A/C Woodworking Shop - Is it Possible

I have a 20' X 22' shop with 10' foot ceiling. Insulated. 2'-8" door on rear side & double 3'-0" doors on front. Have large hole (28" X 18") framed in for Thru the wall / window A/C.

Problem, I have been told by several that the life expectancy on that unit is maybe one summer.

Any suggestions are help appreciated . . . . Perhaps a unit or a modification that you have found to work.

Thanks, Steve in HOT HOT Humid Louisiana

Reply to
Steve DeMars
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And why would that be? The dust will plug the condenser or evap, but blowing it out religiously and using furnace filter material will not harm the AC.. but "ya hafta keepit clean"

Reply to
Robatoy

I have central AC in my shop in Phoenix but rarely use it (use evaporative cooling if anything). When I have the filter clogs quite rapidly so it is necessary to be diligent in keeping it clean. Now you're probably asking why I don't use the AC when it's 115 out.......because the DC pulls too much air and it exhausts outside.....so now you're wondering why I have AC......because the shop is set up to be converted into another bedroom/bathroom since not everyone wants a shop (except in this group) and most would like the extra BR/BathR. (shop built with resale in mind)

Gary

Reply to
GeeDubb

I dont quite understand your problem ?

you need to size the a/c according to the space it is required to cool.

The unit will pull in outside air , cool it, and blow it into your shop. make sure you clean it occasionally and it should last many years.

try to run too small a unit continually and it will burn out quickly.

Reply to
marks542004

I'm going into the AC problem myself, but you should get a dehumidifier!

Reply to
AAvK

I've got a similar sized shop located in Georgia Been running A/C for 6 years with no probleems. As already mentioned, a must in blowing it out and changing filters on a regular basis ( Mine is washable). I have the added plus of dual dust collection systems so less ambient dust is hitting the A/C unit. Go for it and be comfortable.

Reply to
Ed Walsh

My A/C unit draws air from inside the living space, Guess thats why I have that little filter in the front panel. That needs to be cleaned frequently, the window air that we have in the bedroom also has the filter, the only air that I feel venting outside is the hot air off the condensor. Now, I am not an A/C guru so you may be correct that it pulls from outside as well. The A/C that I will be using in the shop is going to have a frame built around the inside so that I can install a better filter.

Searcher

Reply to
Searcher

In the shop I just left, I moved, I installed a room A/C and built a = filter box around it made to use furnace filters. This along with = blowing it out fairly regular kept it humming for 5 years. Puff

Reply to
Puff Griffis

: The unit will pull in outside air , cool it, and blow it into your : shop. make sure you clean it occasionally and it should last many : years.

An evaorative cooler draws in outside air, but an AC unit doesn't. It recirculates inside air, cooling (and drying) it in the process -- heat is radiated outside by the coil.

-- Andy Barss

Reply to
Andrew Barss

Actually, that is wrong on 2 counts

1) A/C pulls air from the inside and cools it and sends it back into the room. 2) It's better to have an undersized A/C than an oversized A/C. Constant running of the motors won't burn them out as quick as short on/off times will.

Looks like you need to go back to school on A/Cs.

Reply to
Odinn

I don't see why he will necessarily have a problem either, but ACs do not pull in and cool outside air; They recirculate and cool INSIDE air.

Reply to
lwasserm

The Odinn entity posted thusly:

Strange... My air conditioner will pull air from inside or outside, depending on the setting of a lever on the control panel. I have yet to see an air conditioner that will only pull air from inside.

But what do I know? My entire schooling in air conditioning consists of using several of them, and noticing the controls.

Reply to
Oleg Lego

I don't have a/c in the shop but would like to point out that many commercial furniture and finishing shops are air conditioned, so it _is_ possible.

How about locating the unit in least dusty corner and adding some pre-filters to the intake air? Most of the mechanicals on my through-wall units in my home are actually outside. The main "Screen" on the inside face of the unit has a washable foam filter over the heat exchanger.

It seems that you could build a filter box to cover the intake section, increasing the surface area if necessary, and be diligent about blowing out and replacing the prefilters.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

Mine has a similar setting, but the "outside" setting only mixes outside air, still pulling most of it from inside.

I'd suggest a trip to the dump for the OP to examine the insides of window units.

Barry

Reply to
Ba r r y

Noticing the controls tells nothing. Some low end models have no option for outside air. The ones that do, are laughable.

My company made the scroll plates for a major AC company in the US. About

5,000 a day with no fresh air, then they added the option because a competitor had a version. The slot to allow fresh air in was about 1/2" wide by 1 1/2" high. I asked the engineer about it. He said it allowed them to put a check in the box on the comparative rating sheets at the store.
Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I've got one large window unit bought many years ago that goes from full recirc to mostly fresh air. I've got a new Whirlpool unit that only recirculates.

Davev

Reply to
David

I work on them for a living and have yet to see one that will pull 100% outside air into the home. Most that bring in outside air have a little flapper door about 1-1/2" square for "fresh air". Greg

Reply to
Greg O

May take on it? Buy a $100 unit, and blow the dust out of it once a month. If it dies in a couple years buy another one! If you do a good cleaning on it regularly it may run for years. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

My shop is heated/cooled with a 2 ton window style air conditioner/heat pump mounted thru-the-wall up high. It has provided all of the shop's heating/cooling needs for about 12 years now. I expect to get at least another 5 years out of it and the unit wasn't new when I put it in (you just have to maintain it). I buy the small 1" thick high filtration furnace type filters (which will actually fit behind the cover) and replace/clean them about 2 X per week. I also blow out the coils with shop compressed air every couple of months and clean the condensate pan and drain. This part is a bit of a pain, but overall, going with a heat pump been the best decision that I've ever made for shop environmental control. This is the first time that I've had cooling capability, but I've gone through several other heating systems including wood stoves and oil furnaces before this and I won't be going back. I keep the shop temperature at a comfortable level whenever I'm working out there and keep it above freezing when I'm not, with no significant problems and no worries about heating system related shop fires. The side benefits have been air filtration and dehumidification. I live in hot hot and humid central NC.

Reply to
Charley

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