I don’t know why I thought I was capable of a project this big.
The family needs more living space, and since we don’t use the garage for anything but storage, it seemed like a smart thing to do.
How hard could it be, I asked myself. Lay down some carpet, hang some drywall, do a little painting, and it would be good to go, right? No, that actually wasn’t right at all. I was quite handy with renovating the garage and making it look nice. Although it looked nice, it was not habitable. It needed a heating and cooling system before it would be suitable for anyone to stay there permanently. At first I thought I could co-opt the central HVAC system for the house and extend it into the garage. I only thought that because I had such a tenuous understanding of how HVAC systems work. Once I did the research and realized I would need to install new ductwork, I realized that wasn’t an option. There are many powerful space heaters on the market, but when it comes to portable air conditioners the results are less impressive. Heating technology is more compact than cooling technology, it would seem. Trying to find a combination heating and cooling system that was portable turned out to be prohibitively expensive. During the winter the garage will stay nice and warm because of the new space heater. The summer weather will be more problematic, but I did purchase the best portable A/C unit I could afford. Let’s hope it is enough.