On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:52:23 -0400, "Giganews" wrote:

I too have been researching cooling my 1 car garage workshop.

For my purposes (hobbyist plus car in garage when tools not in use)
I am almost decided on the portable AC units.


Has anyone used the portable AC units? They have small intake and
exhaust hoses about 5 feet long. I plan on opening the garage door a few
inches and putting the hoses there when the AC is in use. I'll put some
scrap
wood along the rest of the door to seal it a bit.

The portable units are very expensive compared to a window unit about 5-600
$
for 10,000 BTUs. I'd like to get the temperature down to about 80 within 45
minutes.

I tried a portable A/C unit for a few days (3 car garashop) and it didn't do squat even with
insulation. Way undersized, but might help in a smaller area. I ran the vent hose into the attic
to get rid of the exhaust. Remember that these things suck in 20-25 percent outside air as the
exchange air for dumping the heat outside. So if the thing blows 250 cubic feet per minute, it will
suck in 50-60 cfm for the exhaust stream. They're not very efficient for that reason. We use it in
the dog days of summer to sleep cool the bedroom. If you know someone who has one, see if you can
borrow it for a couple of days and see how it works out.

It wouldn't cool my shop, but for detail work, you can adjust the vents to blow on you while working
quietly at the bench. My face would sweat, but my back was comfy. Check the window a/c web sites
for sizing assistance. I found that helpful when I was looking at window units. Westinghouse and
GE are a couple sites I remember.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Roy