In a Panic....I Won't be Allowed to Air Condition my Garage???????

[Glen Blanchard]

I currently work out of a one car garage in a Dallas suburb (Plano). About 6 years ago or so, I had the garage walls insulated, I insulated the garage door and then I had a split A/C unit installed. It all worked great.

In mid-December, my wife and I began the long, involved process of purchasing a short sale home in a small suburb north of Dallas (Prosper). After 5 months, we are due to close this Friday. One of the attractions of this house is that I would have my shop in an oversized two car garage. I plan on hiring an electrician to do the electrical work (fortunately for me, the service is already there in the garage, and is more than adequate). I am going to have the walls insulated and another (larger) split A/C unit installed and I will insulate the garage door – just as I did in my present one car garage shop.

I called the town’s inspector to get a rough idea of how long it might take to get a permit for the electrical work. Once he heard that I was planning on air conditioning a garage, he told me that I will need to remove the garage door and brick up the opening!!!!! Otherwise I would be in violation of the energy code, and I got the impression that the job will not be permitted without such a plan!!! What the heck??? I thought this would be just an electrical permit/inspection and would be very straight forward.

Has anyone heard of such a thing? Anyone familiar with the “Energy Code” in Texas (it is supposedly a state thing). What if I worked on cars for a hobby? I would not be allowed to air condition the garage because I couldn’t remove the garage door and close the opening????

This seems crazy to me, and I am in a bit of a panic as I had not planned on the significant expense it would take to close the garage door opening and I like to have it open when the weather is nice anyway!!!.....but I need to have this thing cooled in the summer and warmed in the winter.

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd buy the house, insulate the garage, ensure that the garage door is as air-tight as I can make it, insulate the door (and all of this can be done under permit if you like). Then I'd install the A/C itself without permit.

[Zach England]

permit shermit...just do it.

Otherwise, surely they cannot prohibit window units.

If I lived in Texas I'd build an air-conditioned biodome over my house.

[David Hostetler]

I currently work out of a one car garage in a Dallas suburb (Plano). About 6 years ago or so, I had the garage walls insulated, I insulated the garage door and then I had a split A/C unit installed. It all worked great.

In mid-December, my wife and I began the long, involved process of purchasing a short sale home in a small suburb north of Dallas (Prosper). After 5 months, we are due to close this Friday. One of the attractions of this house is that I would have my shop in an oversized two car garage. I plan on hiring an electrician to do the electrical work (fortunately for me, the service is already there in the garage, and is more than adequate). I am going to have the walls insulated and another (larger) split A/C unit installed and I will insulate the garage door – just as I did in my present one car garage shop.

I called the town’s inspector to get a rough idea of how long it might take to get a permit for the electrical work. Once he heard that I was planning on air conditioning a garage, he told me that I will need to remove the garage door and brick up the opening!!!!! Otherwise I would be in violation of the energy code, and I got the impression that the job will not be permitted without such a plan!!! What the heck??? I thought this would be just an electrical permit/inspection and would be very straight forward.

Has anyone heard of such a thing? Anyone familiar with the “Energy Code” in Texas (it is supposedly a state thing). What if I worked on cars for a hobby? I would not be allowed to air condition the garage because I couldn’t remove the garage door and close the opening????

This seems crazy to me, and I am in a bit of a panic as I had not planned on the significant expense it would take to close the garage door opening and I like to have it open when the weather is nice anyway!!!.....but I need to have this thing cooled in the summer and warmed in the winter.

It varies by municipality. League City follows the international codes. It sounds like Prosper has attached some excessive municipal "green" codes... Sometimes building codes do NOT adhere to common sense. There's no shortage of woodworking hobbyists, or hot rodders, or motorcycle enthusiasts or, well insert your workshop dependent hobby here in Texas. And most of us want to work in an air conditioned space...

Just get do the insulation and electrical under permit, port the garage for a portable A/C unit and thumb your nose at the inspector...

[Bill Blackburn]

No permit - screw 'em. Use the Texas mentality - I'll do it MY way

The state with the most guns and outlaws in the USA and we complying with Energy things? Aaaaah shucks now _ can't be.

I left Waco years ago and never looked back. Or south. Just to many inconsistencies in manner of things done.
No Permit. None

[Rob Damon]

Two things come to mind.

We had the A/C unit replaced with a heat pump sized to handle the whole house and the attached garage. The installer told us, and we confirmed with the inspector that we could not have the garage on the same system the main house was on as long as there was a garage door. The theory is that someone could bring a car into the garage and leave the door partiallly opened so that the fumes wouldn't effect the person in the garage, but the fumes could be sucked back into the house through the central a/c unit and cause a deadly building of carbon monoxcide inside the house. If I removed the overhead door, I could run it on one system.

