Shopsmith Forums

As I recall the initial post, the widow set the asking price.

It may not be indicative of anything at all but 8iowa has not posted on lumberjacks during the last 45 days either. He just may be super busy and doesn't have time to post here. He's a "big boy". He'll get over it what ever it was.

curiousgeorge wrote:Thanks, Fred. That's just what I needed to know. I have already insulated the doors and blown in more insulation over the entire attic, so at least the cheap part is taken care of. We recently added a screen room that we will add windows to a little later, so I will probably have one of the split minis installed that can handle more than one inside unit. It would probably be cheaper to have it all done at once rather than coming back later.

Sir I would highly recommend the Mr Slim from Mitsubishi. They are very popular and we sell alot of them. (HVAC supply house) I can ship you one from here and probably save you some dough.
Same goes for anyone with any heat/cool needs. just PM me and I'll get you a figure so you at least have that option.

All,


I’ve written and deleted this several times and will no doubt regret posting this message as I have no interest in needlessly stirring up the controversy again and have no intention to argue the finer points or discuss the matter any further.



Dad is fine and may return someday. True, the thread bothered him and there were apparently some unpleasant off list comments, but I also think he has decided that he is spending too much time on these forums. I reached the same conclusion during the last Christmas break and made cutting back on computer time a New Year’s resolution. Between work and other obligations I find spare time to be a dwindling resource and have realized that I have been spending more time reading and writing about doing stuff than actually doing anything.



It was all a matter of perception. His view was:


Post: “Look, my buddy cheated a widow out of a garage full of tools.”
Replies : “Woo hoo. Great job!”


Now before any of you get your knickers in a knot, I did say it was a matter of perception.



I don’t want to argue about this, in his eyes there is a world of difference between answering an ad on Craig’s list for a $200 Shopsmith and offering the same to a grieving widow selling her husband’s garage full of tools. We all have to draw a line somewhere in that murky gray between black and white. If you can sleep at night then you are doing fine.

There are people who make a living preying on the vulnerability of widows, as the owner of a storage business he saw many examples of these predators so this thread struck a nerve.



Truth is these women can make remarkably poor financial decisions. Somewhere out there is a guy who can gloat at scoring an antique duck decoy collection at $5 a pop from a long time family friend and I’m sure my father- in-law would have done things differently if he knew what would happen to the house and his prized coin collection. Something you gents may consider should the thought of someone cleaning out your shop for a couple hundred bucks be of any concern. I suppose we pursue these hobbies and delude ourselves that our wives can cash in on the lot when we are gone. In reality I suppose all this stuff will be more of a burden than a blessing.




Please do not interpret this as an attack on Dave. Over the last few years, having read his and other posts on this list has convinced me that he and indeed most of you are all basically a bunch of good guys.

Now, let’s make some sawdust or at least write about it.

Cheers,
Troy

Kudos Troy for speaking up!

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I thank all of you for your replies but after several days of due diligence and a couple of bids from reputable companies I have decided that the split mini heat pump units would be the ideal solution but are very cost prohibitive. I could almost build a new shop with central heat and air for what they want for these things. I ended up ordering a portable ac/heat unit for about $500. I will just have to vent it through the window on the storm door of the shop or through the wall. I will follow up later as to how the unit works. That is if anyone is interested.

curiousgeorge wrote:I thank all of you for your replies but after several days of due diligence and a couple of bids from reputable companies I have decided that the split mini heat pump units would be the ideal solution but are very cost prohibitive. I could almost build a new shop with central heat and air for what they want for these things. I ended up ordering a portable ac/heat unit for about $500. I will just have to vent it through the window on the storm door of the shop or through the wall. I will follow up later as to how the unit works. That is if anyone is interested.

George, you are a man after my own heart. The added cost of a combination stroke, heart attack, gastric explosion etc. at just the thought of spending that kind of money to AC a garage for part time use would bankrupt me.
We AC 4,000 sq. ft. of our house (and have for several years now) with an about $300 window unit with the output distributed with the furnace blowers and a couple of carefully placed fans. Effective distribution is key along with a well insulated house and an open floor plan. Note that almost 1,000 feet of that 4,000 now includes my woodshop.
People keep telling me that it will not work but it does and very nicely thank you. It has served us very well during this otherwise maddening waaaay too dang long run of upper 90's and day after day of 100+ highs.
We do not refrigerate our house like many feel the need to do. We keep the house between 72 and 77 and find that it suits us well. In the winter we keep it about 68 to 74.
Another factor on the AC is the level of dehumidifying that is done. A lot of guys go the Tim Taylor route and want a half zillion BTU unit which cools the structure quickly but does not run long enough at a time to properly remove the humuggity. The excess moisture left in the air keeps it from feeling cool. Our little unit runs most of the time and keeps the air quite dry. Being a smaller unit it runs at very low cost.
Now I understand that in the case above other factors like restrictions put extreme limitations on choices and few options existed. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.


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George,

I have a roll around 12,000 btu unit that I use in the event we lose power during a storm for several weeks. It has two flex vent hoses that attach to a removable attachment that can be moved from window to window which I move from the den to the bedroom each night to bring in fresh air and exhaust hot air. I run this unit off my 3500 watt generator. I can't see why this type of unit wouldn't work in your workshop. I purchased mine at Lowes for $385 a couple of years ago. It works great in the house and cools down the room in a short period of time. Plus, you could always move it from the shop to the house in the event you lose power as well.

We keep our house at 77 during the day and 75 at night in the summer and 70 during the winter. Our power bills range between $55 and $150 throughout the year for our downsized 1700 sq ft retirement house.

I was willing to invest in a split unit because it will increase the resale value of my house if I ever wish to sell it. Farmer must live in a cooler environment than I do. It's usually over 100 in my shop/garage 5 months out of the year

Fred