AC Solutions for the future?

[dre271]

Guys,
I already have heating solution underway, an electric heater mounted from the ceiling and I am now focusing on a cooling solution for my 450 sq. double garage. One side of the garage has an external wall on which I was planning on cutting through the drywall and building a header to mount a wall AC unit. Is there any non-intrusive cooling solution that won't take floor space? I saw mini heat-pumps for around $800 that provide cooling up to 500 sq. ft. They appeared easy to setup, any luck? Anyone have any luck with these? If the solution is to mount a window unit, is there a standard size I should use so that I can replace the unit with a industry set size?

Thanks!

 

[AmickRacing]

Hey, I'm a newb on this forum, but done HVAC for around 9 years.

I'd say a minisplit would be perfect for what you're looking for. You can get several sizes of those minisplits from 9000 btu up to 3 tons of cooling. No floor space taken up inside, quiet running and pretty bullet proof.

They are a pretty easy to install and get all hooked up. Thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have an HVAC guy (or a friend with a vacuum pump) come over and evacuate the lines before you open it up and run it.

 

[Falcon67]

What he said. I have a 12K in the wall and when it dies, I'll have to redo the hole for anything else. Review the install dimensions at someplace like Lowes and you can see where they are all a bit different. The mini-split would be the best idea.

 

[dre271]

I found mini split units for between $700 - $900 to cover 500 sq. If I was to run electric to the garage, how much do you think an HVAC guy would charge to install (mount, hookup, wire, setup) a mini split unit?

Thanks!

 

[AmickRacing]

Wow, tough to answer pricing questions since it varies from company to company, not to mention area to area.

Not sure if you know approx what companies charge per hour, but I'd guess that would be a half a day job for 2 guys normally, or a full day for one guy.

Of course there will be a markup on the equipment. If you buy the equip yourself odds are they'll still charge you the mark up for the equip since they are in the game to make money.

If I had to pull a number from a part of my body, I'd guess $2000. If you can call around and get a hold of some companies who've installed them before, and you tell them it'd be fairly easy and the outdoor unit (hopefully) be right behind the indoor unit (obviously on the ground though) they should be able to give you a ball park figure.

Wiring them is pretty easy usually. Run 220v to the outdoor unit, then a 3 wire (plus ground) to the indoor unit. Some units are different though.

What brand are you thinking about? My favorite is Mitsubishi, but Sanyo, Fujitsu are good units too.

 

[MrWhy19]

I bought a split/ductless system from www.acwholesalers.com for $1,325 including shipping, 50' refrigerant lines set, and weather proof 220v wiring for the compressor. Delivery was included in price, and was dropped in 3 days by a lift gate truck and dolly. This was an 18,000 BTU heatpump unit for cooling and heating. Probaby more capacity than needed for a 400 sq ft garage, but I wanted a unit big enough for quick cool down on a 95F afternoon. If, at noon, you decide to do some shop work, you may not want to wait an hour or more for the temp to drop. They listed a $1,005 system, but it was out of stock at that time. So far I'm very pleased with it. Quiet, up out of the way, and it does cool quickly.

This was not an easy installation because I wanted the compressor on one side, where the house compressor was located, but the inside unit on a different wall. That needed the longer line set and required some drilling and fiddling to get the lines down an interior wall. Also had to feed the condensor drain line down the same wall to a utility room sink drain. Paid a local AC guy to do all that and he charged $750, and I thought that was a deal.

The smaller units may run on 110v, but bigger ones need 220 to the compressor. In most cases, the compressor to evaporator lines set supplies power to the inside unit. It may require an electrician some work to get a 220 line to an outside disconnect box which will supply power to the compressor

If you install the outside and inside units on the same wall it's much simpler, but you still may need to drill a 3" hole through the upper wall which may be brick on the outside. Brick is not easy to drill without breaking.

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