Cooling my garage/Adding additional 220v outlets

[nsschwenk]

Hey guys!

I am having trouble cooling down my garage this summer. I ran the AC for 2 hours starting at 85 degrees and it only dropped to 82 degrees @ 90 degrees outside (evening/night). A lot of the humidity was gone but it was still hot inside. I work in my garage a lot after work and on weekends and I want to be able to work in it without taking a shower in my own sweat. I only have one 220v outlet on a 60 amp breaker.

I am currently running a Soleus Air 115v 10,200 BTU Air Conditioner in my 3 car garage. It is not isulated but the exterior has the foam case molding all around it except for the rear of the garage. (See Pic) It has a large built in exhaust fan installed on the roof. The garage door is not isulated.

It also has a mobile home furnace that heats great in the winter.

It has a 100 amp sub panel that has 6 slots that includes: (1) 60 amp two pole breaker for my single 220v outlet, and (4) 15 amp breakers for the roof fan and multiple 110v outlets.

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My concerns:

- Will my current AC unit work for this garage if I isulate it?

- What would be the easiest way to add additional 220v outlets? I want to have a 220v air compressor, 220v furnace, possibly a 220v welder, or possibly a 220v larger AC unit (If necessary)

https://flic.kr/p/o6fvC8

 

[fitz11]

I think you mean insulate. What is there for a ceiling? I would insulate the ceiling, walls, and doors (in that order). That should make it much more tolerable and probably work fine with your current setup. What are the actual dimensions of the garage?

 

[nsschwenk]

fitz11: I believe it is roughly 30'x22.5'

 

[cspcrx]

I think your asking a lot of a 10200btu unit in that size of space and not insulated. I have a 9000btu and my 4 car garage which is insulated and it does little to nothing in it. Going to upgrade to a 24000 btu ductless unit soon as the portable just can not cool that much airspace.

 

[nsschwenk]

cspcrx: I just bought this house and this is what was included. I just need to know if the current ac unit can do the job when garage is finished insulated. But, it sounds like it may not work from what you are saying : (

Now, I have to figure out how to wire up a 220v ac unit on my panel that I doesn't have any open spaces to do it.

 

[2dupont4]

I have a 24x30 and the first thing I did was insulate the walls, and ceiling. My windows are insulated, and all doors. I put in 3x3 windows not thinking about ac size. I can only fit a 12000 btu in it. With that said, I run it with two ceiling fans that are on each end and it does a fair job. I just have to run it 3-4 hours to get comfortable before I start anything.

Insulation will make a world of a difference.

12000 is still to little in my opinion for my area.

 

[sands35]

22x30, you are more in the ~15-18k BTU range.

Insulation is good. At least r13 in the walls and r30 in the ceiling. Ensure proper venting of the attic.

If the walls are not finished, the drill holes in the studs and pull NM. If the walls are finished, then run PVC conduit and use TNNH rather than NM.

For the compressor, it depends on how big it is going to be and if it will be plugged or hard wired into a disconnect.

The welder will likely need a 40 or 50 amp breaker, but it just depends on how big it is. Same for the 220 AC. That just really changes the gauge of the wire and size of the breaker.

 

[2dupont4]

And by looking at your photo, it looks unfinished so yes the best way and correct way is to run the wire through the studs to where you want it. The easiest way before you decide to finish it out. Then it gets harder to do. Start with insulating the walls. You'll see a difference in just that. I ran 110 and 220 where I wanted my ac just in case. Only thing I didn't think of was window size!

 

[nine4gmc]

I would start with yanking that lil ac out the window and putting in a large squirrel cage fan to **** air out. Next I would be insulating the roof, walls and doors as mentioned, in that order. Finally, if you can fit a 24k btu unit in the window, try that after insulating but that's still a lil small for a 3 car garage in my region(Louisiana has HIGH humidity).

 

[sparelman]

Which way do the garage doors face? At work our roll up door for delivery face the sun for most of the day and it wasn't insulated - boy did it get hot in that area (on some days you did have to be too close to it to feel the heat radiate off it). Over the winter we picked up some 'perma-r" faced rigid insulation and cut it to fit in the garage door panels and there is a huge difference now. You may want to consider doing something like that - the only down side is it definitely adds weight to the door ( this may affect the operation of the garage door opener if you have one).

 

[nsschwenk]

My garage door faces the north. I'm have been looking for a few 25k btu units today. I posted on Craigslist if anyone is willing to trade me for mine! lol

I found out I only have 60 amps coming into the garage from the main. I am going to replace it with a 80 amp breaker sense I only have a #4 copper wires. I'm going to install a larger breaker box in the garage as well.

I know 25k btu ac unit is over kill but I would rather it cycle off instead of running constantly.

Once I'm finished with installing all of electrical/functional aspects of the garage... I can finally start finishing it out.

 

[ffjosh]

once you get it insulated you will notice a huge difference.

my neighbors 30x40 is insulated very good and his AC has trouble keep up. However it is just a small window unit.

He did say if he starts it on full bore in the morning when its cool before work and lets it go all day its pretty dang nice in there. No humidity and around 75-78 degrees.

 

[yardwork]

Just a thought, but you might see a ten degree drop if you put up a radiant barrier on the bottom of your ceiling joists. I bet your biggest source of heat is shingle/roof heat radiating down. I know that heats up my back shop a lot. Something like Reflectix or other brand may be an inexpensive start that you can rock over when the time comes and it will be your vapor barrier as well then.

 

[nsschwenk]

Yeah I looked into the radiant barrier. I don't know anyone who has done it around my area and I don't know how effective it is.