Planning New Workshop

[Patrick Harper]

The wife and I have put an offer on a new house. My current shop is in the garage and the new shop will be in the garage as well. We're located just north of Atlanta, GA. I have a budget of about $7000 to get things going and I plan to include electrical, install a mini-split and insulate.

The Situation

The new garage is 24x24 with 9' ceilings. There is easy access to the attic space above. The main breaker box is in the garage as well. It has 150a service. There is a single double garage door. Nothing is insulated, but the entire area is well shaded.

Insulation

I'm planning on spray cellulose into the attic space. I'm planning on installing a mini-split. Should I insulate the walls as well? I know I can blow in cellulose, but I'm worried about settling. Spray foam seems too expensive. Would it be worth tearing out the drywall and installing mineral wool or fiberglass? It would allow me to rough in the electrical and make it look nice, instead of using EMT.

Cooling

I looking at a Mr. Slim of between 9000-12000 btu with heat pump. The unit is around $1700. If I ran the electrical myself, and hung the wall unit, how much should I expect to pay for turn-up?

Electrical

I'm planning on hiring an electrician to install a sub-panel next to the main panel. Is 125a too much for a 150a main? The most I would be running at once is my Minimax FS30, a 3hp cyclone, and the AC. I could pull all of my electrical from the sub, myself. How much is typical for a very short run sub-panel?

Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

Patrick

[Steven Wayne]

One place I see to help stretch that budget is the choice in the mini-split. I just bought a "Pioneer" brand from highseer.com. Their prices are good, they are an actual HVAC supplier and it's their house brand. I have installed the first system, the second one will go in soon. I'm very happy with the system and it's about half the price you quoted. I did everything but having it pumped down. I had a friend do the vacuum pump stuff.

My thought is to remove the drywall, get all of the electrical in the wall, insulate with batting and put up new drywall. You'll love it in the long run..

[Kent Adams]

Check out a Rinnai direct vent heater. Nothing like radiant heat, makes everything in the shop warm, unlike a heat pump. Not much more expensive either and runs off natural gas. I would think a large window A/C would cool that shop enough. I used to live in Lilburn and I don't remember it ever getting all that hot there in the summer.

[Von Bickley]

My thoughts:

Remove drywall, install electrical work, install fiberglass insulation and replace drywall with plywood or osb board.

On the air conditioner I would consider going a little bit larger. The old rule of thumb was 1 ton / 12000 btu for every 600 sq. ft. You will be pushing that at 576 sq,ft. I would go with a 18000 btu / 1.5 ton unit especially in GA.

[Patrick Harper]

My thoughts:

Remove drywall, install electrical work, install fiberglass insulation and replace drywall with plywood or osb board.

On the air conditioner I would consider going a little bit larger. The old rule of thumb was 1 ton / 12000 btu for every 600 sq. ft. You will be pushing that at 576 sq,ft. I would go with a 18000 btu / 1.5 ton unit especially in GA.

It's common practice in the south to under size the AC. If you don't, then the AC won't run long enough to remove the humidity.

I am leaning towards removing the drywall, doing all my work, then reinstalling. I'm glad to see others think this is the best option.

[Patrick Harper]

Check out a Rinnai direct vent heater. Nothing like radiant heat, makes everything in the shop warm, unlike a heat pump. Not much more expensive either and runs off natural gas. I would think a large window A/C would cool that shop enough. I used to live in Lilburn and I don't remember it ever getting all that hot there in the summer.

I considered a window A/C, but I would need a window first. They're definitely cheaper up front, but I think the cost to run would be much more over the years than a mini-split. Also, they're loud.

You must do well in the heat. It gets hotter than Hades here in the summer...and for way too long. Cooling is definitely a bigger concern for me than heating.

[Martin Wasner]

If you can swing it financially, spray foam is always the way to go. It also does an amazing job deadoning sound. Your neighbors might thank you for that if it's a residential are address.

[Patrick Harper]

Martin,

I'm not sure I could. Have you ever done it yourself? What does the cost per square foot look like?

