AIR CONDITION FOR YOUR AUTO REPAIR BUILDING

[DUFRESNES]

Please put this topic in a better place for me.  I would like to know how many shops have air conditioning for their shops.  Our office has air, but not the shop.  If you have it, has it paid off and has it made a difference in you technicians.

 

[Transmission Repair]

On 7/8/2024 at 7:25 AM, DUFRESNES said:

Please put this topic in a better place for me.  I would like to know how many shops have air conditioning for their shops.  Our office has air, but not the shop.  If you have it, has it paid off and has it made a difference in you technicians.

 

We didn't have air conditioning, but we did have evaporative coolers (aka swamp coolers) out in the shop.  Like you, we did have A/C in the office.  Evaporative coolers only work in low-humidity areas and drop the temperature about 20F from the outside temperature.  We are in the Salt Lake Valley and the humidity rarely exceeds 36%.  To add to that, the valley floor is 4,500 ft. above sea level.  As we say it around here, "High and Dry".  Cold drink cans don't even sweat.  We also had high ceilings with a 20' eve height roof.  The lower the eve height, the easier it is on any A/C unit.  The few shops I know of that did have A/C out in the shop, the A/C unit itself was massively oversized for the square footage.  A lot of cold air is lost every time a garage door is opened to pull a vehicle in or out of the shop.

With your shop being in Portland, Oregon, I don't think an evaporative cooler would be very efficient.  I looked online and Portland's humidity is rarely below 63%, nearly twice our humidity.  I'm originally from Houston where the average humidity is a sweltering 89%. 

I would like to think that any shop getting air conditioning for the shop area would be a great morale-booster.  It would speak volumes about what you think about your employees.  Good luck on your decision!

 

[pfseeley442]

My shop is air conditioned. It adds approximately $250 per month in the summer to the electric bill. When the heating system was replaced it added about $6500 to the cost. My previous shops were not air conditioned, we did try the swamp coolers, fans etc. When it gets hot like it has been some days we saw a 50% loss in productivity, normal hot days maybe 15 to 20% loss. Now we have no loss in productivity, we have happy employees, a happy boss and a happy wallet. To see the employees happy not complaining and productive really is priceless. 

[Rich Young]

I have two shops in Maryland, one has AC the other does not. When the temperatures soar, the production in the unairconditioned shop definitely suffers. (Even the younger techs struggle when sweat is pouring off their heads and their uniforms are soaked). We have multiple swamp coolers which are okay if the temps are 85 and below with reasonable humidity, but the old norms of our summer climate seem to be fading and its getting hotter each year. I plan to install central air in the the other shop this year. It will add to the overhead, however the increase in productivity and morale will outweigh the utility bill. 

[DUFRESNES]

replying to both of the above.  We normally only have a couple of really hot days, so  no problem.  This year we are having a lot of hot days.  When the weather was over 100, we had all employees come in at 6 and go home at 3pm.  

We usually have 3 of us come in and 6 and the others come in at 8.  I am thinking of adding it as soon as possible, probably for next year.  Thanks for all the input