Portable A/C unit?

[POS Racing]

Does anyone have a portable a/c unit for the garage? What did you get and how does it work??



I'd like to get something so I could work in the garage even during this time of year.

[jeepinbanditrider]

When I was stationed in North Carolina most of our building's rooms didn't have air and the ones that did didn't have very good air. We used one similar to that it actually worked pretty good as long as you could keep the space closed up or sit close to the unit. The room we were using it in was about 30x20 with 10 foot ceilings.

[OZMDD]

Didn't someone have one of these in the classifieds recently?

[POS Racing]

Didn't someone have one of these in the classifieds recently?

I think you may be correct!

Found it it was jeff_man - http://www.dfwmiata.com/showthread.p...t=Portable+air

jeff_man other than the blowing breakers issues did it cool your garage??

[POS Racing]

So I take it no one but Onething has an air-conditioned garage??

[jeepinbanditrider]

I'm browsing craigslist right now. Looking for one for the motorcycle shed. I can use it in the garage here too and probalby just run the vent into the attic instead of cracking the garage door and running it like that.

[POS Racing]

I'm browsing craigslist right now. Looking for one for the motorcycle shed. I can use it in the garage here too and probalby just run the vent into the attic instead of cracking the garage door and running it like that.

That's basically my plan also!

Another TCB thing I've been thinking about is just putting a window unit at the top of my pull down Attic Stairs & buy a sheet of 1" rigid foam and have it blow the cold down from the attic while the hot side of the unit would be in the attic. Since you can get a window unit for fewer $$$'s than a portable A/C unit.

[Rob®]

My garage in NY had AC. Yes, it got too hot in the summer to work there too. I had a vent tube installed in one of the door panels, since it was one of the ones that had like 24 square panels that you could replace individually.

I already sealed my current garage as much as I can without buying an insulation kit for the door itself - will this winter - and I've been very lazily looking at picking up another unit, but was thinking to make a spacer that I can close the door on, instead of cutting the door (HOA would love me). I never even thought about running it to the crawlspace above...

[POS Racing]

I never even thought about running it to the crawlspace above...

Yea that one hit me last night when I saw Lowe's had a new 8,000 BTU window unit for $75.00.... I don't know if it would work but it would be cheaper! Then when I wasn't using the A/C just close the stairs!

My HOA doesn't allow window unit, plus my garage has no windows and is all brick.

[jrj512]

I was thinking of buying a window unit, putting it in my window, and hiding it with shrubbery.

[sammm]

If your garage doors aren't insulated, it's going to be tough to cool it down.

[POS Racing]

If your garage doors aren't insulated, it's going to be tough to cool it down.

That is in process plus they face north so they don't get direct sunlight.

Garage Journal FTW

[Radio-Active]

As for the window unit, it has to have a place to drain and it has to be oriented pretty much like it would be in a window. There are "window" units that are meant to set flush with the outside wall and the chassis is totally inside the house. The venting comes out of the back of the unit itself leaving only a vent opening in sight. You might also want to check out a Ductless A/c or a packaged unit, both of which would require a little electrical work to install.

[patf]

i dont think setting the unit in the attic and trying to duct it down will work too well. remember you are exchanging heat, and in the attic drawing hot air over the coil to cool the freon from the 'hot' section of the window unit wont be very efficient. thats why running a sprinkler on your outside condensor boosts the cool on your home unit.. you'd be better off with the portable and use the 1" rigid as a cover for your stair with the exhaust hose running up there..

i had a window unit in my garage in austin.. by the time it cooled the room down it was time for bed. it may work better if your garage has some insulation over it and in the walls.. .

[Rob®]

Yea that one hit me last night when I saw Lowe's had a new 8,000 BTU window unit for $75.00.... I don't know if it would work but it would be cheaper! Then when I wasn't using the A/C just close the stairs!

My HOA doesn't allow window unit, plus my garage has no windows and is all brick.

My attic access in the garage is just a hatch kind of thing - there are no stairs. But permanently mounting something there might be a very good idea. I have to do a total garage make-over once it cools down a bit, so I'll have to look into this option more. Thanks!

Same situation with my HOA and garage. I have no windows, all brick, and even if I did have a window, I can't use a window unit (and the HOA office is about 50' behind my backyard fence).

Luckily my garage walls and ceiling are fully insulated, and like I said, I already sealed it as much as I could sans insulating the door...which will be done later than sooner. And it's fairly tiny at 18x20.

[Rob®]

I was thinking of buying a window unit, putting it in my window, and hiding it with shrubbery.

Despite lack of garage window, that brings its own set of HOA issues, with mine anyway. I have to get approval on "any major visual change" to my property, vegetation changes included. If I wanted to replace my hedges with fountain grass, I would need approval. Technically I was supposed to get approval for the vegetable garden I'm in the middle of digging, but it's in the backyard...I'll play nice with the front, but the eff I'm going to ask someone what I can do behind a 6' high fence.

[jeepinbanditrider]

God I hate HOAs.

[Rob®]

God I hate HOAs.

I'd have to agree with you, to an extent. My girlfriend and I have to be the only people that complain that our HOA does not do *enough*. Well, I guess about 4 other neighbors do too...We have 2 neighbors that do nothing to their yards. Their grass was seriously waist high. HOA wouldn't do anything about it because they only care about weeds...Your grass can be as tall as the house, but you can't have weeds. I guess after 3 or 4 months enough of us complained, so they sent a landscaping service over to their houses. They have yet to do anything after said services were forced on them.

- however -

My parents' in Florida is by far the worst I've ever heard of/saw firsthand. My father would leave his boat in the driveway Friday night at about 8pm. He would wake up to leave at 4am for his fishing tournament just to find a note from someone at the HOA saying he can't leave his boat in the driveway. Yes, from 8pm to 4am the following morning, he would get a note from HOA.

[POS Racing]

God I hate HOAs.

Ya know ya do till one of your Banjo playing redneck knuckle dragging inbreeding neighbors decides to go above and beyond to make your street look like ass.

Then you can learn to appreciate some of what the HOA does.

[HudsonHawk]

I appreciate the HOA but I have to say some of their rules border on the control freak side. In ours, most of the officers are on some kind of freaky power trip.