I have a 2 story 2 car garage with a workshop on the 2nd floor, and I want to find the right size wall mounted a/c. The whole garage will be insulated and drywalled. I will have a dedicated line for the a/c. The garage is detatched from the house.
I live in Elmhurst near Chicago so the temp swings can be great.
Steve
Edited 7/18/2006 1:50 pm ET by SteveC
Replies
A 25,000 BTU airconditioner will work, it rated for a 1,600 sq. ft. room. You'll just need fans or ducts to blow air from the far side of the room.
If you want to cool the downstairs garage, its against most Building Codes, solid doors and fire-rated drywall is required between living space and garage. Cooling the garage will circulate shop dust down there to the cars.
Edited 7/18/2006 6:26 pm ET by Sungod
Tell me more about "against code to A/C the Garage". I am seriously thinking about A/C'ing my garage. New 1 year old home, attached 24'x38' garage w/12' ceilings. I (not an A/C guy) estimate I will need 34,000btu. Garage is fully insulated and drywalled with an up-stairs bonus room accessed from second floor.
I use one oversize bay for my woodworking moving the cars as needed. Installed all new power (Delta X) tools and find it it so hot and humid that I can hardly stand to work long enough to fight the rust, nevermind work on a project. Heat here in Myrtle Beach area usually last at least 4 months.
If you know anything about A/C, I would welcome your thoughts on a "Split system". Deed restrictions require that I hide all outside condensers.
He was not as complete as he could have been, but it was implied in his message.What you can't have is a return from a garage into a system that supplies LIVING SPACE.I think that you can still have a discharge, but without the return it is not very affective and can cause more problems with depressurizing the house.Howver, this is not living space, but rather a detached garage with a workshop. Not sure at all how that is handled in the codes.But there is nothing wrong with an AC system in a garage.
Now I understand your layout-you have a 2 story house with attached bonus room over your garage that you use as a workshop.
For me I would extend one of the A/C ducts from the bonus room, with a damper to shut it off when not needed. Yes it won't work as well because it doesn't have a return duct. Also your duct is not suppose to penetrate your firewall(drywall of your garage). But any other system will clog up very quickly if your doing wood working in the garage.
Used to sell a unit that would be great for your application. The problem is, is that I cant remember what they're called. :>(
They are little wall mount units that heat and cool. They are designed for places where its not practical to run duct work. You could get one condenser for the outside that would run two indoor units, one for the shop, and one for the garage (this would be within code since you can still segregate the car aea from the living/shop area).
Any HVAC person should be able to direct you towards the right unit for your garage.
Thanks for the feed back. I have been looking at the "Mr. Slim" by Mitsubishi. To get to the btu I "guess" I need, I may need two units. I thought this would be a realitively simple DIY install, seeing how I have several 220 lines already in the garage. I'm slowly becoming convinced to contact a professional.
So much for saving a few bucks!
Some people may think its dumb but, in the four houses i've completely gutted and rebuilt HVAC is one thing i've always left to my sub.
Yes Mr Slim is the unit I was referring to (though I sold a different brand). I think it may work out fine for what you're trying to do.
In Frankfort KY you can't run ductwork to a garage because the code says that carbon monoxide could enter the home through the duct.
The cooling load of your garage may not be as much as you think. Lots of power tools in operation at once can change that, though.
Mini-splits or PTAC units will do the job.
If you want heat, then consider a traditional furnace and air.
I am also near Chicago.
I have a PTAC unit in my garage. It works great. For those that don't know what this is. If you have stayed in a hotel/motel this is the heat/cooling unit. They work great but require a dedicated circuit, 30 amps in most cases. Ipaid around 800 for mine but that was wholesale. So I'm thinkin 1200 or better.Fairly easy to in stall, so thatwill save some $$.
Does anyone know if insulating a garage in the South will have the effect of keeping it cooler in the summer (without the use of A/C).In other words, what is the science (if any) behind insulating the attic space in an un-conditioned space to mitigate solar heat GAIN?This question has plagued me and many others for a long time.. Can anyone shed any light on the subject?
Absolutely.
Run a Manual J program and change the value of the insulation and see what happens.
Something a little easier would be to check the temperature of your ceiling in the conditioned space and do the same in the unconditioned area. Wow, a productive use for a non-contact thermometer :)
There are also claims that infrared reflective products help.
I usually only run 1 or 2 tools at a time. The HVAC guy who did the house suggested a 20,000 BTU wall mounted a/c and a hot dawg heater.
If you are doing something that creates a lot of dust, think about whatever kind of filter the system you end up with uses. The advantage of a typical furnace set up is that you have lots of filter choices.
Well, I certaily wouldn't make any suggestions without a load calculation. Whatever works.