air conditioning the garage with central ac

[rapter]

I live in the Houston area where the heat and humidity together heats my garage like an oven during the summer. The only benefit from this heat is that I can get a sweaty workout fast.

I want to cool the garage with an ac, but HOA will not allow it I am sure. It would not fit well with the overall asthetics of the home anyway. My question is, if the garage is attached, would running an ac duct from the pre-existing ducts of the home and into the garage be beneficial? I would close the vent when the garage will not be in use, also, will this action cause a noticible decrease in cooling for the rest of the home? A celiling fan is already installed and vents on the garage door. Thanks for any ideas.

 

[texas-saluki]

Rapter,

surprised no one responded to your thread... I am not an A/C expert but I do know that closing the event is not an effective seal. I would be possible to have a damper in the attic to the garage that you could use to open and close, but this would be a PITA.

There are some small self contained A/C units that others have installed in garages that seem to work well, the freon is all sell contained and the evaporator out side is really small. You would put it next to your existing units and no one would know. I am thinking about the same thing for me. I am in Dallas and the summer is useless to work in the garage unless I want to sweat off 10 lbs in water weight

I will try to find the information and post a link

 

[texas-saluki]

it is called a mini-split unit

Here is a video on installing them

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,1630888,00.html

search google for mini-split ac and you should come up with a few options.

 

[trbomax]

In ohio I had a comercial unit like you would normally mount on a roof,but I put it on a slab behind the shop.It worked great for 10 yrs or so that I was there. I dont think you would want to mix the air from the shop with the house in any way.Once you get that grage smell in the house you have a hell of a time getting it out. My new shop in MI will have a comercial air unit as well.Havent got around to sizeing that yet but it wont take near as much as the ohio shop as we rarely get over 90 here.My big thing with the air is that you do not have the big doors open in the summer ,and therefore no bugs,flies,birds, and no one reall knows if you are there by just driveing by.

 

[CenTex52Chevy]

I'm not an AC guy but I believe it is both illegal and fire hazard to have you house AC feed the garage. The wall between you garage and house is a fire rated wall and you would be defeating the purpose of the wall by installing a AC vent.

 

[Mike662]

In addition to what has been said about the integrity of the fire wall, I believe there would also be an issue with having an A/C supply vent, but not a return, in the garage.

 

[rodnok1]

I'd wack a hole in the wall and cover the exterior up with bushes, a wooden cover, something to spruce it up. Keep it down low and it'll disappear.

 

[BioHazard]

They also make "portable" air conditioners...that is, the entire unit is on wheels inside your space. You just connect a small air duct to a window to vent the hot air. You could hook it up to look like a standard dryer vent.

 

[Falcon67]

They also make "portable" air conditioners...that is, the entire unit is on wheels inside your space. You just connect a small air duct to a window to vent the hot air. You could hook it up to look like a standard dryer vent.

We've used those on an emergency basis in our computer server room at work. IMHO, they don't work worth a **** and sure as hell won't work in Houston in the summer.

If we still lived down there and had to deal with a @!#$$ HOA, I'd do the mini-split. Plant a big azz bush or/with other "landscaping" on that side wall then mount the mini behind it. Get some brick paint that matches the outside of the house or bury it in the bushes and dust the cover/shell with camo paint. They'll spot a nice bright white external compressor right off. Make it low key, nobody may notice. The smaller mini units are not real big and would be easy to hide in the right foliage.

You cannot use the house. It has to stay separate for safety, noxious fumes and fire. Besides, the house AC isn't sized for the additional load.

 

[trbomax]

Why is it such an issue if the comp/cond is visible outside the shop? Dont understand??

 

[pseudorealityx]

Why is it such an issue if the comp/cond is visible outside the shop? Dont understand??

The HOA would likely take issue with it, since condenser units are considered "ugly".

 

[nate379]

If it gets hot in the garage I just open the door and let the breeze come in. Granted if it hits 80* here that is freaking HOT!

 

[trbomax]

The HOA would likely take issue with it, since condenser units are considered "ugly".

