Cooling Workshop in Texas

[themoon]

I've been looking over the Internets for some expert advice and came across this forum. I thought I might give it a shot and see if you guys have a suggestion and course of action for me.

I recently picked up one of these for dirt cheap (and its brand new):
SPT 12000 BTU

This is my workshop (the one car garage (attached to my 2 car garage)).

It's basically a three car garage with a wall added in between. All of the walls in the workshop are insulated including the garage door.

Ok, so to install this... Can I?

• Mount this in the wall between the garages? This seems to be the easiest solution. But I don't know what I should do about condensate and the heat exhausting into the other garage.

• Mount this to the ceiling. There is an unconditioned walk-in storage above the garage. (The attic basically) Not sure how condensate and heat would affect the attic area though.

• Finally mount this out the back wall where the current two A/C units sit. It would be above one of them. I'd also have to cut through brick. This seems to be the most difficult.

Other ideas? Suggestions?

\\No I can not cut into the right wall. That would be visible. Nor can I cut into the garage door itself.

 

[sands35]

The best way is the right way (which is also the hard way). Put it through the wall.

Is the 1 or the 2 car your workshop? The least intrusive way is to put it into the dividing wall, and put the exhaust into the space that you don't work in. As for condensate, your car's AC system drops water on the floor - that is basically the same stuff.

Do you get freezes where you are at? If not, then just run the condensate out the wall and down to the ground. If you do, then dump it on the floor or into a bucket - or just blow out the line when you winterize it for the close of the hot season.

An attic installation is viable, but you need to think about how you will turn it on and off, service and doing the duct work. It's harder to hide holes in a ceiling than in an interior wall.

Cheep is good, but the best solution would be a mini split system. You get the cooling capacity and only a small hole in an exterior wall.

 

[themoon]

Hmm, I could try to resell this and look into the mini split system. I hadn't really thought of that.

My workshop is the 1 car garage. The one on the right.

Is there a particular mini split system that would be recommended?

edit:
I've been looking into the mini-splits... I keep seeing people comment on something called "vacuuming". And that the mini split can be potentially difficult to install. Is this actually true? What do they mean by vacuum the system?

 

[Falcon67]

IMHO - No, No, Yes in that order. However, a 12x20 ought to do fine with a 9K mini and the install would be cleaner I think.

 

[themoon]

After both of you recommending a mini-split I'll go see about doing this instead. Will be nicer to have a small hole instead of a huge square in the brick face.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Cheap is good, in my book, assuming 12,000 BTU is adequate to cool the space (if the walls are insulated, I assume that the ceiling is also) !

Mount it out the back, above the other A/C units. Water will drip from that unit so you may need to rig something up that will re-direct the drips away from those A/C units.

 

[Falcon67]

Mini will not be "cheap" but most of the decent 12K BTU window shakers I see are running $600, so that puts him maybe $300~500 off a high efficiency mini. the mini install is cleaner, not as big a hole and would likely pay back if the use time is long enough. Most window units run 10ish SEER and lots of minis are in the 18 range.

Also beware - you cut a hole for that unit and it fits nice. Good job. Oh heck, it's 2 years from now and that thing is dead. Not worth fixing. Now you buy another - oops, it's not the same dimensions (because they never are - there is no standard sizing). Now what. with siding, no problem. With brick - um...

 

[DefSport]

A 9k mini split will do just fine for a 1 car garage. I have a 12k mini split in my 3 car garage, and even with most the walls just being drywall and R-3 sheathing and brick, and the garage doors being uninsulated it'll still bring it down to the low 80's and low humidity (usually around 81-83 deg F, ~40% humidity). It's downright comfortable for me to work in due to the low humidity and fairly moderate temps.

The big heat load is the garage doors, so after I get around to insulating those the 12k is more than enough for ~640-660 sq ft. So a 9k in an insulated space will really get it cool.


I got a 13 SEER unit from highseer.com. No sense at all in going with a higher SEER unit for a garage, as you're talking about saving maybe a couple of bucks a year unless the wife kicks you out and makes you sleep there.

 

[themoon]

Are these mini splits easy to install? I've noticed some comments about "vacuuming"? What is that? Would I need to do that with a unit from highseer? I've also seen comments about needing a plumber to "bleed" the unit. What is that exactly?

 

[sands35]

The DIY units come pre-charged with refridgerant. The lines are not. Hook up the lines, then use a vacuum pump to pull a vacuum, then open up a valve on the outdoor unit and the system should be charged and ready to go. Vacuum pumps can be rented.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The DIY units come pre-charged with refridgerant. The lines are not. Hook up the lines, then use a vacuum pump to pull a vacuum, then open up a valve on the outdoor unit and the system should be charged and ready to go. Vacuum pumps can be rented.

Many folks hire a local A/C company to do a final inspection and hook up. Find one that handles your brand and you should the warranty should be good.

Get this setup BEFORE you buy !

 

[SiGmA_X]

Many folks hire a local A/C company to do a final inspection and hook up. Find one that handles your brand and you should the warranty should be good.

Get this setup BEFORE you buy !

From everything I've read, do this. Warranty can be questionable depending on brand and such though. A lot of mfg's do not warranty DIY installs, but it varies.