Ot Air Condition The Shop?

[Grumpy Gator]

Growing up in South West Florida the heat and humidity is ever present.That said I try to work at night with a squirrel cage fan sucking the flying blood suckers out of the shop.
Back when I was a pup my Granddad had a metal shop building. He ran a pump into an old cistern that pumped the water onto the metal roof and back through gutters into the cistern .Primitive I'll grant you but it worked well enough to be able to work out there on really hot summer days....Them were the days.
****G*** ***********

 

[cathead]

It's 41 degrees here in northern Minnesota and the furnace is on. It's June 28, 2016.
There isn't much need for an air conditioner here as it rarely gets hot enough to need one.
Heavy fog is rolling off the lake.

 

[kvt]

Don't rub it in, It did not even get below 80 by 5AM this morning here. and that with so much humidity that everything had a full layer of water on it.

 

[Franko]

In North Texas (Dallas area) my double garage shop is unairconditionable. It is full of fans, but in the summer when the dew point is in the upper 60s and lower 70s fans just make it feel like being in a convection oven. Summer machining was near impossible because I dripped sweat all over everything. My table saw is festooned with dark spots.

If fans are the only option, a large ceiling fan is a must. Heat build up in the peak of my roof added about 10-15º. I also have a fairly big and powerful 18" fan aimed to keep the air circulating around the perimeter of the shop. Two squirrel cage fans are mounted to the header of the big door that can be rotated to aim at whatever work station I'm at. It is better than nothing, but not much. A swamp cooler just raises the humidity and is completely useless in my humid environment.

I built a shed roof insulated shop on the side of the garage for my machine tool room. Well insulated ceiling and walls allow an 8,000 btu window unit to keep that room comfortable on our hottest days. It is rated for about 350 square feet. My shop is 250 square feet. It is the best thing I ever did. It only needs to run for about 10 minutes to cool the shop off on the hottest humid summer day. The cool breeze feels great. I have a small 12" fan mounted in front of it to move a little more air.

 

[strantor]

I just went to Lowes and bought the 25,000 Btu Ac unit.
I have it in the window, just need to finish up the wiring tomorrow.

How's the temp in your shop now?
The air-conditioned portion of my shop is about 500sq ft (~30'x15') and have a small (8k BTU?) window unit. My walls are insulated and the ceiling is a vaulted ceiling (insulated) with asphalt shingles on the roof.
If the outside temp is <85, the A/C can keep it at 72.
If the outside temp is 98 with 80% humidity, the A/C can keep it cooler inside than outside, but not by enough to keep time spent inside enjoyable.

 

[jocat54]

Well the AC didn't work out well--I could only get the whole shop down to about 86* when it was 95 outside.
So been working on plan B---building a 10'x40' room with 8' ceiling inside the shop. I have it all framed up now and will go buy OSB tomorrow. I have quite a bit of the vinyl insulation left over from doing the shop. May have to buy a little more regular insulation to finish it. The room has my lathe, mill, drill press, 4x6 band saw plus misc stuff. . It has 3 windows(insulated) to outside and 2 windows to the inside of shop with 1 door to the outside and 2 doors to the inside of shop.
Trying to stay cool is getting expensive---but it should be easy to heat in the winter. Old age has made me soft.

 

[jocat54]

Update:
Sorry about the double post above--not sure how that happened
I now have a 10x40 room well insulated (R19 in ceiling & r13 walls) and it is great---today was about 97* outside with heat index 105*---inside 74*, really nice. It would get colder but have the AC set to keep it 74* to 76*

 

[f350ca]

My shop is well shaded with trees, two story with the machine shop downstairs at ground level and the cabinet shop above. The walls are 2x6 with 2x2 horizontal strapping to give 8 inches of fibreglass, and low E double pane windows. Upstairs was hot today, 90 deg outside with high humidity. Downstairs was 60, uncomfortably cold when you walked in. I got the torque wrench to put a wheel back on the pickup, by the time I got to the truck it was wet from sweating. The downside is I can't open up the big doors in this weather or the machinery is covered in water from sweating. Guess the cement floor absorbs the heat, it stays that temperature all summer.

Greg

 

[maspann]

I bought a used 2 ton heat pump for my shop (26 X 32) many years ago and couldn't live without it. I keep it around 55 deg in the winter and 75 in the summer. it breaks the chill in the winter and pulls the moisture out of the air in the summer. I'd say do it!