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Cooling Garage

3K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Byronski 
#1 ·
Hello everyone. Have a question about cooling my garage. I live in North Carolina (Fort Bragg area) and I'm looking at cooling my garage for the summer. Not only because it gets extremely hot in there while I'm playing with my toys, I keep my Great Dane in the garage sometimes, when we're not at home. I'm considering cutting a hole in the side door and putting a small window AC unit in. I was told to stay away from the swamp coolers because they will cause all the metal to rust over very quickly. I also do a little blasting and I don't want my media getting full of moisture.

So on to the question. Will putting a AC in the door cause humidity problems also? I don't want to have everything in the garage rusted over or have problems blasting. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Swamp coolers don't work good in nc generally cause its so humid here. I'm in Fayetteville nc too. An air conditioner actually dries the air that's why you see condensation dripping on the ground under cars and out of the drain pipe on your house. My only advice is if your garage isn't insulated or isn't insulated as well as the house you may need to oversize the ac unit over what's recommended for your square footage.

Auto guide sucks
 
#3 ·
Is your garage well insulated.. If not then any amount of A/C will not do much.. In my 24x24 insulated garage it took two of the larger window mount to keep it doable in that kind of climate and that was a building that was well insulated.. Where I live now we have natural A/C so I do not need it..

Sam
 
#4 ·
Re

I'm not really sure how well the garage is insulated, or if it's insulated at all. The house was built in 2009 and the walls are completed(drywall). I know I have a unfinished room above the garage that has no insulation. In the winter time, I use a 220V heater and it heats the garage up pretty good and keeps it warm. I think the sq. footage is around 500 and I'm not trying to get it as comfortable as my house, but it's suppose to be a hot summer. It's just now June and we're already getting high 90's. I was out there today messing around with my Mustang and was drenched in sweat in 15 minutes. And that was with the garage door and side door open. I may have to just try one of those big shop fans and see how that works for me.
 
#5 ·
You can make a small hole in the drywall (ez to patch one) and see if there is insulation.. if there is we are home free here though I would suggest finishing that attic if you can..then one of the bigger wall mounted units will work for you and at least get it into the doable range to work out there.. Typically if you are planing on being there long term it is good to frame an opening in the wall for the A/C unit..

Sam
 
#7 ·
Re

My wife has been on me about finishing that room since we bought the house.

When the electrician came out and installed my 220V plugs, I didn't see any insulation, and when I ran my air compressor lines, I didn't see any than neither, so I'm sure there's none there. Guess I will have to stick with the fan and stick it out, and drink water!!
 
#10 ·
Portable AC

Today, I was in Lowe's pricing some AC units and a gentlemen suggested I get a portable AC unit that would cool about 500 sq. ft. and run the duct out a hole instead of going through the trouble of putting an entire window unit in the door. I've never dealt with those portable units. Would one of those cause humidity problems in my garage and rust everything up?
 
#11 ·
Today, I was in Lowe's pricing some AC units and a gentlemen suggested I get a portable AC unit that would cool about 500 sq. ft. and run the duct out a hole instead of going through the trouble of putting an entire window unit in the door. I've never dealt with those portable units. Would one of those cause humidity problems in my garage and rust everything up?
As stated before Mac the A/C unit should create condensation on the evaporator core. If that condensation is drained into a container it will act just like a dehumidifier and lower the humidity. With that said, I have no idea how effective one of those units will be in cooling your space.

John
 
#14 ·
Re

Yeah, that's the route I think I'm going to take. I'm found several nice size units that I think would work. I'm not trying to get the garage as cool as my house, but enough to keep me from soaking in sweat. My plan is to cut a hole in the lower half of my side entry door and mount a wall unit in there. That way, if I was to move I wont have a hole in the side of the house that would need repairing. Just replace the door.

Thanks for the reply.
 
#15 ·
You might run into problems unless you run the ac full time. If you decide to only run the ac when you are working and then turn it off when you leave, you will most likely have problems with your tools rusting.

It's like taking a can beer/soda out of the fridge and sitting it on the counter. If it's humid, the cold can is going to create condensation on the outside of the can.

The same thing will happen with anything metal that is in your shop. One thing to consider if you don't plan on running the ac all the time.
 
#16 ·
I'd get a dehumidifier , I sweat like a pig in the summer if it's over 76*... the dry air helps big time.. that and a ceiling fan.. pop a hole in the tank of the dehumidifier and run a hose outside and no forgetting to empty the tank and it shutting off.. or get the ones with a pump that will pump the tank empty.. Frigidaire is rated the best.. and energy star rated.. I just got a 2nd one for my basement.. it was 229.00 for the biggest one (70pint) amazon..

good luck...
 
#18 ·
A/C in a garage can get costly fast

My shop is about 900 sf with 13' high ceilings and the garage doors are 10' tall.

The problems I have had are there are just so many air leaks around the overhead doors that the A/C unit just has to run all the time trying to keep up.

I also use a 36" old attic fan that I made a wood box for with caster wheels and that really moves a great deal of air through the shop along with three smaller box fans.

I removed the glass out of the overhead doors and made screens to fit the opening size where the glass was which also helped.

In the morning when it is still cool I open the doors and then open the rear door and it like a wind tunnel.

Jimbo
 
#19 ·
I had a slightly over-sized two car garage in San Antonio, and the walls and ceiling were insulated when the house was built. I used one of the Haier portable AC units and vented it through the wall when I worked in the garage. I think the unit was only rated at about 11,000 BTU, and I did not have insulated garage doors or good rubber seals around the doors, but when combined with a cheap box fan for better air circulation at floor level it kept the temps tolerable. You have lower temps and higher humidity in NC, but it still may work effectively.

They sell the portable AC units at most of the PX stores, and at Lowes and Home Depot. One added convenience is that when the main AC went out in my house I just moved the portable unit into the master BR and we kept cool until the AC was fixed. Most of them come with an adjustable sliding panel you can put in a double hung window to quickly install the unit.

Bruce
 
#20 ·
Those portable units with the hose to the outside are the most INEFFICIENT A/C units you can get. The BTU to Cost ratio is also lopsided. In fact, consumer reports even did a side by side comparison of a bunch of A/C units including the standalone type (vs in the window type). The standalone was 2x or more expensive and provided not even half the cooling of the other units.

Speaking from my own experience I have to agree. They are borderline worthless considering how much they cost. Maybe okay for a closet but they would never do a decent sized garage or large room. That is my experience anyway with the larger ones like windchaser 9 or larger.

Make sure and take power into account if going dehumidifier (well, ok, AC unit too). I use them in my shop and tack room, etc. They prevent not just rust but also mold and spores of that nature (which isn't good for my leather stuff in tack room). Frigidaire brand work real well but even the mid size unit is about 700+ watts. So don't be surprised at your power bill and don't leave it on continuous. 50% is usually adequate. Running a drain hose (so you don't have to constantly dump the tank) is very easy.
And while a dehumidifier will make it cooler by reducing the humidity it will add in heat from the unit itself. The heat from the unit will be more than the drop in humidity. So it is not an answer to lower temps. If anything it will raise it.

Unless you insulate your garage well the A/C will destroy your electric bill and probably not provide adequate cooling unless you get the biggest one you can find & your garage is tiny). And it isn't the sort of thing you can just turn on when needed. A/C works best not having to catch up or over compensate. Otherwise they usually cannot achieve the desired temp because they are overrun with the too high ambient.

I think your answer is a really good fan, or two.
 
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