Will a window unit be enough?

[dpb894]

Hello all. Let me start by saying this sight rocks! lots of good info. My question for everyone is this..........I have a finished area in the back part of my 3 car detached garage. My garage size is 30x36 and the finished portion is 15x30. It is very well insulated around all 4 walls, the floor, and the ceiling. I will be using this extra room all year long and need to figure out how best to heat and heat it. I live in Illinois so the summers are hot and the winters are cold. I have been considering buying a window/through-the-wall heat/cool unit like they have in hotels just because I would prefer to not have to deal with having any type of gas out there while its' unattended. Does anyone have any experience with doing this and what size would anyone reccomend? I've done some research and found out that based on the 450 sq ft of space I would need about 12,000 btu's.

 

[BoCRon]

If you have 450 sf, I'd bump up to 15,000 BTUs. It depends on your ceiling height and how often you think the doors will get opened and closed. I have 3 Amana PTAC units in an outbuilding, 2 15000BTU units in the main area which is about 1100sf and the 3rd unit in a separate area which is about 400sf. All three units have thermostats and a heat pump which you will need.
Also, you do not have to install PTAC units down at floor level, so keep that in mind when looking for space for one. Mine are all about 40 inches off the floor.
Amana makes a nice window unit as well.
I bought mine online at Valley of the Sun. They were great about helping me decide on which size, brand and model and were very helpful when we called with questions at install time.
Annette
http://www.ptacunits.com/faqs.aspx