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Gadgetman

Member
I live in Jacksonville FL and my garage is extremely hot to work in. Do you have experience using a Portable Air Conditioning unit? From what I've researched, I will need to vent the exhaust outside. I would probably open up an exhaust vent similar to a dryer machine exhaust vent.

What brands do you recommend?

Your inputs will determine if I should invest in a portable AC setup.
 
I have one that I've been using.

10,000 BTU portable unit.
The garage is 2 car attached to the house.

The A/C can't cool the garage off, but it can maintain a temp. So if I get out there early in the day and get in front of the heat, it's fine.

If I have to cool the garage off, I open the door to the house and blow the inside A/C into the garage with a fan. That will actually cool the garage if I'm running the portable A/C in combination.

After I've got the garage cool, I can run solo on the Portable Unit. Occasionally I might need a boost from the inside, but it doesn't occur very often.

BTW - Today, I insulated the garage door with styrofoam. We'll see how well that performs. It cost about 20 bucks.

I took this photo today after I completed the work. You can also see the portable A/C in the lower left. I ran a drain hose out the corner of the garage door and it has an exhaust hose that is held in place by opening the window and closing it back down on the frame. Easy to use and none invasive.

So far, the garage has been very comfortable. I haven't been dripping sweat all over my work.

By the way, did I mention I live in Houston??? :)

Phil


FP19082007A0009M.jpg
 
Portable Airconditioners

I have a Maytag portable I purchased at Home Depot a couple years ago. I'm not really impressed with it's performance relative to a similar window unit...and it costs a LOT more.

Mitch Garner
RV-4 flying
 
I have one similar to Phil. As he stated, it won't cool the garage, but I simply move it to a position where it will blow right on me. It makes a HUGE difference!
 
Yeah, lots of times I will roll it into position so cold air is blowing on me. Very nice!

My tables are on casters too, so I can position the table in front of the A/C.
 
Phil said:
I have one that I've been using.

10,000 BTU portable unit.
The garage is 2 car attached to the house.

The A/C can't cool the garage off, but it can maintain a temp. So if I get out there early in the day and get in front of the heat, it's fine.

If I have to cool the garage off, I open the door to the house and blow the inside A/C into the garage with a fan. That will actually cool the garage if I'm running the portable A/C in combination.

After I've got the garage cool, I can run solo on the Portable Unit. Occasionally I might need a boost from the inside, but it doesn't occur very often.

BTW - Today, I insulated the garage door with styrofoam. We'll see how well that performs. It cost about 20 bucks.

I took this photo today after I completed the work. You can also see the portable A/C in the lower left. I ran a drain hose out the corner of the garage door and it has an exhaust hose that is held in place by opening the window and closing it back down on the frame. Easy to use and none invasive.

So far, the garage has been very comfortable. I haven't been dripping sweat all over my work.

By the way, did I mention I live in Houston??? :)

Phil


FP19082007A0009M.jpg
Click to expand...

Phil,

I was thinking about insulating the garage too. Where did you purchase you foam? i.e. Home Depot? Does the foam attenuate the sound if your working in the garage?

By looking at your picture, what paint are you using on the floor? Is that an epoxy base paint? Looks good.

Thanks for the input.
 
I have one of these which works fabulously, and can even get too cold in my south Florida garage. The price here is about one thousand bucks below what they usually sell for, so buyer beware. If it really can be purchased for this price, it is a screaming deal!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ORDBVE...e=380333&creativeASIN=B000ORDBVE&linkCode=asn

I also insulated my metal door with Styrofoam which not only helps tremendously with the heat, but it also keeps the noise from getting to the outside. I can't even hear a car pull up outside the garage door!

More on this here:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=9781
 
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I tried it, took it back

Last weekend I bought a 10,000 btu portable unit from Home Depot. I put it in my garage. I does indeed blow cool/cold air, but did not lower the temp in my garage even one degree! I have a two car garage, with has three garage doors, one bay having one on each end. Perhaps that is why my garage has such poor insulation.

I took it back. I bought it for $317 on sale. Perhaps one of those $700+ dollar monsters would work.

I live Orlando and when I walk into my garage in july and august I turn into a sweat grenade. I am not getting a lot done on my project this summer for that reason.
 
I live in middle GA and it has been disgustingly hot and humid lately. Heat index has been between 105 - 115 for the past couple of weeks. I have an 8K or 10K BTU portable unit from Home Depot in a 3 car garage. No, it doesn't lower the temp in the overall garage. But, as others have said if you can work near it, it does make a difference. I also have two fans that I turn on to help circulate the air. I think one of the biggest helps is that it lowers the humidity some. I use it all the time. Oh, and my garage doors are not insulated. I, too, am interested in where you got the insulation and how much trouble it was to install.
 
Gadgetman said:
Phil,

I was thinking about insulating the garage too. Where did you purchase you foam? i.e. Home Depot? Does the foam attenuate the sound if your working in the garage?

By looking at your picture, what paint are you using on the floor? Is that an epoxy base paint? Looks good.

Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

Darren,

I picked up the foam at Lowes and it required four 4x8 sheets. This winter, I might go ahead and put some fiberglass in the attic. Right now, there isn't anything over the garage.

Since it's only been up for a day, I can't really give a fair report. But it did make a difference in how lively the noise is. Much of the ringing has been eliminated.

The floor is a 2-part epoxy. I've put down a few of these now and they do require some work and 3-4 days. Step #1 is to clean up any existing stains/oil spots. #2 etch the surface (well). #3 Mix it and roll it on thick.

I've had both dark gray and light gray. I don't like the dark gray at all; that's why I went with the lt gray in this garage.

