*Cheap* Air Conditioner for your garage - Page 2

Greg Nichols · 05-08-08, 05:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

We'll just see about that when you're down here helping me do some cars this summer.

Well then that changes everything............you need a 35,000 BTU unit......

Or

It will be a great way to loose some extra winter weight.

SuperBee364 · 05-08-08, 06:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZimRandy

I'd need about four of those units!

And for reference, those walls are 14' high.

Randy

Man, now that's a *garage*. Wish mine was that big. Maybe I can talk the wife into an add-on "Detailing Studio". My garage is way out of wack... really tall ceiling (yup, taller than that), but it barely qualifies as two-car. The ceiling is so tall that the garage door opener is suspended by metal framework hanging down from the ceiling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Nichols

Well then that changes everything............you need a 35,000 BTU unit......

Or

It will be a great way to loose some extra winter weight.

Mmmmhmm. 's what I thought.

Setec Astronomy · 05-08-08, 06:42

SuperBee, how can your garage be so disproportioned? Is it attached? Is there a room above it? Was it supposed to have a loft or an attic or a room that never got put in?

SuperBee364 · 05-08-08, 07:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

SuperBee, how can your garage be so disproportioned? Is it attached? Is there a room above it? Was it supposed to have a loft or an attic or a room that never got put in?

It was supposed to have a room in it that didn't get done. It was a model home that the builder had to hurry and finish off as he was behind schedule. He ended up leaving the basement partially unfinished, and didn't do the office that was supposed to be in the garage. It was then used as a model home for a couple years before we bought it right when the real estate market peaked two years ago. It's all part of my "buy high, sell low" investment strategy I have going. Give me a call if you need any advice, as I seem to be very good at this strategy.

Edit: All this talk about my high ceiling got me curious. I just grabbed my sonic measuring tape. It's 15'2" high. So I was off by almost three feet (which really explains my landings lately, "Son, was that a landing, or were we shot down?")

richy · 05-08-08, 08:29

I bought this 14,000 BTU unit last October off ebay. It was a brand new factory return that still has warranty. It can cool my garage down to 70 degrees when it's in the 90's. I had some help installing a hot air exhaust vent, but it rocks! Check this out:
A/C unit setup - Auto Geek Car Care, Car Wax and Auto Detailing Forum

SuperBee364 · 05-08-08, 08:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by richy

I bought this 14,000 BTU unit last October off ebay. It was a brand new factory return that still has warranty. It can cool my garage down to 70 degrees when it's in the 90's. I had some help installing a hot air exhaust vent, but it rocks! Check this out:
A/C unit setup - Auto Geek Car Care, Car Wax and Auto Detailing Forum

Very nice setup. I really appreciate you taking the time to show those pictures. I've been wondering how I was going to get this thing vented to the outside, as the windows in my garage are up very tall. Too tall to reach with the short four foot hoses included with the A/C unit. I think I'm going to try to do it the way you have it. Any chance of getting a pic of what it looks like on the outside of your garage door?

The unit I bought has two venting hoses, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do it yet. I might just buy some longer venting hose and vent it up through one of the (very high) windows. Supposedly you lose cooling capacity by extending the hose length, though, so I'd rather vent it through the garage door if I can.

bert31 · 05-08-08, 09:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

Very nice setup. I really appreciate you taking the time to show those pictures. I've been wondering how I was going to get this thing vented to the outside, as the windows in my garage are up very tall. Too tall to reach with the short four foot hoses included with the A/C unit. I think I'm going to try to do it the way you have it. Any chance of getting a pic of what it looks like on the outside of your garage door?

The unit I bought has two venting hoses, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do it yet. I might just buy some longer venting hose and vent it up through one of the (very high) windows. Supposedly you lose cooling capacity by extending the hose length, though, so I'd rather vent it through the garage door if I can.

I believe you are correct about losing cooling capacity by extending the hose length. Is there a way you could mount a ledge on the wall five feet or so off the ground near the window that you could place the air coniditioner on? Even if such an air conditioner couldn't fully lower the temp, lowing the humidity would be great living in a very humid area (Louisville, KY).

SuperBee364 · 05-08-08, 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by bert31

I believe you are correct about losing cooling capacity by extending the hose length. Is there a way you could mount a ledge on the wall five feet or so off the ground near the window that you could place the air coniditioner on? Even if such an air conditioner couldn't fully lower the temp, lowing the humidity would be great living in a very humid area (Louisville, KY).

That's a very good idea. Think I'll shoot for that.

SuperBee364 · 05-08-08, 02:27

The A/C unit came today. It's currently in the master bedroom, where it proceded to cool the room from 75 to 65 in about thirty minutes. It's a nice day today, so it's not really a true test of it's abilities, but still that's a nice temp drop in a short period of time.

richy · 05-08-08, 03:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

Very nice setup. I really appreciate you taking the time to show those pictures. I've been wondering how I was going to get this thing vented to the outside, as the windows in my garage are up very tall. Too tall to reach with the short four foot hoses included with the A/C unit. I think I'm going to try to do it the way you have it. Any chance of getting a pic of what it looks like on the outside of your garage door?

The unit I bought has two venting hoses, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do it yet. I might just buy some longer venting hose and vent it up through one of the (very high) windows. Supposedly you lose cooling capacity by extending the hose length, though, so I'd rather vent it through the garage door if I can.

Superbee..the first pic in that series is from outside the garage door. The door is white and so is the dryer vent. I cut a 4" diameter (IIRC) hole in the door with a hole saw blade and fed the dryer vent through. The trap door mechanism is inside the garage door. The tube coming out of it is flanged and tapered...a metalworker did that work for me. It works extremely well..i am very, very happy with it.

SuperBee364 · 05-08-08, 05:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by richy

Superbee..the first pic in that series is from outside the garage door. The door is white and so is the dryer vent. I cut a 4" diameter (IIRC) hole in the door with a hole saw blade and fed the dryer vent through. The trap door mechanism is inside the garage door. The tube coming out of it is flanged and tapered...a metalworker did that work for me. It works extremely well..i am very, very happy with it.

Hopefully I can find a pre-fabbed one at Home Depot. Thanks again for the info.

sk55 · 05-09-08, 06:54

I would be be careful about btu rating on portable a/c… I would say 80% are garbage and provide zero cooling… I have tried a lot of portable a/c.
Remember the portable unit generates heat and some btu needs to cool the unit itself…

I had good results with only one… edgestar 12000 btu… great unit evaporates all water in exhaust… prob good for 200 sq ft to 300 sq ft room… other units u have to empty water buckets… they make a 14k btu unit but I found no difference in the cooling.

One issue if the humidity is too high (ie raining) the cooling ability drops. You also need about 2 ft of space on each side of the unit, for efficient operation.

I got one cooling my server room right now with about 8 servers in it…

AP12000S EdgeStar Extreme Cool 12,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner

and of course the best and most expensive portable is Portable Air Conditioners, AC, Spot Cooler, Outdoor & Computer Cooling... Serious cooling.

you can use the site below to figure out the heat load of the room… cooling depends on room size, number of windows, number of people, heat sources,etc.

Calculating The Size of a Server Room Air Conditioner

its more for IT rooms, but still useful for right sizing AC. Nothing worse the spending cash on a portable ac that doesn’t cool for crap..