Question:
I have a small woodworking shop using half of my two car garage. Years ago
I put a wall between the two garage doors and have now got the interior
wall, two outside walls and ceiling properly insulated. The shop is 12' X
21'. We live in Houston, and I have finally determined that I can't go
through another summer of attempting to work in there without
air-conditioning. I have 2 major questions.
What is the best (and economical) way to insulate the inside of the
garage door? I don't want to permanently seal it, but probably haven't had
an occasion to open it for the past 5 years.
What should I look for in choosing an individual air-conditioning unit
for this type of installation? I will have 220V service available at the
enclosed end of the shop and plan to mount the unit through a dedicated
opening about 6 or 7 foot off the floor in that end of the shop. That
opening would be opposite the garage door and personnel door located in the
other end.
Answer:
I had a home shop similar to what you describe. Mine was 14x20 with 8' ceiling
height, relatively well insulated, and an overhead door. I needed to use the
door so I just weatherstriped as well as I could and glued foam panels on the
inside. I used an inexpensive 8,000 btu window type air conditioner and it did
the job just fine. Usually just had it on a medium setting on very hot days.
This size space really doesn't require much in an air conditioner. I am in
Oklahoma, and we don't have quite the average temps you have but we do have a
good stretch of temps close to 100 and share your Gulf humidity. I have a
friend that has a slightly smaller shop using only a 5000btu and is happy with
it. These little units are very economical to purchase and run also. I do
recommend that you find one that has easy access to the filter as you will be
needing to clean the dust out often. Mine had a little slide out filter that
was very easy. Just slide it out and blow it off. You will love having an air
conditioned shop, definate necessity in our climate.