You can spill anything on it paint thinner, fuel, oil, whatever. It just wipes up clean.

Phil
 
Installation was very quick once I got the dimensions down. I could do a panel every 4-5 minutes. I spent more time using trial and error until I could get just the right size.

I found that I should cut each panel to the appropriate size and then add 3/4". This was just enough extra length to allow the panel to fit behind the frame. The extra 3/4" will allow them to stay in position and you won't need to glue them.

Phil
 
captainron said:
I have one of these which works fabulously, and can even get too cold in my south Florida garage. The price here is about one thousand bucks below what they usually sell for, so buyer beware. If it really can be purchased for this price, it is a screaming deal!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ORDBVE...e=380333&creativeASIN=B000ORDBVE&linkCode=asn

I also insulated my metal door with Styrofoam which not only helps tremendously with the heat, but it also keeps the noise from getting to the outside. I can't even hear a car pull up outside the garage door!

More on this here:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=9781
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Link; good info.
 
Insulation and A/C works

I have a cheapo 5K BTU window AC unit in 2 car garage. I used the styrofoam from Home Depot ($40) to insulate the garage door and the attic over the garage is also insulated. In the 100+ degree heat we've been having in Alabama, the temp in the garage has never been over 82 or 3 degrees at the hottest part of the day. In winter, or at least what we call winter, I use a small space heater from HDpt that keeps the temps at 60 or above. From previous threads, I think the insulation is the key.

John Castor
9A Finishing
 
Gadgetman,

I just finished a similar project. Check out my writeup under Results of a Cool Garage.
 
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johncastor said:
I have a cheapo 5K BTU window AC unit in 2 car garage. I used the styrofoam from Home Depot ($40) to insulate the garage door and the attic over the garage is also insulated. In the 100+ degree heat we've been having in Alabama, the temp in the garage has never been over 82 or 3 degrees at the hottest part of the day. In winter, or at least what we call winter, I use a small space heater from HDpt that keeps the temps at 60 or above. From previous threads, I think the insulation is the key.

John Castor
9A Finishing
Click to expand...

Insulation really IS the key here. My metal door was like a radiator, you could see and feel the waves of heat coming from the backside of the door when the morning sun was hitting it. No a/c unit is going to be able to offset that much thermal energy. With the insulation, the backside of the door is now the same "room" temperature as the garage. The a/c unit is in one corner of the garage and there is a small oscillating fan in the opposite corner which helps circulate the air and even-out the temperature. The a/c unit I bought has a timer which turns the unit on at 8:00am and off at 10:00pm. It's very comfortable working in the garage now with usually no temperature difference between the house and the garage. I wanted a portable a/c unit and didn't want to cut any holes in the structure for either the unit or inlet-exhaust tubes, so I bought the split-type unit. Don't go overkill on BTU's, as while that may rapidly cool things down, the compressor usually won't run long enough to dehumidify the air. Cold and damp is no fun either, and it's expensive.
 
Mixed Results for us on the Portable A/C

Have to agree that the portable A/C doesn't exactly cool very well. It definitely makes a difference, but I've been quite disappointed with how much of a difference. Ours is a combo unit (heats and cools) and the heating does make a difference... for us anyway.

We live in North Texas (100+ degrees last week) and our garage door faces West, so we're giving its cooling capability a pretty good test (this is our second summer with the unit) As mentioned, it helps maintain the temp, but in our case, it still allows the temp to increase as the day goes on.

Our South facing wall is uninsulated, the East facing wall and half the North facing wall adjoins the house. The other half of the North wall is uninsulated exterior.

I whole heartedly reccomend insulating! The biggest improvement was with the gargae door. I heard garage door insulating kits were cheap... I found otherwise ($85 x 2) so I rolled my own. Used 4 sheets of the pink stuff from Home Depot, an inch thick. The pockets in our doors were about a 1/4 inch deeper, so I also got some of that foil insulating wrap (bubble wrap with foil on either side). After cutting the panels to shape (big enough to completely fill the pockets even behind the flanges) I then glued a piece of the foil wrap to one side of it. Next I cut a slit in the foam opposite the side from the foil. The slit allowed me to bend the foam so I could get it in behind the flanges, and the foil served to hold the foam together (in addition to providing a little bit of a radiant barrier once it was all said and done) Once a panel was in place I used a piece of foil tape to cover the slit in the foam just to hold it in place. Sounds like a lot, but I actually spent slightly less than the "kit" I would've other wise purchased.

We also fully insulated the ceiling above... R30. And finally, we insulated the exhaust tube on the A/C unit itself (it generates a good bit of heat and its directly underneath the cool air intake... yikes!)

Temps inside can be held to a max of about 90-92 when it's 105 outside. I expected a bit better from the unit and the insulating, but it's definitely better than nothing.

The A/C unit has two intakes, and two exhausts...
One intake/exhaust is the air that is cooled (draws in garage air, cools it, and then blows it out) The other intake/exhaust is for the air that is used for the heat exchanger. Here is where the efficiency is lost I believe... For our particular unit this air is drawn in from the side, and then it is blown out the exhaust tube that we piped through a hole to outside the garage. Well, this air has to come from somewhere, and the only logical place is from around the garage door and the vent hole in the utility closet that goes to the attic (both sources of hot air!) So, even though we can feel nice cool air coming from the unit, I believe we're simply drawing in an equal amount of hot air from outside.

I think my next project is to try installing another exterior vent tube and pipe air in for the heat exchanger intake from there. If that doesn't work... well, we'll either just live with it, or entertain the idea of a window unit (we didn't go this route originally because no windows in the garage)
 
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