# Cooling my Garage Workshop



## Seer (Jun 5, 2008)

I rent the house I live in and I also live in Phoenix, Az where it is too hot to work in the summer. I am looking at either an Evaporitive cooler I saw at home depot (it is a small roll around unit) or getting an AC unit that mounts in a window and putting it on a cart to cool my shop.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter or suggestions?
Thanks
Jerry


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

The only draw back I could think of to the evaporative cooler, would be the extra humidity you introduce into your shop, ie. rusted tools.


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## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Humidity will rust all your tools out using a cooler. I use an AC unit in the window. Cools and gets rid of any humidity which is a concern in this part of Texas. Not so much in AZ.

Putting an AC unit on a cart doesn't do you any good. You need to stick the hot end outside.

Just buy a pleted filter and add it to the front of the AC to keep dust out. I have to replace my filter about once a week.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

You need one of these.

They just need to exhaust to the outside via a dryer-duct-like tube.


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## Seer (Jun 5, 2008)

Thanks I like that I have ideas to go by now


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## Paul (Mar 13, 2007)

I do have large trees that help shade the roof, but I live in Texas where we've hit 100 degrees already. I work in the detached garage with the door up. I have three fans that I picked up off the curb around town that were thrown away for other reasons that they didn't work (noisy, broken base, etc) I think it's bearable as long as the air is moving and drink plenty of water. They're also a low-tech dust system blowing dust out the door.


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## oldworld124 (Mar 2, 2008)

For your dust collector you will want to buy a .5 micron filter. It will be a necessity for you to keep healthy. An ordinary bag filter will put you in the hospital and give you serious lung problems.


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## motthunter (Dec 31, 2007)

air conditioning gets clogged with dust and the other causes rust.. can I recommend an iced cold drink (no alcohol near the tools) and if that doesn't work, Ice down the pants. Good luck and stay cool


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## bigwood (Jun 19, 2008)

I have central air in my shop. Have to change filters a lot. I just had the freon charge just minutes ago. It was 88 in there today. I was dripping sweat all over my project. It is cooling down as we speak! YES!


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## Big_Bob (Mar 30, 2008)

Jerry:

I live in the desert of Southern California a few years I installed a window evaporative cooler that I bought at Home Depot. It is a 450 CFM unit made for window mount, but I cut a hole in the wall. The unit I bought has only 12 inches or so that it sticks outside the shop. It works great. My shop is cooler than my house in the summertime. One tip would to mount the cooler so that it is in the shade most of the time. That is a big help.

I think Phoenix is like the area I live in. We do not get rust. The relative humidity was 10% yesterday.

Also, unless you live in a dry climate the evaporative cooler will not work. Phoenix, Arizona you should be OK.


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## closetguy (Sep 29, 2007)

The big problem with portable air units is the moisture collection tank. I used different models as back up in data centers. They contain a plastic tank that catch the water and will fill up a couple times a day so it becomes agravating to have to empty it so frequently. A window unit on a portable cart will have the same problem. You would have to come up with a way to catch and drain the water outside.


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## bbqking (Mar 16, 2008)

My shop is 1/2 the basement of my house. Humidity can be a problem in Georgia. I run two 10 tonne AC units with ceiling fans and it works out pretty good. You could hang meat in here. There are 2 attic exhaust fans on thermostats to clear that space. You guys probably wouldn't want the electric bill, but I moved down here from Iowa, and at times paid comparable prices for heat up there. bbqKing


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## Pretzel (Feb 23, 2008)

The problem with the window unit on the cart is the heat the unit will generate, tried that once in my auto shop, mounted a window unit in interior wall, made shop hot from heat of electric motor. If you use ac mount to exterior wall in shaded area if possible, or build an awning over it, any shade will help to prolong life of unit.


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## Garageshop (Jun 24, 2008)

I live in Chandler, AZ and have a thing called A Cool Door that works great but may not be a good fit for your rental situation. It has an evaporative unit built into a security door (neighborhood restrictions don't allow swamp coolers on the outside but do allow security doors). There is an attic fan that pulls outside air through the door and exhausts it through the ceiling into the attic. Last week when it was 111 outside, it was 85 in the garage, a 26 degree drop… not bad. I can work fine at 85. Also, because it is so dry here, I don't have problems with the humidity building up. Just take normal precautions to prevent rusted tools.

The bad news is that you have to mount the fan in the ceiling and have a side door to the outside. Also it costs a bit over $1k, still a bunch cheaper than A/C and a whole bunch cheaper to run.

Good luck-- Garageshop

c


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## scottj (Mar 15, 2009)

I have considered AC in my shop. My only concern though is not humidity but condensation, My full time job is in the steel industry and when we get in a hot coil from a mill in the winter its soaking wet from the temp difference. I am concerened that when I leave the shop and turn off the AC that the nice cool cast iron surface on my TS will develop condensation when the temp goes back up. Does anyone with AC see this problem?


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## interpim (Dec 6, 2008)

The problem i've seen with condensation, is when the air temperature is higher than the equipment/tool temperature, the water in the air will condense on the cooler equipment.

This isn't a problem if you maintain the space at the same temperature all the time, but if the space heats up faster than the tool you will have a problem if you are in a high humidity environment.


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## johnnymo (Aug 15, 2009)

I live in Mesa, Arizona and I have a small A/C unit that I installed in the wall. It works ok but I think I need a bigger unit to cool down the shop a little more. When I'm done for the day I just blow out the filter. I also run a box fan with a filter on it to help with dust control and to keep the air circulating.


