Ptac, who had one?

[ilovevocs]

Who HAS one....major typo in my post title.

I'm attempting to add an AC to my garage. I have entertained all possibilities and feel at this juncture that the ptac offers the best value and ease of install.

Was hoping to hear feedback from others who have gone this route or considered it.

3 car garage, not my final house / garage, and doubt others buying this home will see value in the climate controlled garage, so this is heavily affecting my decision.

Did a search and not allot showed up for PTAC's on the board.

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[60vett]

i have two. One is for a room 14x20. Works great. One is for a room 24x24. Works....I dont know what btu they are.

 

[PatJ800]

I have a 14k5 btu cooling only unit in my very lightly insulated 24x24 two-car garage. It won't make it 70 on a 110 day, but it might make it 82 on a 110 day which is a huge difference. If you get out there early and fire it up early in the morning it is downright comfortable and bearable in there even on the hottest day. Also, standing right in front of it for a few minutes here and there is very satisfying. I am very happy with its performance.

It uses about $.12/hr to run so if she runs WFO from early Saturday morning to late Sunday night every weekend I'm looking at about $16/month which I can live with.

 

[James-W]

3 car garage, not my final house / garage, and doubt others buying this home will see value in the climate controlled garage, so this is heavily affecting my decision.

Dan

Dan, I think you are grossly under estimating the value of a climate controlled garage. I can't speak for everywhere, but around here if you want to sell a house having a garage is a plus. Having a large garage is a bigger plus. Having a big heated/air-conditioned garage is a HUGE plus. Don't ask me to explain it, but in recent years there has been a rather large change in the way people view a garage, at least around where I live there is. Maybe it is due to the way the economy is, maybe it is because people want to save money by doing things themselves, or maybe they just want to make some extra money by doing work in their garage. It would seem that having a nice garage has become quite important to a lot of people. Anyway, a great many people have chosen to do all sorts of work in their garage these days, much more so than just park their cars in it. So I can't help but think if have a really nice garage it will go a long way towards helping you sell your house when that times comes.

 

[fourjeepin]

I have one in my pool house. It 2 car sized (and attached to my 2 car) with a 12 foot cathedral ceiling. It has no trouble keeping the room very comfortable in winter or summer. I am in GA, so we don't get crazy cold during the winter, though. I'm not sure of the BTU rating, but its a Carrier unit and we keep it on most of the time as we live in the pool house. Owned the property for 2 years next month and never lived in the main house. It was a dump when We bought it and are close to completing a renovation and addition.

 

[CNGsaves]

What are ratings of each respective capability . . . .
. . . . SEER rating of A/C ??
. . . . Btu of Heating ??

What brands are you using and where purchased??

Most I researched seemed too feeble to handle 24' x 35' (deep 2 / small 4 car garage). Thus, I'm leaning more towards hanging NG heater, and big 240v window unit A/C.

 

[ilovevocs]

Thanks for the comments guys.

James, I think you are right to some extent. I live in a residential neighborhood though and most folks looking to buy in my area are not "garage Guys". In fact I am fairly certain I am the only guy in the neighborhood with a compressor. Drive by most peoples houses and when the doors are open you see 4 bikes, two cars, and a few garbage cans. I'm fairly certain that most of these guys pay people change light bulbs.

That said, yes I do belive it would add value, but only if I take a budget minded approach. Thus the PTAC.

CNG, My good friend is an HVAC contractor. He tossed me a price for the unit and I didn't ask questions. I am the kind of guy that researches everything and self performs the work around the house, in this case, I have someone to rely on that I trust so I have been very "hands off".

 

[dshop]

Dan,
I've had a PTAC for 7 years in my 14x28 shop area w/ 10' ceiling...well insulated.
It is a Carrier 12K BTU unit and it will raise or drop the temp nicely within 1 hour.
Mine is a refurbished unit from PTAC4Less in TN. that cost around $200 and it has worked without issue for the 7 years I've had it...I would highly recommend getting in touch with them and see if it meets your needs.

 

[Cobra6]

I went with this -

http://www.appliancewarehousecenter.com/Amana_AHK18J_Electronic_18_000_BTU_Window_p/ahk18j.htm

The price has gone up a little in the past year or two, but the unit works well - - I just installed it in the wall -
Haier/Goodman/Amana also makes a 25,000 BTU model of this unit.