[Shop-talk] mini-split or window unit ?

[Mike Rambour]

  Ok, I want a cooler garage this year.  I have been planning to install 
a mini-split for several years now and this is the year.    Power will 
be a slight problem, shop has plenty but none where I want the 
compressor to go, so have to run some power. Shop has 200amp sub-panel 
40ft away from where I want to install compressor. Not a big deal BUT I 
saw a 18k btu window unit at Home Depot and was thinking that should 
work great and be half the price.

  My shop is 24ft x 40ft so 960 sq. ft. 9ft tall walls of 2x6 filled 
with insulation and I went overboard on ceiling insulation also, stays 
cool until mid-afternnon on hot days then becomes a oven for the 
evening, I live in S. Calif.  I already have a Hot Dawg gas heater so I 
don't need the heat that a mini-split would provide, but might be nice 
to get rid of the Hot Dawg (doubt that I would) and have one unit do 
both.   In the "shop" area of the garage I have barn doors that I welded 
up forever ago, 1x2 steel with a plywood exterior, i have not 
used/opened those doors in over a decade, they were installed when I 
built the shop just so I could get my lathe and mill in easily.   I have 
no windows in the shop so I was thinking I could put this window ac unit 
in one of those barn doors, the frame will easily handle the weight and 
it would be a super easy hole to cut and install the unit into, I think 
even the hinges would handle the weight but I can get stronger bigger 
hinges if I need them.  Then I have dedicated 50amp plug right next to 
that for my TIG to plug the unit into, I weld mostly in the front of the 
shop anyway but I wired every wall with a 50amp for the TIG and 30amp 
for the table saw when I built the shop (I really went overboard on wiring).

  So what would you do ? mini-split seems to the answer but half the 
price for a easier install window unit and cut a hole in a unused door 
seems like a good idea, good ideas are often the worst...

     mike

-- 
A gun is like a parachute, if you need one but don't have it,
you'll probably never need one again.