A/C in Garage - Added Benefits!

[Skellyii]

I just closed on what my friends describe as my "garage with a house attached" at the end of August. Three car, approx 900m sq ft, 12 ft ceilings with no heating or AC. It's on close to a half acre, so I might add on at some point in time. The doors face the south with no shade, so it gets pretty hot in there. I was priming and top coating the drywall, but my work schedule was totally dependent on the weather, as it got up to 90 degrees in there in the afternoons, and most paint and primer shouldn't be applied at that temperature.

Since I'll be retiring within the year, and I plan to spend a lot of time out there, I've been looking at mini-splits. When I was younger, heat didn't bother me...but I'm older now.

 

[Dig Doug]

I have a 5 ton unit in my Lake Havasu garage w/ 3 ceiling fans and it’s really nice!
when it’s 110 and your garage is 78 it’s icy cold & feels refreshing


tv, bathroom, fridge, big ol ice maker & tools…. I love it!

wife says if I had a microwave I wouldn’t need to go in the house….

 

[rpcraft]

I'm considering the idea of a banrdomenium in the next couple years. My father passed away last year and once I settle his estate I am thinking I might go ahead and list my place as well and take the proceeds and build my final landing pad. Probably an acre and then a shop that has an apartment inside, maybe a loft or something similar. I'm not sure on size but I am thinking something in the range of 4000 to 5000 square feet and then have a multi zone system but have the entire building spray foamed and air conditioned. I normally keep the temps around 73 or so in most of my house. I have a room that stays warmer than the others, usually three to 5 degrees depending on the day. It's the south room of course and when it is 78 I am happy so long as a fan is blowing so I think in a shop I would just have some big overhead fans keeping air flow going. I think the only thing I would want added on the building is a nice paved or concrete area with about 15 to 20 feet of awning across the front to work under on when I want to, maybe like a car washing zone or a spot to have the grill setup and other similar things.

 

[Metal-Marc]

I'm not sure on size but...

Go big.

 

[TobeyA]

I just closed on what my friends describe as my "garage with a house attached" at the end of August. Three car, approx 900m sq ft, 12 ft ceilings with no heating or AC. It's on close to a half acre, so I might add on at some point in time. The doors face the south with no shade, so it gets pretty hot in there.

At a minimum, insulate those south-facing doors. I did that at my old house, and it made a world of difference. I used the rigid foam sheets, cut to fit the panels. There are probably better ways to do it

 

[ChevyEFI]

For those of you in hot climates, why aren’t heat pump water heaters installed in the attached garage? Seems like a marriage made in heaven. They cool the surrounding space and dehumidify.

"Let's put the water heater in the garage," are fighting words. However, if you can elaborate on how much cooling they are capable of, I wouldn't mind knowing more.

 

[Skellyii]

At a minimum, insulate those south-facing doors. I did that at my old house, and it made a world of difference. I used the rigid foam sheets, cut to fit the panels. There are probably better ways to do it

Fortunately, the RV height door is steel and already well insulated. However, the other two doors are wood contractor grade doors. I was doing stuff in there over the weekend, and noticed how you could be at least two to three feet away from the wood doors and feel the heat radiating from them. And it was only in the low 80s. The rV door was barely warm to the touch.

I already have a quote from the company that did the RV door to replace the wood doors with the insulated steel doors. Fortunately I know several people that work for the company, so I can grab the employee discount!

I was in the attic over the weekend, one of the previous owners had someone come in and do a nice job of adding blown in insulation over the living areas, but unfortunately didn't do that over the garage.

Oh well, another project for the winter months...