Air conditioning in your garage??

[John McIntire]

Anyone have air conditioning in your garage? If so what are you using? A giant window/wall unit? How big a unit do you need?

Just curious, I know I'm going to be spending some time out there this summer, and just dont want to sweat to death!

[Bill Howell]

Probably the more important question is,

How big is your shop?

cubit ft? width x length x height?

[ProdigyCustoms]

We have central air in 2000 feet of the shop with a 5 ton unit. A friend of mine bought a monster window unit for his 1000 feet space, but said it spins the meter to hard. Personally, I would pay any amount, and will for that matter, cause ours just went out and it's 96 today

[derekf]

Previous owner of the house had an AC vent run to the garage, with a valve to turn it off/on in the attic.

I've had it off since we moved in - my electric bills are high enough already.

[syborg tt]

I had a similar problem with my Oven i mean Garage. My garage is 20' x 40' Deep. My ceiling is 14" high in the center and my walls are 9' high. It would be about 20 degree's hotter then ambient temp. A friend suggested i install an attic exhaust fan in the ceiling all the way in the back. Man what a difference it made. It's brought the temperature down to ambient but the good news is there is constant air flow moving thru the garage. It was 90 here today and with the coolness of the concrete floor i was more then comfortable.

[John McIntire]

The garage is small and detached, its 20x20 with eight foot ceiling, but the ceiling isnt finished. For the winter, I bought this electric heater that hangs in the corner, and got a junk paddle fan that my friend was throwing out, and hung it all the way up in the rafter so it would blow down the hot air and it works great in the winter! I can get it to about 60-65 and its nice!
I was thinking of getting a big window unit, or wall unit and was thinking that since hot air rises, and cool air falls, i could just rubn the air conditioner, and it would cool off the garage pretty well. I remember watching some discovery channel thing where they built this huge airport out of glass and it ws just massive, and they were worried about cooling it, and they said that te cool air falls, and displaces the warm air and keeps it up top, kind of like oil and water, the water would be on the bottom(cold air) and the oil on top(warm air)
Let me know what you think!

[syborg tt]

kind of like the Mall of America - it has no heating system (just good old body heat)

[dropit69]

i tell you wqhat helps mine out is to not open the doors much..i keep it all closed up as much as possible and it stays alot cooler than youd think ..except for the 95 degree day we had today it was 80 in there,,i first thing i would do is finish ceiling and insulate it..make sure you have roof vents too those keep the attic right temp too..syborg next time you make it down near troys keep coming a little farther south like 25 miles and thats where i live ..we'll grab i burger!!

[Hotrod406]

I have a big wall unit that I got for free from a former employer. It works, but it doesn't quite cool my garage (30x40x9). It knocks about 10 degrees off when it is 90 out. I am thinking about hanging some plastic do divide the space, but I haven't tried it yet.

I think a good wall unit will be plenty for your 20x20. Well worth the money.

[chicane67]

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=215791-420-MMB12A&lpage=none

[shmoov69]

My 24' x 32' has a heat/air unit like what is in a hotel room, except a little bigger. Works great, not quite a refrigerator, but LOTS cooler than outside! Oh, and Lots O insulation!!

[Steve68]

I run a fan, 22" floor fan, not the best but it works, I've been in Franks the air is nice, I'd run vent into the garage but the door is thin, when I become rich, the shop I'd like to build would have fans and a/c,

[slow4dr]

I've got a 800 sq/ft shop with 10' ceilings and a 24,000 BTU wall mounted unit. At this time the roof has no insulation and I've been able to get it down to 75-80 degrees inside when it's 95-100 outside. I definitely plan on getting the sheet rock up soon and adding an attic fan before it gets to hot.


On a side note: The previous owner installed sprinklers but they are flush with the roof line. Anyone know if it is required to have them dropped below the sheet rock once it's installed?

[64Comet]

Couldnt you just run a vent in to your garage off of the indoor A/C. The thermostat would be in the house, so it wouldnt be basing the thermostat ambient temperature on the garage temp, so technically your bill should never change. Yeah it might not be as cold as it is in your house, but if you keep the door closed and maybe run some extra insulation over the garage, it will be much better than outdoor ambient temp with a small investment and no rising electrical costs.

[Bill Howell]

Couldnt you just run a vent in to your garage off of the indoor A/C. The thermostat would be in the house, so it wouldnt be basing the thermostat ambient temperature on the garage temp, so technically your bill should never change. Yeah it might not be as cold as it is in your house, but if you keep the door closed and maybe run some extra insulation over the garage, it will be much better than outdoor ambient temp with a small investment and no rising electrical costs.

Uhm, NO!
If you pump air into the garage, you got to circulate it back thru the system, via a return. If the house was properly fitting for the correct size unit, then the additional 400 sf. would overwork the current unit. If you did not provide a duct, it would either overwork the system still, or not do much as far as moving air. Remember, for every cubit foot of air you put in a room, you must also remove a cubit foot. I am no engineer, just practical experience here. I would probably just go to Lowes or somewhere similar and get a window unit for no more space that you are talking about. Insulation issues and direction of any windows are facing would be determining factors when trying to size the new unit. The more windows facing west/south, the bigger the unit you will need.

[syborg tt]

the other problem in most states this is not allowed. Seems they worry about carbon monoxide entering the house.

[John McIntire]

do those evaporative coolers really work that well?

[chicane67]

Well...... here is Las Vegas...... we get to test everything in the worst possible conditions.

Yeah..... they work.

[John McIntire]

Well...... here is Las Vegas...... we get to test everything in the worst possible conditions.

Yeah..... they work.
but how well?