New Workshop Questions

[John Pendery]

Aaron, I’ve had good luck with Mitsubishi mini splits. I think most of the major mini split companies offer good products, but I’ve heard of Trane rebadging splits made by someone else that perhaps aren’t top of the line as one typically associates with traditional Trane air handlers/furnaces. I don’t have personal experience with them, so that might just be bogus talk I’ve heard. The higher SEER units are getting insanely energy efficient and actually offer 100% heating capacity at super cold temps, but can get pricey. I don’t have any experience with the diy Mr Cool that Jim mentioned, but these look like pretty neat solutions at significant savings.

[Patty Hann]

Aaron, I’ve had good luck with Mitsubishi mini splits. I think most of the major mini split companies offer good products, but I’ve heard of Trane rebadging splits made by someone else that perhaps aren’t top of the line as one typically associates with traditional Trane air handlers/furnaces. I don’t have personal experience with them, so that might just be bogus talk I’ve heard. The higher SEER units are getting insanely energy efficient and actually offer 100% heating capacity at super cold temps, but can get pricey. I don’t have any experience with the diy Mr Cool that Jim mentioned, but these look like pretty neat solutions at significant savings.

When my gara shop is rewired (to augment the single overhead 2 bulb light/outlet ) I plan to get a Mitsubishi minisplit (the one that is sized for 400 sq ft)

[Jack Frederick]

I’m highly biased in mini-split choice. I represented Fujitsu for about 15 yrs in a six state area. There are a million off brands that can be had pretty cheaply. The question is, will they last and how do you get parts/warranty support? Mitsu and Fujitsu are 1 & 2 in the US. The support structure is better and they offer on-going training to the industry. That and performance is value proposition you pay for. The US unitary manuf do not make their own mini-splits. Carrier, Trane, Lennox, etc private label off-shore manuf. Toshiba is a major supplier for them and Toshiba make good equipment, but I do not know if the feature set measures up. Years ago Fujitsu sold equipment to Friedrich, which drove me nuts in my market competing against myself. I found out that they did not sell the current product but only previous models. There are all kinds of shenanigans out there.I don’t think you can go wrong with Fujitsu or Mitsu, but you pay for it.

[Jarod Johnson]

I'm not going to be contributing any of my own thoughts to this thread, but I'd love to give RR Buildings a shout out for this type of build. His YT channel might answer a lot of the questions you have. He has several playlists of his different builds, but here are two I think might be a lot of help. He has ongoing releases of his current new shop build (including radiant heat) which might be of interest. Apologies if you're already familiar with his work.

Barndominium - YouTube

RR Shop Build 2.0 - YouTube

[Jim Becker]

Jarod, Kyle's current RR Shop Build 2.0 is going to be an amazing building. I also follow on socials and what's been on the 'Tube so far is just barely touching on what's to come!

[Aaron Liebling]

We're moving in May and have started to finalize plans for the workshop. I've gotten tons of quotes on steel buildings and have had a bit of trouble doing apples to apples comparisons, but think I've settled on a provider (a local Albuquerque company with the actual manufacturing by McElroy Metal).

I do have a question: is the upgrade to 24g walls (and roof) worth the cost? I could save around $5K by using 26g.My instinct is to go with the thicker material just because, but I don't want to waste money if it's really not needed.

Thoughts?

[Michael Burnside]

Nominal thickness differences are >25% between them. No brainer for me. Personally I'd go 24 gauge at least for the roof.

[Jim Becker]

No question, go for the thicker steel. Stiffer and will handle the load better. If I had chosen a steel building instead of the post frame I went with, it would have had the heavier steel and that's what I did my price comparisons with.