Our Boiling Garage Became Our Favorite Room Thanks to This Mini-Split

This article is sponsored by Turbro.

Use the code Hometalk for 25% off!

Our garage has always been the one room we couldn't actually use. 

In the summer, it turned into an oven, and the only fix we ever had was dragging out giant fans. 

Before we started, the temperature inside was eighty-five degrees. Yikes.

So here's the plan: we picked the Lapland 18,000 BTU single-zone mini-split. 

In the box, we found the indoor head, the outdoor condenser, the remote, and the line set. 

We also grabbed the decorative line cover kit to keep everything looking clean once the installation was finished.

Our friend is an electrician, so between my husband and him, we felt really good about tackling this ourselves.

1. Installing the Indoor Unit

First up was the indoor unit. We marked out our spot, got the mounting bracket dead level, and drilled our pass-through hole to the outside.

Take your time getting that bracket level. Everything else keys off of it.

Next, we hung the indoor head on the bracket and started feeding the line set through the hole we drilled in the exterior wall beside the unit. 

Then we attached the copper lines coming from the outdoor unit to complete the indoor installation.

2. Setting Up the Outdoor Condenser

Outside, we set the condenser on its pad and got to work on the connections.

This is where having an electrician around really paid off.

We flared the refrigerant lines, connected everything up, pulled a vacuum on the system to purge it, and wired the disconnect.

This is the part that looks intimidating, but if you go slow and double-check every connection, it’s doable.

3. The Finishing Touches That Make a Difference

Bare line set running down the wall isn’t a great look, so we used the decorative PVC line cover kit.

We simply cut it to length and snapped it right over the lines.

Look at the difference. That one step is what takes it from a handyman job to something you're actually really proud of.

One thing you don't want to skip is the disconnect box. 

This weatherproof switch is mounted right next to the outdoor unit and lets you shut off power to the whole system with a single flip.

It is a safety must, and in most areas, code requires one within sight of the condenser. 

Our electrician wired this one up, and honestly, if you're not comfortable with the electrical side, this is the point where you should call in a pro.

4. The Moment of Truth

After finding the perfect spot to hang the remote control, it was time to power everything on for the first time.

We grabbed the remote, set it to cool, dialed in our temperature, and had cold air right away.

We wanted to put some numbers to it. We started at eighty-five degrees and monitored how the system cooled the garage. 

The interesting part is that it pulls the most power up front while bringing the temperature down. 

Once it reaches your target temperature, the inverter kicks in to maintain it, and the power draw drops significantly. 

We cooled the garage down to a comfortable seventy-two degrees, and it held there without breaking a sweat.

5. Efficient Heating and Cooling All Year

A big reason it's this efficient is the eco-friendly R-32 refrigerant paired with its Energy Star certification.

It's built to squeeze the most out of every watt, and you can really feel it.

And this isn't just a summer solution. This unit is rated to work from thirteen below zero all the way up to one hundred and twenty-five degrees. 

That means it's not just cooling the garage in July, it's heating it in January too.

Final Thoughts

If your garage has been sitting unused because it's too hot or too cold, this is the fix. 

The Lapland 18,000 BTU mini-split turned our garage into our favorite room in the house.

If you'd like to try it yourself, you can use code Hometalk for 25% off. Trust us, you'll wonder why you waited this long.

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