Fish Room HVAC/Humidity options

FarmerTy

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Hello Briantrust on reef2reef,

I was wanting to throw this question out there in case anybody has some opinions on the best route to go to cool/dehumidify my 200 sq ft fish room? I'm having a little trouble deciding.

It is a half converted garage (the back of the garage away from the door) and is amply insulated but has no HVAC supply or return vents. My house is a two-story so directly above the fish room are two bedrooms. It has one exterior wall that I could use to install HVAC equipment for drainage, venting, etc.

Options I was thinking about in no particular order:

1) Mini-split
2) Portable AC unit
3) Window Unit

My thoughts of each:
1) mini split - most costly option but least costly to run. Seems like overkill for just 200 sq ft and there will be a ton of work to install it as well as hiring professionals to run electrical and charge/vent it prior to use.
2) portable AC unit - cheaper, easy to install, electrical cost of running I believe highest of all options
3) window unit - cheapest, more modifications needed than portable AC unit as I'll have to cut a large opening in my exterior wall versus a small opening for the portable unit

What do you experts think? Those are just my quick thoughts so far.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

-Ty
 

Justfebreezeit

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If all you need is to remove humidity, I'd go with an exhaust fan on the exterior wall.

If you need cooling to I would say the window unit, for the capacity you are trying to cool you could get away with 6k (or even 8-12k) btu's and those are dirt cheap.

The mini splits are a little more maintenance and are relatively hard to repair/impossible.

The portable a/c unit is similar to the wall unit just takes up floor space and needs to be vented to the outside anyways.

I'm an HVAC tech in south florida, and those are my opinions.
 

Sierra_Bravo

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mrpizzaface

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In the long run you will be happy with the minisplit, has the option for a heat pump as well if that is ever needed.
 
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FarmerTy

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If all you need is to remove humidity, I'd go with an exhaust fan on the exterior wall.

If you need cooling to I would say the window unit, for the capacity you are trying to cool you could get away with 6k (or even 8-12k) btu's and those are dirt cheap.

The mini splits are a little more maintenance and are relatively hard to repair/impossible.

The portable a/c unit is similar to the wall unit just takes up floor space and needs to be vented to the outside anyways.

I'm an HVAC tech in south florida, and those are my opinions.

Yeah, I wish it was just for humidity but the T5s makes the room pretty warm.

I'm leaning to the portable A/C unit as the smaller vent hole would be preferable since I have a limestone exterior wall I would have to drill through. I don't mind the floor space it takes up.

I really appreciate your input, especially considering your background!

Any thoughts on electrical usage? Are generally portable units not as efficient as window units?
 
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FarmerTy

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In the long run you will be happy with the minisplit, has the option for a heat pump as well if that is ever needed.
I thought of it as an option but cost-wise, it seems like overkill for a 200 sq ft room is my thoughts. I forgot to list my location but I'm in central Texas, we hardly ever get cold enough to ever need to run the heat much.
Ty, this is the one I use. Dead quiet and uses an 8" duct. Comes with the exterior hood. I have mine hooked up to a dual humidistat/thermostat so it only runs when the humidity or temp reaches a certain level. What is your exterior wall composed of and what is the exterior finish?

https://na.panasonic.com/us/home-li...lity/ventilation-fans/whisperwalltm-thru-wall

Edit: It has an 8" duct, not 10".
Thanks Scott! I actually have a very similar model I used to vent my hood through the attic which was great for just humidity but since this room has no HVAC, I'll need something that can push some cool air in there to fight the T5 fixture heat and most importantly, the Texas heat in the summer!
 

Justfebreezeit

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I believe window units have the potential to be more efficient but i'm sure its not much.

As for the mini-split it would probably take 10 years of electrical savings to equal the initial cost and by that time your probably looking at a replacement soon.
 
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FarmerTy

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I believe window units have the potential to be more efficient but i'm sure its not much.

As for the mini-split it would probably take 10 years of electrical savings to equal the initial cost and by that time your probably looking at a replacement soon.
Thanks! I was reading it was only a slightly higher cost for the portable versus the window unitbut not a huge difference so that makes me feel better than you confirmed that.

Yeah, mini-split efficiency versus cost to install just didn't add up for me. I'm in real estate and the odds of us staying here for 10 years to recover that cost is highly unlikely is my thought. Haha!
 

lion king

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I ran a portable unit in a room I was having a hard time cooling, I hated it. It was a top of the line model as well, it was noisy and cost alot to run. I have a through the wall unit in my dog room and love it. it is much more efficient to run and runs quiet. Mini splits are great but as advised by my ac guy, can have issues.
 
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FarmerTy

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I ran a portable unit in a room I was having a hard time cooling, I hated it. It was a top of the line model as well, it was noisy and cost alot to run. I have a through the wall unit in my dog room and love it. it is much more efficient to run and runs quiet. Mini splits are great but as advised by my ac guy, can have issues.
Thanks for the user experience account! Was the portable unit rated right at about the size for the room? Oversized? Undersized?

What model did you buy of you don't mind me asking? I'm curious which brand to avoid if it just happens to be the brand and not all portable units in general.
 

lion king

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Thanks for the user experience account! Was the portable unit rated right at about the size for the room? Oversized? Undersized?

What model did you buy of you don't mind me asking? I'm curious which brand to avoid if it just happens to be the brand and not all portable units in general.

I ran the portable unit as a supplement to my main unit, the room has high ceilings with floor to ceiling windows, I just know I didn't like it and my electric bill went up substantially. I run a Fedders through the wall in my 200 sq.ft dog room and that's one I'd recommend. As far as sizing the unit, take into consideration the size of the room and the temperature differential. How hot does the room get, you can find calculators online. If you are looking at about a 20 degree differential, then the recommended size would be fine. If more than 20 degrees, I'd go up a size.

