Joined
·
2,046 Posts
I can't offer much here as for the paneling but from what I used in the past in building I'd go OBS and save the money. Painting, well that's a personal choice. In my shop I hung all LED lights and they make any area bright. I took the fluorescent lights down and gave them away. I'll do the same in my garage before winter for sure. Now as far as the cooling units, here's where I'd pay close attention. Split, window, central all work the same. As a retired HVAC dude I can tell you many units were replaced when they only needed servicing, especially window and splits. I'm not a big fan of either but they do have their place. By splits I'm referring to units where the indoor unit is a wall hung fan and evaporator unit with the controls on it and the condenser (outdoor unit) sits outside with copper lines between them. Central units are similar except they have coils that are either sitting in a furnace or a boxed ducted air handler and the duct goes throughout the dwelling. The issue mostly is the return air. Regardless of system you have a fan and coil. The fan of course supplies air on the leaving side of the coil but also pulls room temperature air through the entering side into the cooled coil where the coil cools the air before supplying it back to the room. The coil is King and must be maintained (cleaned and filtered) properly or you will have declining performance resulting in higher operating cost, lower efficiency, and warmer air discharge. Installing the indoor unit where it is accessible for cleaning is extremely important. If used year round, a minimum of 1-2 times yearly depending on usage is best.
But key is filtering the air. Most all split units (wall hung) have a mesh type thin filter in the indoor unit which is almost useless but better than nothing. It requires a lot of cleaning and very often. Unfortunately there's little way to use a better filter in the unit due to the thickness restriction of the unit. I would think constructing a box that can fit in front of the indoor unit would allow the use of a 1" pleated filter. This allows much better air filtration thus keeping the coil cleaner. When you do need to clean the coil use an approved evaporator coil cleaner for the indoor and an approved condenser cleaner for the outdoor unit coils.
I use a 20x25x4" pleated filter in my central system at home. I installed this system 18 years ago and just replaced the indoor coil and outdoor unit (heat pump) but the gas furnace is still in great shape (dual fuel system with 5 zones). When we pulled the indoor coil off the furnace it was a clean and spotless as a new coil. That filter had stopped all the dirt from reaching the coil and kept the system very efficient over the years. It also prolonged the life of the system. I've replaced systems that were older but this one had developed a refrigerant leak that was proving very difficult to locate and we decided it was time to replace instead.
I know this is a long post and I apologize but most people have no idea of what should be considered when installing a unit. That includes window units. You'll need to take them out at least yearly and thoroughly clean them,especially the coils, so make sure they are accessible when planning. They are sealed systems like your refrigerators so putting gauges on them is not possible without installing ports which often led to leaks so temperatures are the only way to easily diagnose them. I've seen a ton of good units tossed and all they had were dirty coils. You should see 18-20 degree difference between room temperature and discharge temperature when working properly.
Feels a little weird hitting the "Post Quick Reply" button
But key is filtering the air. Most all split units (wall hung) have a mesh type thin filter in the indoor unit which is almost useless but better than nothing. It requires a lot of cleaning and very often. Unfortunately there's little way to use a better filter in the unit due to the thickness restriction of the unit. I would think constructing a box that can fit in front of the indoor unit would allow the use of a 1" pleated filter. This allows much better air filtration thus keeping the coil cleaner. When you do need to clean the coil use an approved evaporator coil cleaner for the indoor and an approved condenser cleaner for the outdoor unit coils.
I use a 20x25x4" pleated filter in my central system at home. I installed this system 18 years ago and just replaced the indoor coil and outdoor unit (heat pump) but the gas furnace is still in great shape (dual fuel system with 5 zones). When we pulled the indoor coil off the furnace it was a clean and spotless as a new coil. That filter had stopped all the dirt from reaching the coil and kept the system very efficient over the years. It also prolonged the life of the system. I've replaced systems that were older but this one had developed a refrigerant leak that was proving very difficult to locate and we decided it was time to replace instead.
I know this is a long post and I apologize but most people have no idea of what should be considered when installing a unit. That includes window units. You'll need to take them out at least yearly and thoroughly clean them,especially the coils, so make sure they are accessible when planning. They are sealed systems like your refrigerators so putting gauges on them is not possible without installing ports which often led to leaks so temperatures are the only way to easily diagnose them. I've seen a ton of good units tossed and all they had were dirty coils. You should see 18-20 degree difference between room temperature and discharge temperature when working properly.
Feels a little weird hitting the "Post Quick Reply" button
