Portable AC

[Roc Doc]

My garage is 30x33 and the walls and ceiling are rocked and insulated, (2x6 construction), but putting one or two hot cars in it every day makes the temp inside only a few degrees below ambient. I know I'm not going to keep it at 72 in the summer AZ months, but I'd like to have some cool air blowing on me while I'm running the reloading press, or doing light car maintenance. Ultimately I'd like to install a mini-split, but as the garage is in front of the house the unit would poke out of the wall adjacent to the front walkway and that's kinda ugly, same with the wall facing the circle drive. I could put the unit on the roof and it would be invisible from the ground (Pueblo stye house), but that's an added cost with a sump pump for the evaporator. SO, I'm looking at those roll around jobs, dude ran one in the toy hauler we were using as a classroom over the weekend, and it worked great keeping the garage area cool when the rooftop units couldn't do the job. It was an LG for roughly $350 from Lowes, don't know the model. Is there a preferred brand? Shopping Amazon there is the expected Chi-com brands I've never heard of, but also LG, Black and Decker, etc.

110v for versatility.

 

[crisbee1]

I have a 13,00btu fedders in the garage wall. barely adequate, considering a mini split to replace it.

 

[bigun]

I use one of the roll around type you stick the hose out the window for exhaust, it does okay in an insulated room. When I had it in my motor home you had to sit right in front of it to feel the cold air.
Old boss in W Tx back in the 70s bought a regular swamp cooler and mounted it on wheels and you could move it to where you were working, you would have to dump a couple of buckets of water in it during the day, but it was worth the hassle when you are working in a steal building

 

[RusM]

I think you want one with separate intake and outflow hoses, insulate the outflow and seal it up really good. Also, get the big fucker!

 

[87manche]

bought an SPT one a few years ago.

works.
hasn't died.
also doubles as dehumidifier.

 

[non-OP]

I have been using an EdgeStar 14k BTU cool/heat/dry/fan unit for 12 years and its still working. Usual use is a single room, about 13x22. Works pretty good.

Just bought Fridigaire 12k BTU cool/dry/fan unit for my daughter's room and so far so good.

They can be loud when running though. I have rolled the EdgeStar out to a garage in the past and shoved the exhaust hose out the cat door while I reloaded or worked on things. But it never cooled the uninsulated garage in summers. Worked great standing in front it though, so that was a great during a break.

 

[det107]

Summon a fan bearer w/Khu fan & make him/her your "Right Hand Man"-

 

[Mr.Ratbastard]

Dual hose but I think a karge window unit will work better. I ran a couple portables for many years on a boat.

 

[Thefishguy77]

I know nothing about AZ heat. We are hot in the summer here but mothing like AZ. We use a heat pump for AC for our house and even cooling it off doesnt make it comfortable on the hot days, 100+. We the. Rolled our old free standing AC unit in and ran it as just dehumidifier. That was a game changer.

instead of trying to keep the house at 65 to be cool. We run it at 70 but run the dehumidifier for an hour or so a few times a day. Power bill went significantly down, and the house is much more comfortable. TheN we gave it to someone who needed it more than we did so now its 70 degrees and humid. But they aren’t sleeping, or not sleeping for that matter in a 100 degree house.