Dreams do come true... an air-conditioned shop!

I've been doing woodworking for 50 years. My first projects got done in the living room of an apartment. Most of the rest of the time, my shop was the garage. My poor wife never parked a car in a garage the whole time we were married.

Never have I had the luxury of air conditioning.  Until today.

I bought what's called a 'mini-split' system, which is the same thing installed in the house.  It's halfway between a window air conditioner and a full-house central air unit.  It's really designed for one room or open space, but it's silent and very kind to the electric system.  

Like the central air system you may have in your house, it has an outside unit, but it's so quiet you can barely hear it, and it only runs as fast as it needs to, as opposed to being full-on/full-off like a central air unit.

The inside unit needs to be connected to the outside part with insulated pipes, and since I had already closed in the wall where the pipes needed to go, I cut out a section of sheetrock.

But I saved the piece, so it will go back.

Voila! Tomorrow I'll texture and repaint

Also, eventually another large cabinet will go on that wall, just like the one on the other side of the door.

You're supposed to hire a professional to install these things, but being a "senior on a fixed income" (read "cheap."), I decided to do it myself.

The main reason to hire a professional is that some special equipment is needed.  A vacuum pump and special gauges to suck all the air out of the pipes before letting the freon flow through them.  I just bought the equipment for less than a pro would have charged me, and now I have them for when I add another one of these little air conditioners for my dining room! (Stay tuned for that.)
 

Flaring the pipes

All hooked up and ready to go.  The tubes on the ground are drains.
Molly is unimpressed.  More interested in the box.

Moment of truth (AKA the Blinding Flash Test)

It displays the temperature setting

Whaddaya know... it works!

INSIDE

OUTSIDE

 

After weeks of 100+ degree weather, this week we're getting a cold snap.  By Saturday, it's supposed to get down to 72!  You're welcome, Campo.

Luckily, this unit is a heat pump, which means it becomes a heater in winter.