How are you keeping your shop cool?

[Crazyraceguy]

Question for anyone that is using a mini split style wall mounted fan coil. Has shop dust ever been an issue for you? The filters that ship with the mini split indoor heads are not the greatest for really fine dust. Has anyone found the evaporator coil to get really dusty? I clean the evaporator coils in the house every spring, which isn't a task I look forward to.

In the last couple of weeks, most of what I have done was just moving in and sorting stuff. This week, I have gotten to do some actual cutting and routing. So far the CTs are getting it done.
I have blown out and washed the filters a few times, but they weren't bad.

 

[Malinois Dad]

Thanks for the feedback. I do use a CT for sanding, a dust collector on the large stationary tools, and recently added a 950CFM Rikon air filter suspended from the ceiling. I let the Rikon run the entire time I'm working in the shop and srt the timer for 4 hours after my workday is over. It does seem to keep the fine dust from settling on everything. I change the pleated filter on the Rikon weekly.

 

[SoonerFan]

Question for anyone that is using a mini split style wall mounted fan coil. Has shop dust ever been an issue for you? The filters that ship with the mini split indoor heads are not the greatest for really fine dust. Has anyone found the evaporator coil to get really dusty? I clean the evaporator coils in the house every spring, which isn't a task I look forward to. I'm wondering if I would not be better using a vertical air handler in the shop with some simple ducting. I could then use a 2" disposable pleated air filter. I could very well be overthinking it.

@Malinois Dad I have been using my mini split for five years and for the most part it has been great. It was just so much cheaper than the other options I explored for conditioning the space.

Mine has removable screens that act as the fliter. I vacuum these with my CT one a month or so. One or twice a year I vacuum behind the screens and clean the blades inside the unit. There are Cottonwoods near us so a couple of times a summer I take the hose and clean it off. Finally I have our HVAC contractor check the unit, Freon levels, etc, as part of the maintenance plan we have with them. I run it all summer, never shutting it off. During the day I set it at 74 and then switch it to 77 degrees and “eco mode” at night. During the winter I set it at 60 and leave it there all day and all night. None of the maintenance I do takes more than 3- minutes and vacuuming the screens takes about five minutes.

Only issue I have is maybe once a winter the water freezes. The water comes in from our house and then comes up through the outside wall into the shop bathroom. This year when in gets super cold I think I will let the water dip over those nights. The only good thing about the water freezing is it serves to remind me that adding the bathroom was a great plan. I never realized how convenient it is until it froze the first time.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

@Malinois Dad I have been using my mini split for five years and for the most part it has been great. It was just so much cheaper than the other options I explored for conditioning the space.

Mine has removable screens that act as the fliter. I vacuum these with my CT one a month or so. One or twice a year I vacuum behind the screens and clean the blades inside the unit. There are Cottonwoods near us so a couple of times a summer I take the hose and clean it off. Finally I have our HVAC contractor check the unit, Freon levels, etc, as part of the maintenance plan we have with them. I run it all summer, never shutting it off. During the day I set it at 74 and then switch it to 77 degrees and “eco mode” at night. During the winter I set it at 60 and leave it there all day and all night. None of the maintenance I do takes more than 3- minutes and vacuuming the screens takes about five minutes.

Only issue I have is maybe once a winter the water freezes. The water comes in from our house and then comes up through the outside wall into the shop bathroom. This year when in gets super cold I think I will let the water dip over those nights. The only good thing about the water freezing is it serves to remind me that adding the bathroom was a great plan. I never realized how convenient it is until it froze the first time.

I didn't run mine last winter, since the insulation wasn't finished. I'll find out this year though. I don't have water, in my shop. It's only a few steps into the house and that's fine.

 

[SoonerFan]

CRG I think you will be very happy with how the mini split performs in the winter.

 

[jeffinsgf]

....
The ideal basement shop is one with a walk-out.

Ding, Ding Ding!

Walk-out with a garage door and a concrete drive around to the front of the house. It's a very convenient set-up. According to many things I've read about HVAC, closing vents is generally not helpful, so my basement vents are open and my shop is the same temp as the rest of the house...sometimes cooler. The only downside to my arrangement is keeping the shop sawdust down enough that it doesn't get into the house HVAC. I don't turn anything on without a dust collector attached and I've added an air cleaner. I still need to do more and have some plans, but it's workable for the time being.

Glad to hear your window unit under the garage door is working. Short term housing always presents challenges.

 

[onocoffee]

For those of you with mini-splits, how is the energy consumption? Where I live, the utilities have increased dramatically this year and I'm a bit concerned about adding to that load - no matter how much I'm sweating it out during the summer.