Workshop Air Conditioning - Frigidaire Made-in-China!!

jmc · Aug 25, 2020

I added a 25'x25' well insulated extension to my barn that is very comfortable on hot days with just a dehumidifier and a fan. No window required, just a small drain tube thru the outside wall. I think the dehumidifier was under $200 locally. The current one has lasted about 8 years so far. Previous brands maybe 3 or 4 years.

Carl_NH · Aug 25, 2020

I have three mini splits 2 Hyper Heat 9K BTU and 1 12K BTU Mitsubishi that are one of the most efficient units @ 30 SEER, and Daikin and Fujitsu make similar units. We use them for cooling and heating (but have a boiler in the house for colder temps). They provide heat at $1.69 per gallon oil per BTU so very competitive when fuel oil is at $2.69 a gallon here.

The one 9K is installed in my garage/office 1000 SF, the other 9K is in our upstairs 900 SF, and the 12K unit does the whole house downstairs area 30x50 but is in main living area/kitchen/den 30x30.

The downside to window is ac energy cost $.20/KW here, with 3 window ac units the monthly bill in the summer would increase $100/month with the 3 Mini splits $40 for three to four months. Now with the mini splits we heat and cool for a lot less. Also the removal and annual storage of the window ac units was a job and hard on the back.

The upside to window AC is low initial cost, they get the job done, but in the long run are more costly. The downside to Mini splits is upfront cost $3K each includes installation by a contractor, BUT you get a 30% federal tax credit for the entire installation, and another local energy rebate of $500/ton so this reduces the total cost to $1500 net per unit,

If you buy the Mr Cool or similar units, you can get rebates too, it depends on their efficiency ratings and if they qualify, Bottom line, if you need cooling and heating and can DIY, the mini splits are the way to go. If just cooling and short term, a window AC unit is good.

Buggs67 · Aug 28, 2020

Thanks for all the advice.

I got good results from the seller; they arranged to pick up the damaged unit at no cost to me.

I'm going with an LG unit of 11,800 btu which should be sufficient. Running a dedicated line is easy, plenty of space in my panel. And cutting a whole in the wall is easy. The builder of the shop offered to assist for free (a friend). I ordered it from Lowes for delivery to the store so I can inspect it before accepting. I have a gas heater for colder temps that keeps the shop very comfortable so having heat as part of the package is unnecessary.

Bird · Aug 28, 2020

I'm a little late coming to this thread, but ..............I have a 21' x 25' (interior measurement) shop with a big unopening window on the south side and a double window on the north side. Lots of electricity available, but no air or water. So I removed one side of the double windows and installed a 230 volt ACE124XR Whirlpool air-conditioner with heat strip from Lowe's on 9/25/2005 (time flies, it's almost 15 years ago). It's 11,400 BTU cooling capacity and 11,700 BTU heating capacity, 3 speed cooling fam, 2 speed heating fan. It says capacity of 500-650 square foot room size. I paid Lowe's $517, including tax, for it, so it wasn't cheap, but it's been a dandy. It's seldom used anymore, but one day this past week, I wondered if it was OK, so I cleaned the filter and turned it on. Yep, still works just fine. I put it on a Sears plan and Sears did practically rebuild it once but I don't remember how long ago.

pmsmechanic · Aug 28, 2020

So I was given a portable A/C unit that rolls around on castors and vents out the window. It's only 8500 btu and I wondered if it would keep up with cooling in my shop. The vent out the window accessory's were mia and I wondered how to vent it and didn't want to spend time installing venting out the window as I didn't know how well it would cool. My friend came up with the suggestion to just vent it up the chimney as I'm not using the furnace in summer. Let's just say it works awesome. I only use it when I'm working in the shop and it easily keeps up with my cooling needs in a 20 x 30 shop. It also runs quite quietly compared to our window unit in the house, also 8500 btu.