[Doge]

Closed on my house this week and I'm excited about my garage. The house we bought used to serve as the show house for our neighborhood and the garage was used as the office. The turned it back into a normal garage when it was originally sold. Because it used to be an office, they added lots of recessed lighting, there is plumbing for a sink (which will be great so I can wash my hands there and not in the kitchen sink after working on the cars), they stained the floor of the 2 car side (even though it looks like crap and will get redone), and last but not least the garage is ducted for a/c and heat. The home inspector told me the ducts are just disconnected and blocked off and all I would need to do is reconnect them. Here are some pics of it:

Are there any reasons why I shouldn't hook up the heat/ac in the garage? There isn't a thermostat in the garage so I imagine there wouldn't be too significant increase in my electric bill. Thoughts?

I plan on probably painting the garage this weekend and starting to put up all my banners/posters. I have about 60-70 bmw/porsche/lotus posters and I'll have to pick out my favorite 7 or 8 I guess! I'll update the thread once I start working on the garage and getting things done.

 

[bfmdcc]

If you push air into your garage, you will need to have a return duct... Which means fumes from your garage entering your house... Oh yeah, and it is against code in every state. Pipe a separate heater in the garage if you want heat.

 

[ramy w]

Drew - Congrats on the house, garage looks great.

I'm pretty sure you only need a return to make the garage cool and heat more efficiently. It is not necessary to push air or heat into the garage for you to have a return in there. I would not add a return as it will make the rest of your home smell like the garage. I would connect the ducts and then just close the vents in the garage and only open them if you are planning on working on one of the cars. Maybe the night before or something.

Another thought is just to move back here to Tampa!

 

[Allan Gibbs]

Dumb question. Why do you need a return duct if your just blowing air into the garage which could have its own venting?

 

[ramy w]

Dumb question. Why do you need a return duct if your just blowing air into the garage which could have its own venting?

I completely agree. I"m in the process of getting new AC unit and air handler installed into my hose, and I'm talking to the guys about adding a couple of ducts (4) to the garage. Ideally, I would add a unit to the garage to be on its own and turn it on only when working in the garage, but his alternative is much cheaper.

 

[Copple]

What surfboard is leaning against the wall?


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[XHILR8N!]

We added a storage room a few years back, has an HVAC duct run to it. No return. It stays warmer in there. I have tried not to think about how warm air just blows in and what happens to it :/

Sure appreciate you sharing the excitement of new space. Lot's of potential there. Look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Don't know what you've planned, but I highly recommend a professionally done epoxy floor. You can drag an anvil over ours and make no noticeable mark. Everyone who sees it loves it.

 

[Doge]

What surfboard is leaning against the wall?

That is actually a zap skimboard. Although my wife does have a custom made surfboard that isn't in the picture!

Drew - Congrats on the house, garage looks great.

I'm pretty sure you only need a return to make the garage cool and heat more efficiently. It is not necessary to push air or heat into the garage for you to have a return in there. I would not add a return as it will make the rest of your home smell like the garage. I would connect the ducts and then just close the vents in the garage and only open them if you are planning on working on one of the cars. Maybe the night before or something.

Another thought is just to move back here to Tampa!

Thanks! I actually thought about connecting the ducts and just closing the vents when I'm not in there working.

We added a storage room a few years back, has an HVAC duct run to it. No return. It stays warmer in there. I have tried not to think about how warm air just blows in and what happens to it :/

Sure appreciate you sharing the excitement of new space. Lot's of potential there. Look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Don't know what you've planned, but I highly recommend a professionally done epoxy floor. You can drag an anvil over ours and make no noticeable mark. Everyone who sees it loves it.

Professional epoxy is definitely on the list of things to do!

 

[Copple]

We just moved into a new house as well. Has a second separate two car garage that I've been dreaming up ideas for. Check out garagejournal.com sometime. The whole forum is dedicated to garage projects. I'm interested to see what you come up with!


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[bfmdcc]

Might want to read up a bit from both the International Residential Code and the International Fire Code...

