Matt Gruber

i'm thinking of building a wheeled tool cabinet wih a small window type AC unit.
THE PROBLEM:
while my garage has a 14,000 btu AC in the workshop, i rarely bring a car into the workshop. So i find myself in a corner of the garage in the morning, and i hope to get done before it gets hot.(it gets hot fast)
SOLUTION:
wheel the cabinet with AC to the spot i am working; let it blow a cool breeze directly on me, with no intent to cool anywhere else.
Sure it will drip water and heat the garage air, but with the engine running and the door open, who cares? Should feel better than a plain fan. And Home Depot has a Maytag 5,000 btu for $95! :cool: Anybody try this?

Glutamine83

that's a great idea

although in canada, portable heaters seem to be a little more prevelent

Packy76

the way AC units work is they convert hot air to cold but they need somewhere to exhust the hot air to...so if you dont exhaut the hot air outside you will be filling the garage with hot air and wasting your time :banghead:

Matt Gruber

try reading my post :rolleyes:

red topless gator

I was at Wal Mart last night and I saw a portable A/C on wheels. Its 110V and has a hose attached to vent out a door or window, pretty sharp idea...................................L T

Matt Gruber

that portable unit is tempting. i could run a hose high into the open ceiling. but, since heat rises, why bother? i'm not trying to cool a room, just get a cool breeze.
.
My first thought was a tool roll a way, but now i'm going to set it on a bar stool which i have,. it adjusts from 27" to 33" and is on 4 casters. i located a 5000 btu Haier for just $79 :eek:
and i have a backup plan;
in case my house AC fails (it's 14 years old) i can pop it in a window while a new one is being shipped/installed. :cool:

dath

I think it's an excellent idea. If you decide later that the hot air it is generating is becoming too much, you could get some flexible ducting or something and stick it out of a door or window... Wish my garage was big enough to easily work in, I'd think about doing the same thing...

Matt Gruber

yes, my garage is oversized, its 1000 sq.ft. and could hold 5 cars, but with only 3 there is plenty of room. plus the open ceiling is 9 foot high, the center is 13' high, plenty of volume for the warm air to rise.
But, the AC only draws 5 or 6 amps, and my compressor is 15 amps, so it will not be a major source of heat, especially with a hot engine!

77Dream

I have one of the big powerfull floor fans that blows air on me. It's also strong enough to circulate air through the whole garage and bring the cooler air from outside in. Its not cold air but the breeze helps.

Also on my gargage I have one of those spinning thingys that goes on the roof and vents the heat out the top. After I installed that my garage stays at least 10 degrees cooler. I was miserable before I installed it and would recomend one of those to anyone.

:cheers:

Matt Gruber

those fans help plenty! i'd be dead without one.
The best change was a sycamore i planted 14 years ago . it is now 30' tall and shades the entire workshop which is 85@ 10am vs. 95 years ago. but 85 is still not comfy even with a fan when doing work. we are at 90% humidity am

isosceles

Hey, I'm with ya Matt! I just pulled my Vette in the garage after picking up some parts. At 2pm, my screened lanai feels about 20 degrees cooler than the closed garage does, and my central A/C handler is in there. I don't have a duct running from it, but you'd think it would chill the air slightly with little leaks and the surface temp from the unit itself.
Hmmm, I wonder which would be more efficient: knocking a hole in a wall and putting a window unit in or making a duct from the central unit that I could close off when I didn't need it?

Big Fish

My own opinion of this : It will give you less then desirable results. It will actually make the garage warmer because of the heat of compression and motor heat added to the rejected heat from the unit. Why not just put the unit in the window.

Matt Gruber

the plan is to heat the garage while it blows cold air in my face :rolleyes:


Question for HVAC engineers:
Take an 8600 cubic foot room with ridge vent and soffit vents at 85 degrees. run a 5 amp motor. How long will it run to raise the temp 2 degrees? :D


[Modified by Matt Gruber, 4:56 PM 8/1/2003]

81' Corvette Guy

Had a neighbor's ac unit went out in the house..had his air handler sitting out in the front by the trash..when I saw the gargbage guys didn't pick it up, I asked him if I could have the blower unit from it..he said sure. So I took it out and put a little screen across the opening of the squirrel cage, as not to lose any fingers accidently and the wired it up with a reostat switch...like a dimmer and that thing will blow like you would not believe. If on a real hot day here in texas, I will hose down the garage floor nice and cool then put the blower down...I get chills working under the car in the mid summers day..keeps it kewl under the car! WOOT!