• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Working in a garage

Bradster941

New Member
just add a vent to the garage off of your mains system. you can close it when you don't need it. that's what i've done. a big one. so big that when i open it, it steals about a third of the flow from the rest of the house..


Just so you know, it is illegal to do this.

.
 

Mosh

New Member
The insulated door is the key!!! Well and having the rest insulated helps A TON! Yes you need to keep the equipment and materials at a constant temp or you are going to run into problems.
 

Custom Bob

New Member
Buy a used trailer oil furnace. They can be bought for around $200. There rather small and then just run a pipe through the wall for a chimney. If you don't want to use an oil tank you can always get a 15 - 20 gal. plastic jug for the oil. This can all be done pretty cheap.
 

Mosh

New Member
Around here the big thing was corn stoves...until corn got up to $6. Back when corn was $1.50 you could heat a whole house for $150 a month, not now...Lots of used corn stoves out there now. Of course you had to have the corn to start with....
 

FrankenSigns.biz

New Member
As long as you keep the garage doors closed you should be able to heat and cool the space. Most garage doors do have a decent R-value. There are leaks around the doors but they can be reduced with well placed styrofoam. For heat I would recommend two electric oil (radiator) heaters. Those run around $50 each at KMart. Cooling is another mater entirely. You will need an air conditioner. If your garage has a window get a window unit in the 20,000 BTU range. You should be able to find a used one for under $300.

Or you could kill two birds with one stone with something like this:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CD0Q8wIwAg#ps-sellers

Running your business out of your garage is a viable business solution.
 

signmeup

New Member
CentralSigns, where did you purchase one in the US, I have searched Google, and can only only find them sold in Canada?
I couldn't find them in the US either. The link I posted to Princess Auto should work for you though. They appear to ship to the US. They are a great company. I've used them for lots of stuff. Top shelf outfit.

Home Depot sells them up here but they aren't listed on their site. Pretty much any building supply or hardware store sells them up here for that matter. They are 240 volt though.
 

signage

New Member
just add a vent to the garage off of your mains system. you can close it when you don't need it. that's what i've done. a big one. so big that when i open it, it steals about a third of the flow from the rest of the house. of course, if your garage is detached then you'll need to chop a hole in a rear wall. i've done both. currently have a auxiliary vent running to the garage.

This is against BOCCA code and can cause you big problems should you have a fire or when you go to see the house! Garages are not allowed to be tied into your existing home forced air heating systems.
If you would eliminate the garage doors then you can do this!
 

Eric H

New Member
The return in the garage would be a bigger problem, it would be pulling fumes and gases into the house.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
The return in the garage would be a bigger problem, it would be pulling fumes and gases into the house.

That's it, right there. :thumb:

Too many people have asphyxiated themselves and the rest of the family using this technique.
 

AUTO-FX

New Member
That's it, right there. :thumb:

Too many people have asphyxiated themselves and the rest of the family using this technique.

Well, duuuuh.
At that point you would no longer being using it as a garage, and you certainly wouldnt want to be painting or anything in there. Buuuut , I guess there's plenty of dummies out there who would....
 

phototec

New Member
This is against BOCCA code and can cause you big problems should you have a fire or when you go to see the house! Garages are not allowed to be tied into your existing home forced air heating systems.
If you would eliminate the garage doors then you can do this!

The reason this is NOT allowed, because when the HVAC unit is off, not supplying positive pressure to the garage area, then fumes can go into the duct work, into the house (living space) and cause harm to people in the house.

The solution, remove the garage door, frame in the opening with wood studs, use some type of insulation board on the outside then cover with exterior siding, add fiberglass insulation to the wall cavity, cover the interior with 1/2" drywall, texture and paint, now you can extend the duct work from in the house to heat and cool the additional living space.

Another suggestion, when framing in the garage door opening, frame in an opening for either a 3'-0" x 6'-8" exterior door or a 6'-0" x 6'-8" double door (better), and then you have access to move materials ad equipment in and out of your new shop area.
 

OldPaint

New Member
on that reznor i have, all i have to do is get a "fresh/ouside air supply for the flame area." that makes em fume safe. air used for combustion is brought in from outside the shop.
 

smdgrfx

New Member
A few years ago, I moved into my garage while I was in between shops. I have a Gerber Edge and a Mimaki JV3 printer. The problems I ran into the most were during the winter. The material did not like the cold weather. The Edge foil would stick to the vinyl and tear the foils up. The material would also buckle and wave from the humidity down here in Houston, TX. I had to keep all material inside the house. The summer was okay. The heat didn't seem to bother either machine. I was in a detached garage with all walls insulated including the garage door. I had a exhaust blower/vent for the Mimaki. I had a couple of floor heaters and a window unit A/C. But I kept neither one running all of the time to maintain the climate. Maintaining the climate will be the big trick. oh, and also, the humidity did attack the metal on the Edge. It's not smooth anymore. Other than those problems, the equipment was not damaged.
 
Top