I ended up with an LG portable, that I keep for an emergency now, I added a roof unit and expanded my venting to solve the problem in that area of the house. I returned another popular model, I can't remember if it was a Honeywell or a Frigidaire.
 
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FarmerTy

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I ran the portable unit as a supplement to my main unit, the room has high ceilings with floor to ceiling windows, I just know I didn't like it and my electric bill went up substantially. I run a Fedders through the wall in my 200 sq.ft dog room and that's one I'd recommend. As far as sizing the unit, take into consideration the size of the room and the temperature differential. How hot does the room get, you can find calculators online. If you are looking at about a 20 degree differential, then the recommended size would be fine. If more than 20 degrees, I'd go up a size.
Thanks for the advice! I'll have to review my choice here and see what works best with the room situation!
 

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Mini-split. The cost is the only con I can think of. Pros are too long to list over the other options.

Also with a mini-split they can have more than one head. You can put a head unit in other rooms as a booster for your HVAC.

Note that some of the head units have a fresh air intake. If where you live is typically less humid than your fish room, I'd get that type.
 
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FarmerTy

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Mini-split. The cost is the only con I can think of. Pros are too long to list over the other options.

Also with a mini-split they can have more than one head. You can put a head unit in other rooms as a booster for your HVAC.

Note that some of the head units have a fresh air intake. If where you live is typically less humid than your fish room, I'd get that type.
Thanks Fosin! Now you got me thinking... We bought the house last year and they have one large unit instead of two units for the two floors. We suffer a little bit in the Summers upstairs because it ends up just a little warm. If we can get a mini split that can be directed into the fish room and also some upstairs, and then it may be worth it for us to pay the higher cost of a mini split installation.
 

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Ty, I would go with a mini split. I live in Austin as well and own an HVAC/R company. A mini split will defiantly the best option, although it may not be the most affordable way. It will look nicer, work much much better and give you better options down the road.
 
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FarmerTy

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Ty, I would go with a mini split. I live in Austin as well and own an HVAC/R company. A mini split will defiantly the best option, although it may not be the most affordable way. It will look nicer, work much much better and give you better options down the road.
Seems like we need to talk in general cdklos. Besides the fish room, for our whole house, our thoughts were to weigh the options of fixing the AC unit we got stuck with, which is one large unit versus two units in our two story. It is newer unit but I have no idea why they thought one large one was a good idea for a 2 story home.

So wife and I discussed getting two units and paying out the big bucks to get it done, or paying to add zoning dampeners to our existing setup, or going with a mini split to boost the upstairs cooling and also give me cooling in the converted back of the garage that is my fish room. In the summer, both the fish room and the upstairs suffers a bit. I added some thermal barrier in the attic and was going to pay to have more insulation added as well to see if it will help but I think I'm just delaying what really needs to happen, a HVAC makeover. Haha.

Like most, we are looking for the most cost efficient option now and down the road. I'm not sure if your company does residential or work North Austin but if you do, maybe we can talk.
 

lion king

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Seems like we need to talk in general cdklos. Besides the fish room, for our whole house, our thoughts were to weigh the options of fixing the AC unit we got stuck with, which is one large unit versus two units in our two story. It is newer unit but I have no idea why they thought one large one was a good idea for a 2 story home.

So wife and I discussed getting two units and paying out the big bucks to get it done, or paying to add zoning dampeners to our existing setup, or going with a mini split to boost the upstairs cooling and also give me cooling in the converted back of the garage that is my fish room. In the summer, both the fish room and the upstairs suffers a bit. I added some thermal barrier in the attic and was going to pay to have more insulation added as well to see if it will help but I think I'm just delaying what really needs to happen, a HVAC makeover. Haha.

Like most, we are looking for the most cost efficient option now and down the road. I'm not sure if your company does residential or work North Austin but if you do, maybe we can talk.

Sounds like you are in similar circumstances as I was, I decided to add a packaged unit on my roof and run additional duct work. Now the package unit runs the center of my house where the high ceilings are, and the original unit balances out the remainer of the house. I have a very honest ac guy, I originally wanted the mini split system, there are more cons than just the price. So just do you research and calculations with an honest guy before you make your final decision.
 
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FarmerTy

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Sounds like you are in similar circumstances as I was, I decided to add a packaged unit on my roof and run additional duct work. Now the package unit runs the center of my house where the high ceilings are, and the original unit balances out the remainer of the house. I have a very honest ac guy, I originally wanted the mini split system, there are more cons than just the price. So just do you research and calculations with an honest guy before you make your final decision.
Thanks Lion King! I'm amazed at the great advice I'm getting on here and extremely greatful for everyone's responses.

I'm not really sure what a package unit is. Is that just a supplemental unit added to your existing one that uses the existing ducts?
 

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I had a small window unit on the lab in Hawaii, where outside heat and humidity could be brutal during the summer when the trade winds weren't blowing. I was inexpensive to buy and run. If there was a problem with it, I could get a replacement unit at any of several stores and replace it myself. It was by far the best option for me.
 
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FarmerTy

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I had a small window unit on the lab in Hawaii, where outside heat and humidity could be brutal during the summer when the trade winds weren't blowing. I was inexpensive to buy and run. If there was a problem with it, I could get a replacement unit at any of several stores and replace it myself. It was by far the best option for me.
Thanks Dana! It's fun to have you on reef2reef. Big fan of your articles and experiments!

I was thinking just a small unit but since I have a whole house issue to address as well, now exploring options that will take care of everything.

The problem has morphed! [emoji28]
 

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