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AC in the garage
Hey All,
I am thinking of putting a portable AC unit in the Garage. My garage is 20x20 and was thinking of using this http://content.vcommerce.com/product....jpg?627175463 http://shop.bjs.com/-349-99-less--50...VVviewprod.htm Has anyone used one of these or tried one |
So where does the heat go to??? an Ac has to transfer the heat to the outside---
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not sure
I know some vent out of a windows or something. And I have seen some that recycle the air. Ooo by the way it is damn HOT down here!!!!! |
I have a house with a 16 x 24 stand alone garage next to the water in NW Florida. I needed a way to keep things dry, so I insulated the entire garage and installed the smallest window a/c unit I could find. It takes a long time to cool things down after the double garage door has been opened, but once things are cool, it takes very little to keep it cool and dry. Even 80 degrees feels ok when its dry. So, the answer to your question is - it depends on how well insulated your garage is and how quickly you want to cool it down.
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They usually have an exhaust hose that you hang outside somehow. They are very inefficient and surprisingly expensive. Here was a consumer reports review of them http://blogs.consumerreports.org/hom...ndition-1.html Priobe, you might consider just knocking a couple of cinder blocks out and running a thru-the-wall unit. It would work better and would probably be cheaper as well.
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Here is what I experienced.
Sacramento area gets hot in summer (102 yesterday), but we do not suffer from the same humidity as Florida. Also, my garage is slightly over 1,000 square feet in size with three, non-insulated metal doors (two single, one double). Having said this, tried a 12k BTU portable unit that was rated as being effective in cooling, under ideal conditions, 500 sq ft. Not surprisingly, the system kept a portion of the garage somewhat comfortable, but with some shortcomings. Shortcomings involved the lack of an insulated ceiling in my garage and an effective way to vent the unit (have a window in garage, but not of the type you can open). Ultimately, had to vent it by opening the exterior garage door which just more heat in. Also, no portable units are energy star rated which means that are real energy pigs. Ultimately defaulted to a portable swamp cooler; much lower cost to operate. These only work though in areas with relatively low humidity; suspect not an option for Florida environment. Bob |
I just read the ad for that unit. The only thing that concerned me was the "self evaporative" method it used for getting rid of condensation. If it blows the evaporated condensation outside through the window vent, it would be ok. But if it blows the evaporated water back into the cooled space, it would not lower the humidity much. And it wouldn't feel as cool as dry air would.
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I did the same thing Tommy did in my 20x20 garage and i works OK but i think the in the wall unit would work better.......may be a little more expensive....
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The right way would be to install a split-system similar to what you have in your house, with the compressor / condensor outside and the evaporator and fan in the garage. Just get a small vertical unit that can sit in a corner of the garage and run one outlet, or some distribution ductwork from the plenum box to distribute the air, then you run a condensate drain to the outside of the garage. It shouldn't take a very big unit. Depending on how well the garage is insulated, use 300-400 square feet per ton of cooling (1 ton is approx 13,000 BTU's). You can use around 600 square feet per ton in a well insulated house.
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Just remember, exhausting the condenser air out is only half of the problem.
For every cubic foot of condenser air exhausted that means it will be replaced by a cubic foot of untreated, high humidity outside air. That will enter through any crack or opening it can. A "good" portable A/C unit not only exhausts out the condenser air but brings in replenishment air too, from the outside (separate inlet and outlet ducts). Don't forget to empty the pan of condensate every "X" amount of hours too. Most portables have a float switch in the pan that cuts the unit off when the condensate pan gets full. I just bought 12 of them from Grainger recently. |
I would also use a "split" system. They can be very efficient and you can do it yourself provided you have the electrical taken care of. The Mistsubishi and Fujitsu units are supposed to be the best according the Carrier guy that installed my second unit. He had just moved to Las Vegas from Hawaii and they use a lot of these type systems.
Here is a link to what I am talking about. http://www.ductlessdepot.net/products-type-1.html They also have some units that will mount into the ceiling instead of the wall. I have used these in two applications. The first was the garage in a previous house. Part of the unit was installed on the wall inside and you had to run a condensate line outside and the line to the outside part of the unit. It was a very clean install and kept our large (20'x30') garage very cool in Las Vegas. The other area I used it was in a smaller 15'x10' room that housed all the equipment for a 450 gallon fish tank (tank included). It was in a pretty humid environment and also very hot since I was running various pumps as well as four 400 watt light fixtures. That application was much more complicated as I also had a dehumidistat/thermastat installed that would run an exhaust fan to "help" the AC unit. |
I've tried a couple of portable AC units, rigging up the outlet pipe for the hot air to a vent or a window isn't to bad. I guess it depends on your setup...
BUT, you can cut in HALF the effective BTU rating of a portable. If it's 10K BTU it will do about what a 5K BTU window unit would do. OK, maybe a bit better than half, but not much. They are incredibly inefficient and expensive to buy as well as operate (energy use is off the chart because they almost never shut down the compressor). I see them only as a last alternative, your back against the wall, dieing from the heat, GOTTA do SOMETHING! So, hire that contractor, cut a hole in the wall, mount a window type unit and bite the bullet. Cheaper in the long room and much much "cooler" all the way around. In my experience a 5,000 BTU unit is just to dang small to do anything more than a SMALL bedroom, the kids room, maybe, if it's small enough. |
Not only is there hot condenser air to be exhausted outside somehow, but the whole unit itself generates its own heat from its compressor running inside the garage unlike a regular home AC unit where the compressor runs outside. VERY inefficient !!!
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If you do decide to get one, get one that can either cool OR heat.
Why freeze in the winter? |
Used the same units as the house, split system. Garage is 2800 sq. ft. so I went with two units, one 5 ton and 3 ton. 5 ton unit does part of garage thats 14' high and 3 ton does bathroom ,dirty room and office, that way can just cool part I will be using. Would put output vents high and return down low, works very well in 14' high part of garage. You can feel the air movement and will drop air temp fast. Put unit 1/2 in attic and 1/2 on ground just like house unit.
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A/c
I cut a hole in the back wall about 5 feet up and in the center of the 2 bays.Its only about 6k BTU but it drys the air , and cools after about 30 minutes of running.
Box fan helps to circulate the air also. The Nut |
For the garage i use a window unit, sized for the garage cubic feet, which in my case was the least expensive alternative. In the house , have a ductless system for the high cathedral ceiling open living/kitchen area and a duct system for the for the bedrooms with conventional ceiling height.
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