Shop Cooling?

I'm starting to look for a portable A/C unit for my shop/garage. I've never heard of any of the brands that I've found on the net or at HD. Any recommendation on brand or sources? I think A/C will work better for me than the evaporative coolers since I like to close the garage doors while working at night.

Rick,

Depending on the type of home construction you have, I would recommend dropping two ducts from you home A/C system. You can turn them on and off as needed with an electric dampener. Less noise and IMHO should be cheaper to operate. You will want to insulate the garage door.

This will work great. As a matter of fact, I did just that. However, remember to add a return air duct. In my case, I replaced the door between the garage and house with a storm door and just opened the window for return air.
Mel...DAR

Here is what I did:
http://rv9a.card-net.org/archives/2005/03/15/garage-ac/
It works surprisingly well. I use it all the time. I almost never open my garage door. It doesn't work as well as a window unit though. A swamp cooler (evaporative) is totally not the way to go here in Austin. I had one for about a week. For me, and most with standard builder spec homes, dropping a vent off of the house hvac isn't an option because builders notoriously under size the units they install. I also like what Jeff B. did with a window unit and cutting out a hole in a bottom panel of the garage door.

I live in Phoenix where it will be over 100 degrees June-September. I'm getting ready to buy 2 portable units for my garage and have found Newegg.com to have the best prices on these units. Let me know if you find a better deal.

Jerry Kosirog
RV-7A Emp
EAA 794549

Why not mount a window type unit in an exterior wall? Cosmetics, perhaps. But, you will spend a lot of time in the garage, and I found it wonderful to have the shop be comfortable. Window type units cost less today than they did 25 years ago. Also, since I live in the middle of a skeeter combat zone, it was generally not possible to have the garage doors open after dark.

For most effective cooling, I recommend Fat Tire Ale, brewed here in Ft. Collins, but I understand it's available most anywhere now. Quieter than A/C and much more effective than a swamp cooler in the humid areas of the country.

Jeff

Fat Tire Ale

The ale is a good idea, but the quality of my work might suffer a bit. On the other hand, maybe that's what I need to improve the quality Actually, I'm going to get a price on tapping into my main AC system - my only option for exhuast is thru or under the garage door.

Rick_A said:

The ale is a good idea, but the quality of my work might suffer a bit. On the other hand, maybe that's what I need to improve the quality Actually, I'm going to get a price on tapping into my main AC system - my only option for exhuast is thru or under the garage door.

Click to expand...

Just a caution note on this:

You'll see new home models, where the garage door has a temporary wall, sliding glass doors, and perhaps a few heat/ac vents tapped off the main system ---- temporary.

But legally, from a building code view, we no longer tap off the main HVAC systems to garages. It's because the construction of homes, is much tighter these days in regards to air infiltration.

If airflow is pushed out into the garage, instead of recirculated within the home, air from other sources will try to replace it. This air could come in from an outside combustion air vent, and even down through the furnace & water heater flues.

Modern furnaces will now shut off with a backdraft, but water heaters might spill carbon monoxide. In the winter, the water heater vent might actually become cold, as the cold replacement air is flowing down through the flue pipe.

As you can see, it's the winter months that have a much more dangerous effect, than summer months, even though the water heater has a potential to spill fumes. At worse, the home is sucking in hot air, where possible.

And then of course, older houses are not as tightly constructed. And depending on location, the water heaters may be electric, and "gasless" heat pumps are doing the heating and cooling instead of natural gas or propane.

When I started my RV, I actually did, tap off the main system, with insulated flex piping to a small insulated shed for heat, and a wall unit for A/C.

L.Adamson -- HVAC contractor

I put a 1 1/2 ton split system heatpump in my garage. Airhandler in the ceiling space and condensor just outside on the ground. Two supply registers in the ceiling and a return air grill with filter. Insulated all the attic space above the garage and insulated the garage door. Works great.