Heating/Cooling Garage based shop - Upper Midwest

[jareese]

Hi all - I live in SW Wisconsin and I'm looking for solutions on heating/cooling a Garage based shop (getting ready to build out) which will house my lathe and smaller bench power tools, etc..

***Edit - this is an existing garage, I will be building a partition wall with insulation, and verifying/adding Batt insulation in the cieling, existing external walls will not be touched, garage door is an insulated type for whatever that's worth.

I have no qualms with DIY, just seeing A LOT of really bad reviews on most...

Not looking to break the bank, I'd like to keep it below 1700-1800 if at all possible. I had gotten a couple of quotes for mini-splits that were $5 grand plus.... I can put a new furnace in my house for that!!

The space will be 11' wide by 22' long with 8' walls.

As most Midwesterners know, we can have 50-60+ degree weather plus some humidity and then drop to low 30's with snow and ice.

What are you Garage based "guys" doing, or wish you would have done in our neck of the woods?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Ischgl99]

If you are having it installed, I don’t think you will find anything much cheaper. You are paying them to purchase the components, deliver to the job site, and offer a warranty on the installation. To stay in your budget, you will likely have to do all the work yourself, the labor alone is almost certainly over your budget for any options.

I’m at the top of a mountain, or as much of a mountain as we get in CT, so don’t have to worry about cooling. If building new, I would go with radiant in floor heating. If it was an existing garage, I would probably do propane or natural gas fired infrared fixtures along the ceiling. Both of those are probably over your budget, but a better heat source than trying to heat the air. I was considering the infrared heat in my garage until I moved the shop into the basement, but it was too long ago and I don’t remember prices, but they would be irrelevant today anyways.

 

[RJSakowski]

I live about 20 miles SE of you and am well acquainted with weather in SW Wisconsin. Were I planning a machine shop i na garage, I would insulate it well and add a vapor barrier. If I could dedicate the space to the shop, I would add a a dividing wall also with insulation and vapor barrier. Minimally, a dehumidifier will be a must for summer. A better choice would be a thru wall A/C unit as you will also have the benefit of cooling. The best choice is a mini split heat pump as it will allow three seasons use of the space. For those cold January and February nights, auxiliary heating would be required ( heat pumps don't function too well with outside temperatures below zero. I have a similar space in my attic for an electronics workshop and I have 4 KW electric baseboard heating. It is capable of raising the room temperature from 55 to 70 degrees in a few minutes.

I installed a 18,000 Btu MrCool DIY mini split in my attic space for less than $1500 a couple of years ago.

 

[Karl_T]

If you have not poured the concrete floor, put in pex tubing. Then use a hot water heater and pump to heat the floor. REALLY NICE HEAT this way.

Otherwise a modine type space heater is cheap and works OK.

 

[projectnut]

I am also in Wisconsin and tried what you are proposing for about 2 years before I gave up and moved the shop to the basement. We had the 6" thick garage walls and ceiling insulated when we built the house. We also installed electric heat. I could reasonably keep the heat in the 50's as long as no doors were opened. If a door was opened for only a brief period, it took an hour or more for the temperature to recover.

Another problem was the snow and ice brought in by the vehicles. It didn't take long for it to melt and cover the floor. I was continually squeeging the floor to have a semi dry place to work in. Springtime was the worst. Warm days would mean all the cold iron would be covered with condensation. At times it seemed like it was raining on the machines. I was continually wiping them down and oiling them to keep the rust at bay.

After 2 years of trying to beat mother nature I gave up and moved the machines to the basement. They're now in a climate-controlled atmosphere with a constant temperature of 65* and 35% to 40% humidity. No rust, no wipe downs, and no temperature changes from opening doors. I now have nearly 2 dozen machines that don't need constant attention due to the weather. The only way I would move the machines to a garage type setting is if it could be a totally segregated area where it could be higher than the vehicle level to avoid water on the floor, and independently heated permanently maintained at 60*. Even then I'm afraid the cost to build a new structure or add on to the existing one would be cost prohibitive.