R302.5.2 Duct penetration. Ducts in the garage and ducts penetrating the walls or ceilings separating the dwelling from the garage shall be constructed of a minimum No. 26 gage (0.48 mm) sheet steel or other approved material and shall have no openings into the garage.

M1601.6 Independent garage HVAC systems. Furnaces and air-handling systems that supply air to living spaces shall not supply air to or return air from a garage.

Table R402.4.1.1 requires: “Air sealing shall be provided between the garage and conditioned spaces.”

If this was new construction and you wanted to heat this "garage" with duct work and use it as a garage it would be a big no no. If you wanted to heat it as a "shop" or "garage" the the insulation of the foundation would be an issue since it would need permiter insulation. If you wanted to heat it as a shop with ductwork for new construction...no problem if insulated properly.

If you wanted to go to the city to convert your garage to a shop with a permit you could. "Change of use" permits typically apply to an entire building, for example changing an old church to a home, or a home to a private school but not always. Then, zoning and codes reqm't kick in for the different use. Now, If the city looks at your shop as a living space now, be careful you don't have a zoning and setback issues. Some cities will allow garages closer to property lines since they are not a livable area, changing it to a shop might change that and require a minor variance....yuck.

Get a portable heater... 10 btu per sq ft of garage... Spend a grand and buy a 10,000btu construction heater... Should heat up your garage in 30 min... And you won't have to worry about suffocating your family.

 

[moorparkian]

It would be nice having a three car garage...heat would be a nice touch as well. Looking forward to the after pic (ie which artwork you display) Enjoy:bow:

 

[chuck_risen]

Just hook up the vents and open them when you want to do work and keep them closed normally. They are already there and purchasing other equipment would be simply madness. If you go to sell the house someday then unhook them again. Just don't have them open and run your car for hours in the garage or something silly like that. Having vents in a garage that are shared with a living space is that carbon monoxide can leak back into the living space from a car that is idling with the garage door shut for an extended period of time. So just don't do that. It takes a while, a lot longer than it takes you to park and turn off the engine for instance. If you want to idle a car then open the garage. The world won't end if you hook them up and the code police won't come and get you in the night. I know people that have vents in their garages and have had them for years and they are still alive and well. Keep in mind that it can take an while to make a large difference in temp change so you may plan ahead like opening them the night before or something like that.

 

[Doge]

Thanks guys. I'm in the process of trying to find some decent frames that I can buy in bulk for the few posters I'm going to put up.

 

[nate379]

Exactly.

Whatever home inspector that was and said that could be done, holy crap!.... what else did they miss!

If you push air into your garage, you will need to have a return duct... Which means fumes from your garage entering your house... Oh yeah, and it is against code in every state. Pipe a separate heater in the garage if you want heat.

 

[nate379]

It would make the garage higher pressure than the house and leak fumes into the house.

Dumb question. Why do you need a return duct if your just blowing air into the garage which could have its own venting?

 

[Doge]

So, here are all my tubes of posters to choose from. Each tube has 10-15 posters in each one. I have mostly Porsche and Bmw posters so I will probably have a Bmw and a Porsche wall with a few Lotus ones scattered about. I guess the rest I will end up giving away or something seeing how I won't have a use for them anymore. I've saved and added to this collection for the past 6 or 7 years until I had a nice enough garage for them!

 

[moorparkian]

Wow...art gallery:bow: You going to frame them or push pin them to the wall? Did you get a provenance from Lotus? I should receive mine next week and im wondering if I should frame and hang it in my garage or in the house.

 

[R4Racin]

it will make the rest of your home smell like the garage.

The smell of ....... Victory!!!!

 

[Doge]

Wow...art gallery:bow: You going to frame them or push pin them to the wall? Did you get a provenance from Lotus? I should receive mine next week and im wondering if I should frame and hang it in my garage or in the house.

I'm actually gonna frame the ones I use. Probably just the thin black frames you can buy in bulk. It will look much better than being pinned up.

 

[Kujo]

Congrats on the new house Drew! That garage would make a nice home for your new Chrome Orange Exige!