So,get more tubeing and set it beside the house unit,then all the uglyness would be in one spot.Ive never had to deal with this kind of pickeyness,so its a bit beyond my thinking as to what the big deal is!*

 

[pseudorealityx]

So,get more tubeing and set it beside the house unit,then all the uglyness would be in one spot.Ive never had to deal with this kind of pickeyness,so its a bit beyond my thinking as to what the big deal is!*

I'm with you. I purposefully did not buy a house in a neighborhood where there was an HOA. People get their ******* in a bunch over the silliest things.

 

[Kona Cruisers]

If it gets hot in the garage I just open the door and let the breeze come in. Granted if it hits 80* here that is freaking HOT!

Service High School Grad , Anchorage...

I live just south of Houston.... There isn't a just open the garage door here in the Summer option. Last year we didn't have a temp lower then 106* + humidity with heat indexes of around 113 (think wind chill.... ) for 38 days... hottest summer on record.


But winter time I think TOTAL of about 14 -20 days it was to cold to work with out a propane heater going.. so we got that going for us.


The guy who owned my house before me hacked in a window unit into the MAN DOOR... kinda EXTREMELY hokey looking but hey it works!

 

[Falcon67]

I'm with you. I purposefully did not buy a house in a neighborhood where there was an HOA. People get their ******* in a bunch over the silliest things.

Staffed with reasonable people, they can protect your investment and keep the subdivision on a fairly even keel. Staffed with Retired-Eco-lawn-n-garden-neat-freaks they can be pure hell. Also see "Historical Society" LOL. There's a good local deal about Historical nazis - lady bought an old house, nice two story. Went to remodel, change some of the facade - oops, here comes the local history nerds to stop construction because it had been designated historical status by the city. She said 'then release the status, it's my house." They said "no." After a long bit of arguing, she basically went before the council with the history ***-hats in tow and more or less told them "I have a bulldozer parked in the front yard. Either recend the historical status or the house will be a pile of rubble before this meeting is over." She got her release.

 

[cowboyjosh]

I say put in a mini split system, hide the outside unit the best you can, and move on. In most areas the HOA cannot take issue with components essential to the house, nor can they tell you that you cannot install thing like fire sprinklers, lightning rods, security systems, backup generators, etc, etc, etc, things that are meant to protect your property. Many houses now have more then 1 ac unit for the house so having 2 or even 3 isn't out of the question with modern day houses. Just follow local building and electrical codes and do a neat install job and I'll bet hardly anyone will notice. If you do a split system, just make sure the pipe chase and electrical wiring that runs along the wall is painted to match the exterior body color of the house, and I'll bet even the person who notices everything won't notice your AC unit for your garage.

 

[BioHazard]

I will say the HOA where I live is rather picky, if you leave the garbage can out too long, you'll get a nasty letter. On the other hand, they say nothing about the window A/C units sticking out of almost every window starting June...

I hate the HOA, but on the other hand, I do want them to have complete control over my neighbors. Had too many bad neighbors before. In the coming years I plan on turning this house into a rental and I think the HOA works to my advantage in that regard.

 

[Falcon67]

Many houses now have more then 1 ac unit for the house so having 2 or even 3 isn't out of the question with modern day houses.

Excellent point - forgot about that. Breakover rule of thumb used to be around 2400 sq/ft going from a single to a double. Don't want another house that big - somebody has to clean it. Love the 450 sq/ft kitchen - until you have to mop the damn thing.

 

[pseudorealityx]

Mechanical code wise... you now need at least separate control on each floor, either via zoning, or multiple units.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

If it gets hot in the garage I just open the door and let the breeze come in. Granted if it hits 80* here that is freaking HOT!

If it's not the heat, it's the humidity! We'll commonly have 95 deg F temps and 85% humidity. In this part of the country, air conditioning is not an option, it's a requirement. You can break out in a sweat just looking outside. It can be oppressive.

As others have said, get a split unit. Don't forget to really insulate your garage so the system doesn't work as hard. And hide the condensing unit behind a fence or some bushes. Damned yard Nazi's!

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[BioHazard]

And hide the condensing unit behind a fence or some bushes. Damned yard Nazi's!

Honestly, I think he should check a little closer about whether it's actually allowed or not. It might be that he can put an A/C where ever he wants and they have no authority to say otherwise.

If that was the case I'd paint the A/C bright pink and put it in the most obvious place in front of the house.

