since Charlie removed my shade in 04. I bought every dust collection device known to man ($2500.00). The Clearvue and install ran well under $2,000.00. All the other stuff running at once still left a thick film on everything. The Clearvue keeps my shop clean.:)

[Matt Meiser]

The climate here is a little different, but I just run a very large window AC unit in my shop. Closed up, my shop doesn't heat up too bad due to heavy insulation. I periodically blow it out with compressed air. It helps that it is in a window a ways away from my main work area.