Most of heating and air conditioning systems are usually designed for indoors. And as well we know, garage is useful area either during winter or summer to keep the automotive vehicles securely. Unfortunately, this place tends to get unfriendly either during summer (relatively hotter than other rooms of the house) or winter (relatively colder than other rooms of the home), especially if you have a project that must be finished in there! On the other hand, in fact cooling and heating activities require the huge amount energy all year round. Therefore, many experts recommend choosing and using heating and air conditioning units that can be installed non-permanently.

Well, there are some options and ideas on how to heat or cool the garage efficiently without spending a lot of money on paying the high energy bill for every month. One of The biggest challenges is how to choose the best one of garage air conditioning and heating systems that can work more efficient! It is the key of the successful choice that must be concerned as well. Moreover, don’t miss to also consider the insulation system, because it can eliminate the energy loss so thus your HVAC unit keeps working efficient (not-hardly). The insulation is so recommended either for stand-alone or attached garage, and the other benefit is helpful to quarantine and reduce the noise from the outside.

What else you should know about garage insulation:

You have to consider “R-value”. It is the parameter to measure the effectiveness/ performance. This variable is determined from the insulation’s resistance material to transfer of heat. The higher R-value means the better performance of insulation, and usually also we need more money to purchase.

Don’t forget to choose the insulation that only meets to the building codes of your local area, because the local climate in your local area will give a significant contribution the performance of your insulation system!

‘Forms’ is usually the nickname to call the variety types of insulation. And there are available four major types of forms;

1. Rigid (polystyrene foam)! It has higher R-value. The dry-wall is usually used to cover it in order to minimize the fire risk because it is made from the flammable material. It is also can be used for exterior, but the ‘weather proofing’ material should be also installed to cover it.
2. Next is the type from the combination wood-rock and fiberglass. This type is familiar called ‘Batt’. It is available in a several choice of width.
3. Loose fill, this type is made from the combination of three materials; polyurethane foam, fiberglass and wood-rock. It looks much distinct than Batt, especially for the design that come in tiny chunks. The ‘small chunks’ mechanism of this type is so beneficial to make easy of the installation process which we don’t need to tear down all the dry wall. It is also welcome idea for the unfinished attic space.
4. Reflective! It uses the foil concept to reflect the heat and limit its movement. It can be utilized for between joists and studs, similar like Batt type.

Garage heating and cooling:

There are many methods to heat & cool your garage optimally, but let’s take a look at ‘the radiant hating water-based’. It is relatively more costive for the up-front costs, particularly for the installation cost. You have to install water boiler and its pipes and even you need to redesign the floor if necessary.

The benefits of this system are (a) can be categorized as eco-friendly technology, (2) the quietness & powerful performance, and (3) space saving since this system requires the underground space for the installation, (4) the high quality of clean air and we don’t need to use air filter, and (5) friendly to your finance in long term due to the relatively low energy bill that you have pay in the end of the month.

But if you want to get the smart investment (the friendly costs in long term) and use 100 percent eco-friendly technology, then solar or geothermal heating &air conditioning cooling systems and even evaporative coolers are nice selection. In addition, unfortunately the evaporative cooler models are not qualified to any area, because the outside temperature and humidity are closely related to their performance.

Best portable air conditioner for garage

On other hand, if you want to get the practical unit that can be installed or reinstalled easily to cool your garage then portable air conditioning is not too bad choice! But always keep in mind that the proper size should be calculated correctly in order to make the unit can keep working powerful!

According to sylvane.com; below are two of the top and best portable air conditioners (‘money valuable category’) that currently available in the marketplace to cool your garage:

1. LX-140 from Soleus! This product is HVAC unit, therefore also can be used as heater during winter. It is priced at around $489! It has 14,000 BTUs for the size (powerful to cool or heat garage that has around 500 sq-ft for the large size) and available for single or dual hose design. It is designed to be plugged into standard electric outlet (110-120 V).
2. ACW500 series (American Comfort)! It is designed with 13,000 BTUs with the single cooling function. One of the excellent features is the water removing system that so helpful to keep the humidity of the room friendly. The manufacture claims this product (in dehumidify mode) can dehumidify up to around 65.9 pints of water/day. Moreover, there is also available for heat pump models.

Read also Maytag and Mitsubishi air conditioning!

Tags: garage air conditioning, garage insulation