How to cool your garage

[cgdavis_2]

Built my garage sim last summer and MAN it gets hot in there. Anyone do anything with portable AC units?

[StanMI]

Long as you a fresh air source to run the hose. They work great! Don't pull a hot car inside and expect a portable to be able to overcome the huge heat source a hot engine is.

[bubbtubbs]

Damp floor combined with airflow does wonders, provided the humidity isn't too brutal.

Shade also helps, though I suspect that isn't much help to you at the moment. I have no active cooling system and my garage never gets above 22C even when it's 36C outside as it faces north and is shaded by the house.

[Scottygolf]

I broke down and went with a mini-split for A/C last spring. Worth every penny.

[tomkaskey]

What an awesome setup!!!

[Scottygolf]

thank you sir - a bit of a journey as most have also gone thru in updates, tweaks but well worth it.

[Ronsc1985]

First choice is when it is hot enough to make the garage uncomfortable is go to the course and either hit the range or play. Belonging to a club makes it easy to do either at no additional cost since I'm paying the dues anyway..

If for some reason I want to use the sim instead of the real thing, a large industrial fan makes the hitting area playable when the garage goes over 82 F or so.

Actually I didn't buy the fan for sim golf , I already had it to work on the race car in the middle of the simmer without extreme dehydration. Pulling/building motors/transmissions etc. is hard work compared to hitting golf balls.

Aside from all that if you are serious about putting in either air conditioning or heat consider insulating the walls and ceiling if not already done.. Without that the required BTU's e are a lot higher as are the operating costs.

[Scottygolf]

Ronsc is correct. The walls and ceiling must be insulated which mine are for any AC or heat. I honestly leave my mini split in the de-humidifier mode on and it keeps it around 72 when it is in the 80-90's outside. 10-15 min in A/C mode after a car is returned to the garage and all good. Costs me about $20 a month in the summer. I tried the big fan which works bring in cool air in the morning but did not want all the neighbors watching when the doors were open.

It all comes down about how crazy you want to get to be able to bang balls and sim golf. There are so many cool rooms that many on the forum have come up with.

[Golfallday1983]

When I did the homework for heating and cooling a garage a mini split is the answer

portable ac suck as effective as a portable space heater they won’t do much

I’ve never used a mini split but seems to be the answer

[wbond]

If you’ve got a window, the window ac units work great. I’ve been using one for years in the garage.

[Bryson of Bogey Golf]

I just set up a portable AC in our garage and seems to do the trick so far. 80-85F (25-30C) and the unit manages to keep things around 70F pretty well. I keep it running all day given our garage is an ancient wood frame 2-car space with zero insulation and countless air gaps. Expect with a bit tighter space and some ceiling vents it would work even better. Unit is a Whynter 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner with Dehumidifier. Knowing literally nothing about them I grabbed what seemed to be one of the higher performing units at Home Depot here in the states.

[Mxwoodman]

I put in the mini split to replace portable AC's I think it's better less stuff to deal with

[Brettster]

I couldn't take it anymore and finally installed this Pioneer Mini-Split - mostly because of it's extremely high-efficiency (22.5 SEER A/C with 3/4 Ton Heat) and low Amp Draw (5.8 amps in Cooling, and 6.9 amps in heating mode):

https://tinyurl.com/Pioneer-MiniSplit-Heat-Cool

I had previously tried 3 kinds of other heat (during last Winter): 1.) Heating panels, 2.) Infrared heat mounted on wall, and 3.) Oil Heater. I could never get it above 20-25 degrees above outside air and we had a cold Winter last year. Many days it was 20F-30F degrees meaning that my shed was stuck at 40F-50F at the warmest and not conducive to golf!

I truly believe it's the only way to go - 'Window Shakers' are expensive to run, loud, and cost a lot, as well as taking up a full window for cooling season. The other heating methods could never get me there, and those that could (such as propane, or ventless gas) would be risky with possible exhaust fumes, etc...

Nope to ALL of that... Mini-Split all the way, and particularly this one:

https://tinyurl.com/Pioneer-MiniSplit-Heat-Cool

[AgileMike]

Scottygolf I really like your whole sim setup. What are you using to light your clubs? I keep thinking I need something like that. Would you mind sharing a close up of your club holders also?
Thx

[Scottygolf]

AgileMike - here you go, the club holders I grabbed from another user which are fishing rod holders I got on Amazon.
The lights are also from amazon. JUNWEN 20FT LED Strip Light Warm White 360 LED Beads,12V Soft Dimmable Lights Strip,Flexible Undercabinet Tape.

I purchased from Home Depot two trim pieces that were pine corners. Painted them up, screwed one to the wall, slid the other under to reflect the light down and screwed them together. Then run your lights inside. the lights have adhesive but I tacked them up just make sure you tack in the neutral areas of the lights. I learned the hard way more than once you can short them out.