Just found this site the other day and am I ever glad I did. I'm getting ready to put up a 36x40 garage with 10-foot ceilings, and the one area I've been stumped with is how to heat/cool it as we have no gas or LP to the house. It would be about a 200-foot run to put a line back to the new shop, and being in town I really don't want a tank. So, that pretty much leaves electric as my only real option.
I've looked at radiant floor heat, but the $4,000 I was quoted just for components (not including the foam underlayment) was more than my budget will allow. There's also a real concern with being able to find an electric water heater that has a fast enough recovery rate to work with the system.
So, that's lead me to these mini-split systems I've just recently learned about while browsing these pages.
As for my questions, my main one is how low of temperatures are they good for? It typically stays below 20* during the winter months here in northern Ohio, with several days dipping as low as -20* with the windchill. Most of what I've been able to find so far only shows mini-split systems being rated down to zero degrees at best.
Second question would be if it's possible to run two inside units on a single zone. The garage area will be 24x36 and I was looking to use two 12k/Btu units on the opposing 24' walls using a single thermostat rather than a single 24k/Btu unit. This would let me get away with a larger 2-zone unit as the second zone (16x20 workshop) could be heated/cooled with a single 12k/Btu unit.
My third would be what are the better brands that have been around awhile. I've seen some units being sold fairly cheap on Ebay (Bon Air, Klimaire, Harbor Point, etc), but I can't find any other info on those brands outside flee-bay and I'm a real stickler when it comes to being able to get parts or service down the road.
Finally, how hard are these systems to add onto? I'll have a 16x40 loft with 8' ceiling and might want to finish it out down the road and add heat/air to it as well.
BTW, the garage will be 2x6 construction and insulated to he|| and back, so my loss rate shouldn't be too gawd-awful.
I've looked at radiant floor heat, but the $4,000 I was quoted just for components (not including the foam underlayment) was more than my budget will allow. There's also a real concern with being able to find an electric water heater that has a fast enough recovery rate to work with the system.
So, that's lead me to these mini-split systems I've just recently learned about while browsing these pages.
As for my questions, my main one is how low of temperatures are they good for? It typically stays below 20* during the winter months here in northern Ohio, with several days dipping as low as -20* with the windchill. Most of what I've been able to find so far only shows mini-split systems being rated down to zero degrees at best.
Second question would be if it's possible to run two inside units on a single zone. The garage area will be 24x36 and I was looking to use two 12k/Btu units on the opposing 24' walls using a single thermostat rather than a single 24k/Btu unit. This would let me get away with a larger 2-zone unit as the second zone (16x20 workshop) could be heated/cooled with a single 12k/Btu unit.
My third would be what are the better brands that have been around awhile. I've seen some units being sold fairly cheap on Ebay (Bon Air, Klimaire, Harbor Point, etc), but I can't find any other info on those brands outside flee-bay and I'm a real stickler when it comes to being able to get parts or service down the road.
Finally, how hard are these systems to add onto? I'll have a 16x40 loft with 8' ceiling and might want to finish it out down the road and add heat/air to it as well.
BTW, the garage will be 2x6 construction and insulated to he|| and back, so my loss rate shouldn't be too gawd-awful.