Keeping cool in the shop

[hazmat]

Well.. for many of us the dog days are settling in. Personally, I'm having a hard time doing much of any work because it's so hot in my work area. I don't have the option of adding A/C anywhere, there's just no place to put a unit without having to do some major retrofitting. Luckily my workshop doesn't get much sunlight throughout the day so it doesn't get baked to death. Fans help some but getting them set up so they're not blowing stuff hither and yon can be tricky. Anybody else have a similar problem?

[KurtHuhn]

I moved my workshop from the shed out back to the basement of the house for exactly those reasons. In the winter I froze. In the summer I baked. The basement, while a little damp (stacked stone foundation, thin concrete floor) is far more comfortable.

In a few years I'm going to build myself a hum-dinger of a garage/workshop - but until then I'll keep most of my workshop in the basement (the sole exception being the air compressor and blasting cabinets).

[hazmat]

I would love to have everything in my basement, but it's just not to be, unless my landlord ever moves his Smithy out of the dead-center of the joint. I have my larger machinery in the basement; band saw, grinder, belt sander, motors etc. My metal lathe and drill are press in the back room of my first floor and this is also where I do the bulk of my finishing work. I'm going to try to wall-mount a few fans I have and see if I can't get something working.

[Nick]

I like to keep alot of coolant around my workshop. Its really surprising how easy it is to get. It can be found in most any grocery store in twelve ounce aluminum or glass containers. The best products are made with water, malt, barley and hops.

[kbadkar]

Nick, I'm with you! But thats water, hops, "malted barley", and yeast. That the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law) from 1516. Any other ingredients, and it's not beer. So American Budweiser (has rice in) is not beer in Germany, just coolant.

[sprangalang]

My house faces west, so the garage gets the afternoon sun. It gets right toasty in there. I set the door 3/4 closed, put a fan by the door, and swig a barley pop. And sweat.

[hazmat]

I like to keep alot of coolant around my workshop. Its really surprising how easy it is to get. It can be found in most any grocery store in twelve ounce aluminum or glass containers. The best products are made with water, malt, barley and hops.

Can't find that kinda coolant in PA grocery stores... stinkin blue laws!

[pierredekat]

The last few weeks, I've taken to doing my powertool work in the evenings when it's cooler. And fortunately, I have the luxury of doing my handwork indoors in the AC.

I must say, I've really been blessed with a Girlfriend whose father was a carpenter, too. So if I'm buzzing away with a Dremel, she's totally cool with that.

[Nick]

Man, that would be nice. The dust police would arrest me in seconds if i were to try that!

[TreverT]

So far this July, our highest afternoon temperature has been 78 degrees. You can curse at me now.

Back in the states I had a neato split system heat pump. The indoor unit mounted against the wall, looking rather like a hotel room unit, but it had a separate outdoor condenser rather than having to stick through a big wall hole. The upshot was that it was easy to install, and I only had to drill a small 2" hole through the wall to run the refrig lines through, rather than do any wall work.

Over here, the temp extremes very rarely ever reach the point of needing to bother with heating or cooling. A few days in winter, we run electric heaters at our feet, and summers get fans.

[Frank]

So far this July, our highest afternoon temperature has been 78 degrees. You can curse at me now.

"Furiously curses Trever as he roasts in his 100+ degree garage/workshop".

This So. Cal. heatwave has kept me out of the workshop for the past 2 weeks or more.

[hazmat]

First he tells us he's going to a pipe show with some European masters, then he tells us the temps are an oh-so-comfy high 70s while we sweat profusely on our briar. Anyone up for a trip across the pond to give Mr. Talbert a raging noogie?

[Nick]

Gentlemen, before we curse Trever for his fortuitous environs, let us remember one thing: To get these benefits, he has to live with the French.

I'll take my 90 degree, 90% humidity, thank you very much.

I read on Trever's blog the other day that one French journalist wrote a negative piece about their new president because he jogged. Claiming that "jogging is a capitalist pastime that is designed to undermine serious thought and democracy?"

It is just a different world I tell you.[/i]

[bscofield]

Am I the only one that has a couple of small windows in my garage? I bought $99 air conditioning unit for one of them. Truth be told it does not put a dent in heat that gathers in the top of my disconnected garage (no insulation, no celing, just straight shot up to the HOT roof). However, with a box fan right in front of the A/C unit directed at whichever working station I happen to be at, I keep pretty cool. I'm thinking about finding a way to rig a big 'ole fan up at the top to pump out the hot air so the A/C unit doesn't have to fight it... also thinking about getting a 2nd unit for the other window. Those are my two short-term solutions to my heat problem.

[Frank]

Ben, my garage/workshop is exactly the same, except, no windows. I don't have one yet, but you could install one of those roof ventilator turbines on your garage. They don't run on electricity, just the rising heat makes them turn, drawing out the hot air. I intend to install a couple when I can afford it.

[bscofield]

Ben, my garage/workshop is exactly the same, except, no windows. I don't have one yet, but you could install one of those roof ventilator turbines on your garage. They don't run on electricity, just the rising heat makes them turn, drawing out the hot air. I intend to install a couple when I can afford it.

For me, one of the reasons I don't just overhaul the garage and insulate, etc. is because we're not going to stay there long enough to justify that. Otherwise I'd put one of those in, put in a ceiling, insulate and also install a chimney stack for my wood burning stove that I currently have sitting in the corner.

[TreverT]

Gentlemen, before we curse Trever for his fortuitous environs, let us remember one thing: To get these benefits, he has to live with the French.

Actually, I live among the Bretons. They're like the Welsh, only they just happen to speak French, and they still want independence from France. But my marvelous summers are balanced by everything else in the year. We don't have seasons like fall and winter, we just have "paradise" and "rain". From November till April we'll get four hours of daylight per day and it will rain steadily for weeks on end.

It does make excellent brooding weather, though.

[hazmat]

From November till April we'll get four hours of daylight per day and it will rain steadily for weeks on end.

Too late to try to spin it now, Trever.

Matt.. who is sweating just sitting still THINKING about making a pipe

[StephenDownie]

After sweating and cursing last year in the workshop I decided to be proactive this year. I shaved my head and wear a Utilikilt in the shop for extra airflow.

We don't have seasons like fall and winter, we just have "paradise" and "rain". From November till April we'll get four hours of daylight per day and it will rain steadily for weeks on end.

It does make excellent brooding weather, though.

Sounds exactly like the weather here in Vancouver. Here we don't get a tan, it's the rust marks that colour our skin for 75% of the year.

[hazmat]

I've shaved my head for years. It just makes for a slicker surface for the sweat to unabatedly trickle down. I often work with a towel on my lap.. not for my hands but for my face and forehead. I wonder if I could get some Venetian women to fan me with palm fronds?