[Jack Jackson]

I recently priced DIY spray foam kits to do 1000 sqft of wall..... spent a while searching online and what not. It cost me $450 to have someone come in and do the walls with fiberglass batts and spray a foot of fiberglass in the ceiling and I didn't have to lift a finger. The cheapest spray foam kit I could find was about $800 just for the material, and that wouldn't have done the ceiling and I would've had to do all the work myself. Unless there are much better deals that I just didn't find, I can't see how spray foam makes any sense yet unless money is no object.

[Mike Heidrick]

If you can install an outlet on its own circuit you can install your own sub panel. Buy four conductor wire. It is two hots a neutral and a ground to the subpanel box - the neutral and ground is not bonded (do not use the green screw). Ground wire to ground bus in main panel and to ground bar in subpanel, neutral wire to neutral bus in main panel and neutral bus in sub panel, Hots to the main lugs in sub panel and then in circuit breaker that you install in main panel. Southwire has calculators for wire size determined by the length of run. Cost will set you back under 100 for the panel and under $100 for the wire I am betting if it is close.

[Martin Wasner]

I recently priced DIY spray foam kits to do 1000 sqft of wall..... spent a while searching online and what not. It cost me $450 to have someone come in and do the walls with fiberglass batts and spray a foot of fiberglass in the ceiling and I didn't have to lift a finger. The cheapest spray foam kit I could find was about $800 just for the material, and that wouldn't have done the ceiling and I would've had to do all the work myself. Unless there are much better deals that I just didn't find, I can't see how spray foam makes any sense yet unless money is no object.

Installed spray foam is about $1.00 per square foot per inch of thickness around here. That's closed cell. I don't have a clue for open cell. The nice thing with closed cell is it is your vapor barrier as well.

I'm trying to figure out if I can lay out the money to have the entire new shop spray foamed. I'm looking at a little over 14,000 sq/ft of wall and ceiling. Most of the time on a ceiling they will just skin it with the foam to seal for air movement then blow cellulose in over the top to get it to the R rating.

[Richard Kimball]

I'm in Atlanta also and when i did an addition on the back of the house I went with Foametix spray foam insulation. It was the best deal I could find and we've been very happy with it.

i also put a mini split in the room. Check out Acwholesalers.com

I found a "last year's model" for less than half what local HVAC people wanted. Then I searched "atlanta mechanical contractor" To find hvac people who install product they don't sell. I saved a bundle.

[Patrick Harper]

If you can install an outlet on its own circuit you can install your own sub panel. Buy four conductor wire. It is two hots a neutral and a ground to the subpanel box - the neutral and ground is not bonded (do not use the green screw). Ground wire to ground bus in main panel and to ground bar in subpanel, neutral wire to neutral bus in main panel and neutral bus in sub panel, Hots to the main lugs in sub panel and then in circuit breaker that you install in main panel. Southwire has calculators for wire size determined by the length of run. Cost will set you back under 100 for the panel and under $100 for the wire I am betting if it is close.

It does look very straight forward, but I was under the impression that you needed a licensed electrician for this to be up to code in most places.

[Patrick Harper]

I'm in Atlanta also and when i did an addition on the back of the house I went with Foametix spray foam insulation. It was the best deal I could find and we've been very happy with it.

i also put a mini split in the room. Check out Acwholesalers.com

I found a "last year's model" for less than half what local HVAC people wanted. Then I searched "atlanta mechanical contractor" To find hvac people who install product they don't sell. I saved a bundle.

Do you mind me asking how much you paid? What size/brand, etc?

[Julie Moriarty]

Electrical

I'm planning on hiring an electrician to install a sub-panel next to the main panel. Is 125a too much for a 150a main? The most I would be running at once is my Minimax FS30, a 3hp cyclone, and the AC. I could pull all of my electrical from the sub, myself. How much is typical for a very short run sub-panel?

With a panel, breaker spaces are most important for a home workshop. While you may not ever overload the amp rating on the panel, you can easily find yourself wishing you had more breaker spaces.