 

[great white]

I’m in Atlantic Canada and it gets COLD and WET here.

we had hot water/pex infloor heating installed when we built the garage. Actually, it just part of the slab we poured for the whole house, so it runs off the same mini boiler that does the rest of the house.

Best heat I’ve ever had.

Nothing rusts in the garage.

Always warm under your feet.

Nice warm floor if you ever have to slide under a car or truck to do some work.

my JD tractor starts on the first turn because its always warm.

Thermally stable even when the power goes out because the slab stores heat and it takes days for it to go cold.

A heat pump does have the advantage of providing dehumidifying and cooling functions in the summer though. I use a “roll around“ ac unit in summer, but am considering adding a heat pump instead of the ac unit.

I’ll also add that my attached 2+ car garage is for workshop and vintage/specialty vehicle storage (mustang, corvette, mini cooper a couple road bikes and the tractor). I have a detached 2 car garage where we keep the driving vehicles.

 

[jareese]

I am also in Wisconsin and tried what you are proposing for about 2 years before I gave up and moved the shop to the basement. We had the 6" thick garage walls and ceiling insulated when we built the house. We also installed electric heat. I could reasonably keep the heat in the 50's as long as no doors were opened. If a door was opened for only a brief period, it took an hour or more for the temperature to recover.

Another problem was the snow and ice brought in by the vehicles. It didn't take long for it to melt and cover the floor. I was continually squeeging the floor to have a semi dry place to work in. Springtime was the worst. Warm days would mean all the cold iron would be covered with condensation. At times it seemed like it was raining on the machines. I was continually wiping them down and oiling them to keep the rust at bay.

After 2 years of trying to beat mother nature I gave up and moved the machines to the basement. They're now in a climate-controlled atmosphere with a constant temperature of 65* and 35% to 40% humidity. No rust, no wipe downs, and no temperature changes from opening doors. I now have nearly 2 dozen machines that don't need constant attention due to the weather. The only way I would move the machines to a garage type setting is if it could be a totally segregated area where it could be higher than the vehicle level to avoid water on the floor, and independently heated permanently maintained at 60*. Even then I'm afraid the cost to build a new structure or add on to the existing one would be cost prohibitive.

Can't do the basement or that's where I'd be going - no way to get the lathe down there.

 

[jareese]

I live about 20 miles SE of you and am well acquainted with weather in SW Wisconsin. Were I planning a machine shop i na garage, I would insulate it well and add a vapor barrier. If I could dedicate the space to the shop, I would add a a dividing wall also with insulation and vapor barrier. Minimally, a dehumidifier will be a must for summer. A better choice would be a thru wall A/C unit as you will also have the benefit of cooling. The best choice is a mini split heat pump as it will allow three seasons use of the space. For those cold January and February nights, auxiliary heating would be required ( heat pumps don't function too well with outside temperatures below zero. I have a similar space in my attic for an electronics workshop and I have 4 KW electric baseboard heating. It is capable of raising the room temperature from 55 to 70 degrees in a few minutes.

I installed a 18,000 Btu MrCool DIY mini split in my attic space for less than $1500 a couple of years ago.

@RJSakowski I've started to look at the DIY Splits - LOTS of negative reviews on them. Looking at the MrCool's on HomeDepot site.

 

[rabler]

I'll second the DIY mini-split as a three season solution. For winter heat I use a natural gas heater. While I'm in SW Indiana, I've lived as far north as Duluth, MN as well as in the Madison, Wi area. The combination provides excellent all-around comfort and humidity control for a shop. Yes, it costs money, DIY installation will save you significantly.

 

[woodchucker]

I'll add that any insulation you add, you should consider Rockwool. It's got many advantages over fiberglass or blown insulation.
1st its recycling metal slag
2nd its so dense, that it stops the incursion of wind (major advantage)
3rd, it doesn't sag
4th it doesn't get soaked from water, it beads off, so if you have some issue, you will not have a mold issue. Fiberglass gets soaking wet.
5th little varmints don't like it. So you won't have bugs or mice eating it and making a nest.
6th it doesn't itch like FG. some people still find it itches, but I find it is much more forgiving.

I am amazed how well it works compared to your regular fiberglass batt.

The price differential is not that great, but the advantages are.