Summer is here- cooling your shop?

[Tiger Joe]

well been about a month so update time.

Ended up installing a pretty nice wall mount oscillating fan. mounted right between my garage doors and aimed in the center of the garage.

it definitely helps, but right now with the high humidity its still miserable in there. Biggest issue for me is I have a day job, don't get home till 4, which is the hottest part of the day. so the garage is already hot when i get home, so trying to open the doors and turn the fan is like too little too late.

leaning towards adding AC now. might try to get the biggest window unit I can, just for a simple installation.

[dieseldawg142]

i've been using a 4 blade ceiling fan in my shop for 22 yrs now. i installed a variable speed, reversible switch on it. can suck air up or push it down. mind you, we only get a couple weeks of intense heat a yr anyways, and i have R40 insul in my attic, garage is always 15-20 degrees cooler than outside.


but for those few intense days, i got the ultimate cheap-o, kick-arse fan.
being in the roofing industry, i take the turbines out of industrial roof heat/air units, the kind on mall roofs, airports, etc, they can move some SERIOUS air. can get these turbines all day long for nothing, even if your not in the trade, a couple bucks at most for one.
i hook up a smaller electric motor to them (usually scavenged out of another rooftop unit...lol) and.... instant fan from hell. my first turbine was twice the size of my current one, and it stripped all the walls of everything but the paint, and blew everything everywhere. stick your head out the truck window at 75 mph, thats how my shop was...
downsized to a much smaller turbine, but it too can start cleaning off the walls, so i put a 3-way switch on it too
my $10 fan ($6 for a switch, $4 for a belt)

[cg285]

my home shop is 50*75*16. i have a 48" fan in a rear upper corner pulling out, in front (by the largest door) i have a 36" rotatable pusher. works pretty decent but if it gets too hot i have one side (15*75) with a build out and 2 mini splits - 1 in the 15' part and one in the 65' part - one condensing unit. they work awesome.

[Tiger Joe]

spent a lil time today researching and it looks like the biggest window unit is 28k BTU and cost roughly $800.

not terrible, but I'll also have to run electric since its 220.

also, my windows slide left to right, not up and down, so I'll likely have to remove the window completely to install this.

[In The Ten Ring]

Tiger Joe,

You think that's bad? My windows are single pane, steel beasts that rotate downwards....the "old" style for those of us old enough to remember! LOL

Yes, both us will have to remove our windows, just take some care to brace that AC unit from the ground and/or provide some structural security so the neighborhood crack head can't push your window unit through and have a hay day selling your tools at the pawn shop.