jmiller_2308
Well-known member
I'm hoping to build about a 800 sqft addition to my garage here in the Minneapolis area of MN. The addition will be joined to the existing garage but I'm going to keep the wall between them so I can zone them separately.
In the current garage I was focused on heat first (like I said, I live in MN) and ultimately installed a Modine HD60 unit heater. This garage is about 900 sqft and the heat has worked well. Two years ago I wanted to add a/c and ended up installing a Mr. Slim ductless because of all the recommendations as well as limiting the impact on the stucco. The a/c was significantly more expensive than a thru-wall unit but I just didn't want to break up that stucco.
Now with the garage addition I'm tying to sort my options.
I originally thought I would add another unit heater and see if I could add another head to the Mr. Slim. It turns out that my Mr. Slim handles only 1 head
and I'm also not sure I have sufficient gas delivery to supply to HD60s.
Since expanding the Mr. Slim with another head isn't an option I thought about making accommodations for a thru-wall a/c during the build but when I look at the price of the big boys its going to end up to at least $800 for a unit sufficient to cool 800 sqft. Heck, with me doing all the work and accounting for additional parts to get it all done that is coming in at $1600
and I still would need to address the gas supply issue.
I next checked into replacing the split a/c with a heat pump version. This would be even more expensive but it would solve the gas supply issue. Unfortunately I live in MN and the heat pump will not produce enough heat for our winters. I'd have to add supplemental heat for at least 3 months of the year. Additionally, when it is that cold the cost to operate the heat pump is significantly more than what it costs to by gas. This just doesn't seem like a good solution for my area.
I read about PTAC systems that have both heating with gas and normal A/C and that it could be installed through the wall. This sounded pretty interesting but I find they cost quite a bit more than a normal furnace and their efficiency isn't all that great.
So the light bulb finally goes off and I start to realize that maybe what I should do is install a conventional furnace and a/c. This would give me the best efficiencies and I think it would be cheaper than PTAC, splits, or multiple unit heater and a/c. I think I could also size the furnace up and use it heat and cool both the existing garage and the addition and that that might bring my natural gas requirements down.
Can anybody recommend or caution against using a conventional furnace in the garage? I know it will need to be mounted some distance off the floor but other than that I don't think anything other than additional filter changes would be required.
Jeff
In the current garage I was focused on heat first (like I said, I live in MN) and ultimately installed a Modine HD60 unit heater. This garage is about 900 sqft and the heat has worked well. Two years ago I wanted to add a/c and ended up installing a Mr. Slim ductless because of all the recommendations as well as limiting the impact on the stucco. The a/c was significantly more expensive than a thru-wall unit but I just didn't want to break up that stucco.
Now with the garage addition I'm tying to sort my options.
I originally thought I would add another unit heater and see if I could add another head to the Mr. Slim. It turns out that my Mr. Slim handles only 1 head
and I'm also not sure I have sufficient gas delivery to supply to HD60s.Since expanding the Mr. Slim with another head isn't an option I thought about making accommodations for a thru-wall a/c during the build but when I look at the price of the big boys its going to end up to at least $800 for a unit sufficient to cool 800 sqft. Heck, with me doing all the work and accounting for additional parts to get it all done that is coming in at $1600
and I still would need to address the gas supply issue.I next checked into replacing the split a/c with a heat pump version. This would be even more expensive but it would solve the gas supply issue. Unfortunately I live in MN and the heat pump will not produce enough heat for our winters. I'd have to add supplemental heat for at least 3 months of the year. Additionally, when it is that cold the cost to operate the heat pump is significantly more than what it costs to by gas. This just doesn't seem like a good solution for my area.
I read about PTAC systems that have both heating with gas and normal A/C and that it could be installed through the wall. This sounded pretty interesting but I find they cost quite a bit more than a normal furnace and their efficiency isn't all that great.
So the light bulb finally goes off and I start to realize that maybe what I should do is install a conventional furnace and a/c. This would give me the best efficiencies and I think it would be cheaper than PTAC, splits, or multiple unit heater and a/c. I think I could also size the furnace up and use it heat and cool both the existing garage and the addition and that that might bring my natural gas requirements down.
Can anybody recommend or caution against using a conventional furnace in the garage? I know it will need to be mounted some distance off the floor but other than that I don't think anything other than additional filter changes would be required.
Jeff