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## Ainzo (Feb 21, 2010)

It is much better if you install a ceiling fan in your shop. And also it is very helpful if you put up an exhaust fan in order to prevent unnecessary smell and dirt. It depends on your location.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Evap coolers are also called swamp coolers for a GOOD reason. Unless you want all the iron rusting, and the wood warping, I would NOT use a swamp cooler…


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

My husband uses one like Charlie M linked to in his shop in the summer.


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## jmwhosh (Feb 15, 2010)

Paul, if you just use fans do you live with a mask on the whole time you are in the shop? Don't the fans just constantly keep the sawdust in the air?


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## Aztecking (Jan 25, 2010)

I put in a small window unit and run a dehumidifier and have no problem.

Jeff


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Jerry, I am a bit thick headed here, but I finally noticed something about your original post…

..."or getting an AC unit that mounts in a window and putting it on a cart to cool my shop."

Remember you need to have the back half of the unit outside of the air space being cooled. An air conditioner is better thought of as a heat mover. (In Thermodynamics, cold is really just the absence of heat). An air conditioner simply pulls heat from the air in one place, moving it through the fluid medium (refridgerant) and puts it somewhere else. You need a way to isolate the from, and to places for heat. This is done by a pass through of some sort, usually a window, hence the reason they call them a "Window Unit"...

Does your garage workshop have a window? If you you could put your AC there, rig up some sort of temporary setup where you could just take it on / off when you need to…


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## tonycarver (Mar 21, 2008)

Sacramento is not as warm as AZ, but it gets plenty hot. I use a combination of an evaporative cooler and a whole house fan. The evaporative cooler works well in this dry climate and has been discussed so I have nothing else to add. The whole house fan is mounted in the ceiling and pulls air thru the windows up into the attic. It is on a timer and runs all night. Out nights are cool here so the concrete floor and all the cast iron tools act like a heat sink, only in reverse. The shop and attic are well insulated so this keeps the shop cool until about 1 pm. If your dust collector is out doors it will pump heat into the shop. Mine is in a shed attached to the rear of the shop and lessens the problem. I tend to run it early in the morning.


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## BurtC (Oct 30, 2009)

Suggest a small AC unit in wall or window. That's what I got and it keeps me about 75-80 degrees when 95 outside. Helps removing moisture during those 90 degree afternoon monsoon rains too.


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## zzzzdoc (Mar 6, 2010)

I used a split A/C unit. The compressor sits outside, and just a very small, very quiet air movement unit sits inside. All I had to do was drill a 3" diameter hole through the cinder block to outside for the tubing to circulate the coolant, I voila real A/C in South Florida. Also even more efficient than central air units.

One problem is that A/C guys are a little unfamiliar with them for repairs, but several friends and I own them now with great success.


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## dmorrison (Jun 20, 2009)

In the Dallas area it can get hot, not as hot as Arizona, but this is what I have settled on for cooling. I have a 18,500BTU window air conditioner that I bought for my 2 car garage in my previous house. It worked well for the 2 car garage with no insulation. Non insulated doors and the garage doors faced south.
Our new house is a 3 car garage again with non insulated doors, no insulation in the attics outer 5 feet of the garage ( a finished room over the garage) But the doors face east and we have numerous tall trees shading the garage. The 18,500BTU unit works OK. I use a box fan to blow the cool air near me and I let it run about 15 minutes before I go out there.
I figure a 24,000BTU unit would be ideal. I will be insulating the doors and attic this spring. So I may find the unit will be satisfactory. 18,500 to 24,000BTU is a 240V system so you should be ready for that.

I love all the discussions in the wood magazines about heating garages, yes I know its needed, but I have rarely seen an article on cooling a shop. Below the Mason-Dixon line this is usually more of a concern than heating. For heating I have 2-1500W ceramic heaters that cut the cold sufficiently for those days I need it. If it's colder than that, then I can go a day without the shop.

Good luck and keep cool.

Dave


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## azdustdevil (Aug 11, 2010)

I had a 240 amp window ac in my 3 car garage for several years and it's useless unless I wanted to cool just the enclosed third bay where my shop is. I now have a powerful Australian made cooler in the garage and it cools all three bays. Here in Gilbert, AZ, trust me, moisture is not a problem with rh hovering around 5 percent most of the time. Actually, the extreme dryness causes wood to warp like crazy, which is worse than too much moisture. First, if you keep your tools covered or in a cabinet like they should be, rust will not be a problem because the swamp cooler is actually fighting the dryness.

Second, AC is terribly expensive for garage cooling. During the monsoon, I will turn off the water supply and just run the fan. Doesn't get cool, but at least the temp will not get to 160 like it does with no ventilation.


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

I think the best thing would be a window Air Conditioner because it also acts as a dehumidifier and drops the condensed water outside and it exchanges heat. I don't think a swamp cooler removes any moisture, that is why they are used a lot in dry climates like Az.

I have a friend who lives in Kansas Settlement down by Sunsites, Az and he has a shop in a barn with out any AC and he does not have a rust problem.


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## azdustdevil (Aug 11, 2010)

Down in Sunsites humidity stays around 4%, so that's no surprise. Problem with AZ is keeping a bit of humidity inside for comfort, and even with a good sized swamp cooler, it's almost impossible. Soon as it's in, it's out.


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