 

[cowboyjosh]

If everyone would just maintain their property there wouldn't be a need for an HOA. Being a builder of custom homes, even in the 2 million dollar price range, its amazing, 90% of homeowners DON'T care, they only do minimal investment into their houses, if something is broke they pretend its not broke and hope it fixes itself, they rarely have the house cleaned, they buy the house and forget about it. I had a HO call me last winter -10 degree Colorado day tell me her furnace on her 1 1/2 year old house quit, I told her I'd get someone out right away; in her next sentence she told me they didn't think it was working right for the past couple weeks it had been making a strange noise and the burners would light and it would produce warm air for awhile then shut down. Anyways my furnace guy fixed the furnace, but also brought me the air filter from that furnace, it had never been changed since I sold the house. I called to remind them of the maintenance check list I gave them at walk through, and she told me in a pissy tone "but those air filters like the ones you installed for the furnace cost $10.00 a piece and we have 2 furnaces for the house, change both furnace's 3-4 times every year and its almost $100 a year in filters".

On the other hand 10% of the population I deal with are PITA like myself who want everything just so, and can't stand the thought of something broken or imperfect, and we have to live in close proximity to people who could give a rats rip about their yards, condition / cleanliness of the house, etc; you know the people who need the HOA to remind them its time to pull the weeds, water the yard, or repaint the house.

If being a builder hasn't taught me anything else, its taught me "people are different".

 

[portcity]

Been on here lurking a while. Just registered to share on this topic.Im in the same boat, living in coastal al. ive been looking at four different options

You can do one of these. They are self-contained units charged with freon. Just sit them in place, hook up power, thermostat, return, and supply ducts. Very easy, similar to commercial units.
http://www.acdirect.com/goodman_ruud_self_contained_package_units_.php

Or you could do one of these. They are ductless split systems. Very small box mounted outside. Ive seen these installed in many remodel jobs.
http://www.acdirect.com/ductless_cooling_heating_.php

The other two are wall mount unit(window), or just a dehumidifier and deal with the heat, because we know the humidity is the worst part. If I do the last one, I can just run a fan and probably be alright. Plus its a cheap option on power consumption. A dehumidifier using 3-5 amps vs window unit using 10 amps(at the sizes im looking at). Hope this can be of use

 

[littletootpilot]

well hello guys.
i do hvac work and live with an hoa. i hate it at time but what i would do i talk to them to find out what is requred. then if all else fail you add the second unit next to your current one and install another blower unit in the garage and add in the supply vents and return air. DO NOT!!!!!! take the a/c from inside the house 1) that is a fire wall 2) you will throw off the balance inside the house and then you will have all kinds of problems in there with the air supply. i also live in north texas (justin) and am in the planning stages of buils a 30x40 barn and will be putting in a/c and radiant heat in the floor.
for the guys up near dallas if you need a unit let me know i do run side jobs and install new units. but dont wait unit it gets hot out to have one put in. just for the one that want to know i do comercail hvac work for trane

 

[Chance324]

Gents,
I realize this is an old thread but I wanted to comment and see if there is a solution other than what was posted previously.

I too live in NW Houston and restore and race vintage dirt bikes so I'm in the garage a lot. The previous owners of this home ran a AC duct into the garage vented from the ceiling. I capped it off when I installed an attic door and decked above the garage. Recently I insulated the garage door and installed weather stripping around the garage door as well as spray foam insulation around the cracks at the bottom of the door. Since I already have a portable AC unit (8000BTU) I felt this should work fine to break the heat while working with the AC vent in the ceiling. Well I was wrong. By adding the portable unit I only lower the temp in the garage about 3 to 5 degrees after 3 to 4 hours of running the unit.

One observation I made is that if I open the garage door I immediately notice a surge of cool air which leads me to think there is not a proper heat exchange. I feel the garage is sealed but maybe too sealed. It is around 500sq ft. Any ideas? I am also in a HOA environment and they are pickie. I would consider the mini split but probably going to move in a couple of years so not sure I want to do that at this point.

 

[EOC_Jason]

You need to have a return-air duct too... Otherwise it's not circulating air, it's just pushing some in until the static pressure builds up to where it's no longer effective. Since you sealed all the cracks and such it can't leak air out that way. Opening the garage door releases the pressure, however you are also letting cold air escape.

