Cool It!

I'm building my RV-7 in my two-car, attatched garage down here in sunny south Florida. As you might imagine, it does get warm here. Since the garage is not air-conditioned, and since we are renting this house there are limits to the modifications I can make here to cool things down. The garage has a steel hurricane-resistant door that catches direct sunlight until around noon, and just radiates heat into the garage.
Since I only had one overhead lightbulb, I added these.

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/6163/dsc00865ad2.jpg

I decided to insulate the door panels with a double layer of 3/4 inch sheet styrofoam. The insulation really deadens the noise to the outside.

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/2196/dsc00874bz5.jpg

Then I found this DeLonghi portable split air-conditioner which puts the compressor unit outside, and the rest of the unit inside. The two units are connected through an umbilical cord which has the high and low pressure lines and a power cord inside. This is a really nice set-upand makes it very quiet and comfortable inside.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3300/dsc00897pd4.jpg

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/9628/dsc00900on0.jpg

Now, where I never saw the temperature below 87 degrees even with the door open, now it's cool and comfortable. I figure I'll be spending much time out here so it's worth the expense.

Looks good. How much was it and what's the BTU's?

I second the concept of styrofoam sheet to insulate a roll-up door. Works great! I took it one step further and covered the inside of the panels with medium weight aircraft fabric (strip the hardware first). Shrink it per the usual and brush in a few coats of ordinary white latex paint. The result is a smooth, washable surface without adding much weight to the door. Very quiet outside too. Shop has a heat pump and is heavily insulated, so this door allows any desired temperature. You can see it in the photo background.

Dan

Baseball Dad said:

Looks good. How much was it and what's the BTU's?

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Well, it wasn't cheap. I paid about $1400. from compactappliance.com which I think was a sale price. They're normally about $1800. from this source. It's 13,000 btu and it seems to be very efficient, unlike many portable a/c's. It should be put on a dedicated 20 amp outlet. (110v).
If you think about the hundreds or thousands of hours you'll be working, and the problems that can arise from being in that kind of heat, you'll probably agree it's money well spent. Plus when you're done, dump it on ebay!
Also, most portable a/c's require one or two large vent holes through the door to exhaust the hot air; not so with this set-up.
Happy building!

P.S. If you live in hurricane alley, this a/c along with a generator can make things bearable during power outages. Perhaps FEMA will even pay some of the costs like they did for my generator last year.

Ron,
From where did you get the styrofoam for the door? How much was it? And, how much trouble was it to install?

apatti said:

Ron,
From where did you get the styrofoam for the door? How much was it? And, how much trouble was it to install?

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4 x 8 sheets by 3/4 inch from the insulation section at Home Depot.
About $7.50/sheet. In my case, 3/4 worked because the recess in the door measured 1-1/2 inches. It has to go in in layers because you need it to be slightly flexible, which 1-1/2 inch would not be.
The styrofoam fits into recesses in the door panels which means each piece, after it is cut to size is cut roughly in half vertically, then each half piece is scored and cracked horizontally and then wedged into the recess. Then the other half piece is put in the same way. On the next (top) piece, make the vertical cut an inch or two off from the cut in the first panel.
On some of the upper or lower end door panels, they have a recess around all four of the sides so those pieces have to be cut vertically into thirds, the end pieces
scored and wedged in, then the center piece scored and wedged into place.
Everything is glued in with many tubes of liquid nails.
I think I used eight sheets to do a double wide door.
Since I had to bring this stuff home from the store in a little Jap car, I had to cut the 4 x 8 sheets into quarters to get them in the car. Make sure if you do this that you make the cuts according to what you'll need for the job.
Confused yet? If not, you'll probably have no trouble with Van's instructions.