Climate Control for Garage Sim

[RPPerry3]

Due to space constraints I'm building my fully enclosed cockpit in my garage. I live in SC and the humidity/heat can be a challenge MAY-SEP. I plan on insulating the walls and door and I'm wondering if I can use a cost effective means of cooling the small 8x6 space in the summer/spring and heating in the winter. (We have a fall season but it only lasts 2 weeks).

What are your thoughts, will something like this work for my needs?  What do you recommend for circulation?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electronics-8-000-BTU-5-500-BTU-DOE-115-Volt-Portable-AC-w-Dehumidifier-Function-and-LCD-Remote-in-White-LP0818WNR/303653577

Thanks from the new guy!
-P

[navymustang]

Perry, that is what I use in my garage. I live in Orlando and it works OK, but just barely keeps the room at 76 on hot days. I did need to insulate the garage door to help it along.

[FredK]

I would suggest that unit is a bit light for what you intend it in a garage.

My sim is in a 350 sq ft insulated room in my basement.  That room is cooled and humidity controlled on the central system for the house,  but requires an auxilliary portable cooling unit in place to maintain a comfort level (I have 6 computers and 3 projectors running).

The unit I have is a Tripp Lite SRCool12K.  It is designed specifically for spot cooling of industrial IT equipment.  Condensate is conveniently carried away in the exhaust so you do not need a drain hookup.  You simply vent the exhaust to the outside. This capacity unit nicely keeps room temperature at 70F for me.

The design of this unit is such that you can also directly pipe the cooled air into your sim....in fact this is the application it is designed for.  If you do it this way you will not need to reduce the temperature of the entire room per se.

This unit is rated with 50% more BTU capacity then the LG that you are looking at....higher BTU rated Tripp Lite units are also available.  Higher the better I advise in your case.

Fred K

[bernard S]

my 2 cents.... one can never have enough SC   the units you are considering are too small ... cool the sim and the building i have over  8 tonnes split between two units.. yiu will be suprised how much heat a sim.generates.. I would follow  Freds advices ..biyr thr bullet and be done with it

[RPPerry3]

Thanks for the input everyone, but I'm building a fully enclosed unit in my garage, not open cockpit.  So about 8x10 ft give or take.  The walls will be insulated with fiberglass rolls like most standard structures. So we're talking 80sqft max.  My concerns are condensation and +/- air pressure. I believe for circulation I can leave the unit in the cockpit so it cycles the cool air and vent the exhaust out through my rear garage doggy door. 

Let me know your thoughts,
Thanks!