New improvement for workshop

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HueyPilotVN

HueyPilotVN

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Posts
3,298
Location
Lake Havasu City, AZ
It was 111 degrees here in Lake Havasu yesterday.  The house is cool and comfortable but my RV garage is too warm for projects.

I was getting some car supplies down at the local NAPA store when I spotted a possible solution for my hot garage.

They had a couple of roll around swamp coolers.  They have a water resevour and a wet mat that a fan blows air thru to create a cool breeze.

The unit is rated for 1200 square feet, (about the size of my RV Garage) and lists for about $1,500.

It was a floor display and I had seen it before so I knew it had been there for some time.

They offered it for $1,000.  I usually open the negotiations with a higher offer and a look of shock by the other party.
I changed my tactics this time and offered them $900.

I bought it and brought it home and it is now cooling the garage.  I filled it with water, (seemed to take forever, big tank) and it really throws out a lot of cool air.

I have been considering putting a large HVAC system on the flat roof above the RV garage but that would cost probably 10 to 15 times as much.

Here are some pictures.



 

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  Not sure of your shop size, we just picked up a heat pump today for our 30x50x16 pole barn. We got a 4 ton unit, installing myself. Not sure if this gives you an idea what you need.
 
Boonieman said:
  Not sure of your shop size, we just picked up a heat pump today for our 30x50x16 pole barn. We got a 4 ton unit, installing myself. Not sure if this gives you an idea what you need.
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The RV garage portion is about 20 x 50 x 15 and the garage side is about 20 x 25 x 10.

Cooling is a much bigger issue for me than heating.  Even in the winter it does not get too cold here.
 
Well,
        We are selling the house and property we live in currently and need somewhere to stay until new house is built. Planning on doing camping this summer and staying in our camper full time doesn?t sound appealing.
 
I gave $2250 for the Heil heat pump and furnace. New house supposed to be done by November. Just trying to keep cool and warm by then.
 
When stationed at NAS China Lake, Ca., years ago, we used a swamp cooler for our mobile home.  Worked great, even when it would hit 120 degrees at times. However, keep in mind a swamp cooler is pumping a lot of moisture into the air and I was just looking at your tools and tool chests. I recommend you keep a close eye on your equipment for rust development. Other than that, enjoy the cool.
 
rls7201 said:
May I borrow your nice cool garage to finish painting on my new stripes?

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29658451.cfm

Richard
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Sure,  I have been offering everything but money to get some of you guys to visit.  I have all the spray painting equipment, drop cloths, and even a rolling scaffold for the higher parts.

I painted stripes on a class C many years ago.  It turned out pretty good.  Since then I tried to do some touch up on my mustang recently.  Turned out terrible, must have lost my touch.  I am going to get one of the professionals here in town to fix it.  Lake Havasu is full of classic cars, rods, boats and RVs.

Molaker,  I will watch for rust but it is so dry here that I do not think it will happen.

Edit:  Richard,  I just looked at your link to the paint job.  Looks good.  You are almost finished.  You do not need a garage.
 
Swamp coolers are usually one pass devices.  They draw in dry outside air, cool it and send it through the area to be cooled.  A window is left open at the other end as an exhaust so the cooler can continue drawing in more dry air to cool.

Those roll-around coolers work best in areas where there is lots of outside air inflitrating in.  In a sealed garage, watch out for rising humidity like Molaker said.  The cooler may work for a while, then lose effectiveness as the humidity in the enclosed area rises.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Swamp coolers are usually one pass devices.  They draw in dry outside air, cool it and send it through the area to be cooled.  A window is left open at the other end as an exhaust so the cooler can continue drawing in more dry air to cool.

Those roll-around coolers work best in areas where there is lots of outside air inflitrating in.  In a sealed garage, watch out for rising humidity like Molaker said.  The cooler may work for a while, then lose effectiveness as the humidity in the closed garage rises.
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Luckily I have overhead doors at each end of the garage.  I raised each of the big overhead doors up about a foot.  The natural airflow comes in from the rear door.  I usually open the doors all the way when I am out there to get the pass through effect.  I will experiment with different opening sizes to see what works best.

After posting this tonight I put together and hung another wall cabinet.  I have two more to go and then I will have most of the wall finished.

 

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When last I was there I had one of those for the RV.. Made a big difference in the dry air of the desert  Boondocking in QZ it was very effective during the day (Furnace at night).

As I recall it was 800 bucks but mine was also a heater.. It finally died of old age. 
 
HueyPilotVN said:
Edit:  Richard,  I just looked at your link to the paint job.  Looks good.  You are almost finished.  You do not need a garage.
Click to expand...

I'm about ? done with the rear, then I have both sides to strip and paint.
Thanks for the offer of garage space. But I'll have to remain here in MO for the summer. XYL also needs her bathroom remodeled this year.  :-[
 
With the super low humidity in AZ, that cooler will work great. Adding a little moisture to the air will make it feel a lot cooler. My uncle had one in his house when I was a kid. I used to try to think of reasons to visit in the dead of summer just to hang out for a while. 
 
When we moved here with our large RV garage we had a permanent evaporative cooler installed.  Yesterday at 97 degrees outside it was 77 degrees in the garage.  Very comfortable!  Just make sure you have exit windows/doors for the air because one of our neighbors did not and it cracked his walls because the air had nowhere to exit.  We have our cooler at the rear of the RV garage, the air comes the length of the RV garage, crosses the 3rd car garage and the double car garage, then exits through two windows set high on the farthest wall.

ArdraF
 
I remember reading about your swamp cooler and it factored into my decision to buy this one.

I do have doors at both ends and will experiment on how to use it.i plan on mostly using it just when I am out in the garage
 
It was 108 here today.

I spent about 6 hours working in the garage.  With the doors open and the swamp cooler running it was fairly comfortable.

I put together 2 more wall cabinets and a wooden work bench as well as reorganizing much of the tools and parts.

Everything below the wall cabinets is on wheels and can be rolled out the back it I need to use the roll around scaffold.

I also straightened out the car garage with shelves and plastic bins.

Here are the latest pictures.

 

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Bill, those swamp coolers work great in the dry deaser air. That use to be the primary way to cool houses and businesses in the South West.
Bill
 
Ok,  Now i have offered a place to stay with full hookups.  An indoor workshop that will allow for most any size RV to fit inside to be worked on.

I offer tools, parts, advice, criticism, shade, cool air, cold drinks, and a swimming pool and spa to relax in and I still cannot get anyone to visit and do some projects on their RV or just visit period.

If I am not careful I guess I might get some crabby old person to take me up on this, but I think we only have a few of them on this Forum.

Hey, I survived the homeless family of 11 people and 6 dogs.  It could not be worse than that could it?
 
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