The second is the energy codes that require a certain level of insulation in floor/walls/ceilings before allowing a/c. As there are many businesses around the country with overhead doors and a/c, it is simply a matter of getting a overhead with the proper R-value.

If fact when the electrical inspector came out to do his final on my detached shop building, I mentioned about eventually putting in A/C and he noted about the walls needing R-11 and the ceilings needing R-19 (at the time). He said if I could get it insulated, before they came back for the final building inspection, he would note it on the occupancy permit and I could just add the window a/c myself. He said nothing about the overhead doors.

I asked him if I needed to get another permit to install the insulation and he said no. The inspection for the insulation would only be required if I tried to sell the house/shop and it had A/C in it at the time. If I didn't want to bother with the insulation inspection, I could just remove the window a/c unit and just tell the next owner "oh by the way the shop building is not air conditioned but there is a old window a/c unit sitting on floor in the corner of the shop that I am leaving for you."

So I insulation the walls and the ceiling and I stuck in a 24K BTUH window unit in one of the high windows. If and when I sell the place, I will just yank it out of the window and put in on the floor.

Rob

[David Hostetler]

No permit - screw 'em. Use the Texas mentality - I'll do it MY way

The state with the most guns and outlaws in the USA and we complying with Energy things? Aaaaah shucks now _ can't be.

I left Waco years ago and never looked back. Or south. Just to many inconsistencies in manner of things done.
No Permit. None

And we in Texas thank you. We need room to shoot...

Our women around here also use cars as weapons too! Google Clara Harris...

[Sam Layton]

In Calif I had to get a Title 24 energy calculations for my house. They told me what insulation R value I had to have etc. I ask the inspector if I could put an AC in the shop. He said no, because I did not get the Title 24 report for the shop. He further said that without the Title 24 report, I could install heat, but not AC.

Sam

[B. Mark Lawrence]

Right you are. Last one I worked on in SoCal required a specific report under Title 24 for both the home and the shop building.

That part was sort of funny to us. The shop building was actually the garage. It was 5'-9" away from the house. It had a 4' sidewalk between them with room for flowers or something along both sides. Since the buildings did not share a roof and were more than 5' away from each other, we needed two reports. Now that was dumb.

This whole deal is why I say go to the guy that makes money selling HVAC in your area. I am sure he will find a way that lets him do what you want. Some paper or other gets filed with someone's embossed stamp. Costs some money.

Don't be saving a few bucks and risk killing your insurance.

[Jim Rimmer]

Here's one source I found: http://www.energycodes.gov/implement...case_study.pdf
Nothing about garages but some resources on the last page.

Here's a link to a company in Austin that specializes in garage A/C (no affiliation). Maybe they could answer the questions for you. http://www.texasgarages.com/air.htm

[Don Jarvie]

Is there any issue with using a window unit? Have the insultation and electrical done and signed off and put in a window unit.

At least this way you can work while you figure out what to do about a built in AC unit.

Unless the "Energy" code prohibits the window unit it may be a decent solution for now.

[Glen Blanchard]

Is there any issue with using a window unit?

Actually, I would have to check on that. The one window in the garage faces the street, and my hunch is that the HOA will not allow it, but I don't know for certain.

[Alan Trout]

There are a couple of things you can do. The energy code was passed in 2000 and went into effect in 2001. It demanded things like low E windows in new construction etc. I bet that if you have a proper door and sealed along with insulation in the walls and ceilings it should meet the requirements. however I would also look at just using a portable or stand alone AC unit/units. They work well and can be exhausted outside with a 4" dryer vent.

Good Luck

Alan.

[Ryan Welch]

permit shermit...just do it.

Otherwise, surely they cannot prohibit window units.

If I lived in Texas I'd build an air-conditioned biodome over my house.

Permits.......what are permits. You know what they say...it's always easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I would say screw it, do the electrical work myself, install the air conditioner, and shoot any inspector that I catch trespassing. lol, you are in Texas right?

[Ken Garlock]

Glen, you are on the wrong side of Custer Rd. We had no such crap when we built the summer of 2002. We are technically in Collin county and not within McKinney(how long that will last is anybody's guess.) The only government wedges we need to deal with were building inspector, plumbing, electrical, and occupancy approval. I have a window slip-an A/C unit like you see in motels for a single room in my shop, and it wasn't even commented on by the inspecting wedge. (wedge: simplest tool known to man.)

I would have the electrician install a 240v,20amp outlet where you plan to install the AC, and forget about the Prosper wedges. If they want to inspect the AC, tell them to get a search warrant.

BTW, do look into putting some good insulation on the garage door. Since we were starting from zero, I got the R-17 doors from Overhead garage door company. Yes they cost more. But, with our south facing garage doors, I can lean against the door inside all day when you cannot put your had on the outside.