If it's an attached garage, can you just open to door to the house and see if that makes a difference?

I don't see why people think the HOA will come down on a person for having another A/C unit. For a 500 sqft garage it's going to be a small condensing unit. Depending on where you existing unit is, maybe you can set it close to that and nobody would notice, or if you put it on the back side of your house or plant some shrubs in front of it to block its view from the road....

Seriously in Houston people can't complain about an A/C unit, if they do, then ask them to turn their A/C OFF for a day and see how they like it...

 

[Chance324]

Our HOA is sometimes rediculous. They sent me a letter once stating that I needed to replace the net on the basketball goal in the driveway. However if I needed to install the mini I could camo it with shrubs or whatever and it wouldn't be an issue.

Gonna try opening the inside door and see what happens. Thanks for the input!

 

[marsh1]

Our HOA is sometimes rediculous. They sent me a letter once stating that I needed to replace the net on the basketball goal in the driveway. However if I needed to install the mini I could camo it with shrubs or whatever and it wouldn't be an issue.

Gonna try opening the inside door and see what happens. Thanks for the input!

I live in the Houston Area as well and recently installed a Fujitsu Mini Split. 900SF Garage. Should have done it years ago. It has a Economy Mode that does mostly dehumidifying. I keep it at 84 on that mode all the time and it can quickly cool down to 72 when I am working on a project.

My HOA will absolutely not allow window units but I was able to put my compressor near the regular AC compressor and ran the lines down the inside wall , so no issues.

 

[Chance324]

Great info! Thanks!

 

[admranger]

I live in the Houston Area as well and recently installed a Fujitsu Mini Split. 900SF Garage. Should have done it years ago. It has a Economy Mode that does mostly dehumidifying. I keep it at 84 on that mode all the time and it can quickly cool down to 72 when I am working on a project.

My HOA will absolutely not allow window units but I was able to put my compressor near the regular AC compressor and ran the lines down the inside wall , so no issues.

How many tons is the Fujitsu mini split for your garage. I've been told the rule of thumb of 1 ton per 440 sq ft doesn't apply to garages.

Unfortunately for me, if I want one of these I have to upgrade my electrical panel to a 400 amp panel. That's a nice $3k bill, minimum...

 

[marsh1]

How many tons is the Fujitsu mini split for your garage. I've been told the rule of thumb of 1 ton per 440 sq ft doesn't apply to garages.

Unfortunately for me, if I want one of these I have to upgrade my electrical panel to a 400 amp panel. That's a nice $3k bill, minimum...

It is 2.5 tons. My garage is 770SF. Fortunately the 220 circuit I had for my window unit was sufficient

 

[rackeu]

I am in hot and humid savannah ga. I insulated the garage doors and put a small whole house fan in the ceiling of the attached garage. The fan pulls from the garage into the attic space and exhausts out of the soffit. This clears out the hot air in the upper garage and attic space. It also pulls ac in from the house when the door is open. Works well in that I use it only when needed and doesn't compromise the fire wall aspect. Cheap too.

 

[Epolidoro]

I live in the Houston area where the heat and humidity together heats my garage like an oven during the summer. The only benefit from this heat is that I can get a sweaty workout fast.

I want to cool the garage with an ac, but HOA will not allow it I am sure. It would not fit well with the overall asthetics of the home anyway. My question is, if the garage is attached, would running an ac duct from the pre-existing ducts of the home and into the garage be beneficial? I would close the vent when the garage will not be in use, also, will this action cause a noticible decrease in cooling for the rest of the home? A celiling fan is already installed and vents on the garage door. Thanks for any ideas.

I have actually supplied a/c to my attached garage by tapping into the a/c manifold and running two ducts to the garage. There is no return but one is not needed. This did not impact my electric bill at all and cools the garage very well. I also insulated the garage doors which helped to deflect some of the heat.

 

[philjafo]

Having the ductwork from the house HVAC system connected to the garage is unsafe and illegal. The wall between is a firewall, and then there's carbon monoxide and other fumes from the garage. I know its been said in this thread before but if anyone does choose to ignore a building code that's nationwide do get yourself a good co monitor, and look at the alarm response time not all of them are the same. IMHO mini split is the way to go, there's even heat pump models that can heat a garage in cooler climates.