Anyone Installing Mini Splits in Your Shop?

[7E-Bodies]

My 40 x 60 is super insulated with a 10' ceiling and stays fairly cool even in hot weather. I have a rather enjoyable wood stove/entertainment area so I'm good on heat as well. Then there's the other factor. Cutting and splitting 5-6 cords of hard wood every year (from my own wooded areas) is getting old. Let's hear who all is playing with the mini split systems. (I'm very capable of installing one).

[Daveh]

 

I'm thinking about it also.  Would like to hear opinions.  I'd be using it for the A/C since I'm in Florida. 

[EDL94]

I installed one and it works great. It is a two head system one 16000 btu in the main shop 40 x24  and a 800 btu in my 10 x 10 office / rebuild room. The main shop is a little undersized (it takes a some time to warm up on a cold day) but it has no problem maintaining temp. I have a pellet stove also if you crank them both up it warms up in no time. I ordered it on amazon and installed it myself. in hindsight I should have went 3 heads and more btus 2 heads for the main shop but I am happy with what I have.

[Squire Edgar]

I installed a Senville 24000btu Mini split about 2 years ago in my 24x30 detached garage, R38 in the ceilings and R21 in walls, I couldn't be happier, we average between 90 to 100 in the Summer and I can crank it down to 72 degrees and it doesn't take long to get it down from 85 degrees, after I open the garage door to bring in my car, it takes about an hour. In the winter it can bring temperature in the upper 40s to 65 degrees in about an hour. I bought it on Amazon on a sale of just under $1000 and had an HVAC company install.

[Jsand73440]

Great information. I just moved from a home in Indianapolis area that had an oversized home system that also took care of the garage. It was great year round. now i live in KC area without that luxury. Garage is stinking hot and i cant bring myself to go out and work on the car. I plan on getting a mini-split and installing myself, as there are a number of options that indicate that they are fairly simple to install.

[70vert]

I installed a Senville 24000btu Mini split about 2 years ago in my 24x30 detached garage, R38 in the ceilings and R21 in walls, I couldn't be happier, we average between 90 to 100 in the Summer and I can crank it down to 72 degrees and it doesn't take long to get it down from 85 degrees, after I open the garage door to bring in my car, it takes about an hour. In the winter it can bring temperature in the upper 40s to 65 degrees in about an hour. I bought it on Amazon on a sale of just under $1000 and had an HVAC company install.

Curious how much the install was?
I was interested in a Mini-Split for my 3-car garage that has a room above it, to do both. In Houston so mostly about the A/C capability. My A/C guy said it would be at least $6k, informal quote. I guess that is OK but was hoping for less (of course).

[Squire Edgar]

I installed a Senville 24000btu Mini split about 2 years ago in my 24x30 detached garage, R38 in the ceilings and R21 in walls, I couldn't be happier, we average between 90 to 100 in the Summer and I can crank it down to 72 degrees and it doesn't take long to get it down from 85 degrees, after I open the garage door to bring in my car, it takes about an hour. In the winter it can bring temperature in the upper 40s to 65 degrees in about an hour. I bought it on Amazon on a sale of just under $1000 and had an HVAC company install.

Curious how much the install was?
I was interested in a Mini-Split for my 3-car garage that has a room above it, to do both. In Houston so mostly about the A/C capability. My A/C guy said it would be at least $6k, informal quote. I guess that is OK but was hoping for less (of course).

If I recall without looking up receipts, it was in the $600 range. It was installed in the Summer of 2021. That Summer we got up to 115F one day and many days over 100 and it handled the heat like a Champ. Where I live our humidity in the Summer is always consistently low, so that may make a difference between what will work here, as opposed to a higher humidity area

[70 Challenger Lover]

I put an inexpensive Pioneer mini split in my shop and I love it. 30x40 building with 9 ft ceilings, well insulated walls and ceiling.

I purposely went oversized because the cost wasn't that much more and I didn't want to have any regrets. 36,000 btu which is the biggest they offered.

I got estimates for professional install but found they want stupid money for 1/2 day of easy work. Doing it yourself isn't bad at all.

I went with the single head unit and I'm glad I did. It does the job great. I can get the shop down to 65 in short order and leave it there on even the hottest days. I keep it mid 70s at night.

Energy costs are surprisingly low. Probably adds $20 a month to my bill.

Here's what people don't talk much about: Mini splits excel at making cold air. They struggle to make warm air. If you look at the tag on the unit showing annual costs, you'll see it's very little annually for cooling but 2-3 times that for heating annually. That's because it's a heat pump and heat pumps are not very efficient when outside temps are in the teens. A heat pump is drawing the heat out of the outside air so colder temps mean it has to work that much harder.

As a heater, I find that I still need to supplement with a space heater on cold days.

All in all, a mini split is worth every penny!

By the way, I had a cool wood burning stove in my shop for a while but I got tired of constantly tending it. They are a lot of work. On a cold day, I could tend my wood stove constantly and after 12 hours, the temp in the shop reached a max of 60 so I still found myself supplementing with electric heaters.

[SeventyTX9RTRag]

I have Daikens in various locations and really like them a lot. I have had them for several years mostly trouble free. I think they are a great option for a garage/shop.