Home Gym: Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine

[mgil]

Anyone run a dehumidifier in their uninsulated garage/shed?

I'm moving to a garage gym and am looking to keep the rust off my equipment. I'm in WI and we don't get the extreme hot + humidity that other places may, but enough that my strongman stuff in the garage does rust a bit. I'm thinking of throwing a dehumidifier out there along with a few of those moisture absorption buckets. The garage doors get opened and closed enough that nothing will be a perfect solution, but thinking it will help a little.

I'm also planning to insulate the garage doors, redo the seals, and spray foam any obvious gaps to hopefully keep heat/bugs/dust down.

If you do set up a dehumidifier, get one that can drain itself and save yourself a bunch of hassle.

[murphyreedus]

If you do set up a dehumidifier, get one that can drain itself and save yourself a bunch of hassle.

That's definitely the plan. In the winter the DampRid (or whatever) buckets would hopefully help when it's too cold for the humidifier to run but the vehicles/etc bring snow/ice/water in.

[brkriete]

If it's not a well-sealed space, you're going to spend a fortune running the dehumidifier.

[murphyreedus]

If it's not a well-sealed space, you're going to spend a fortune running the dehumidifier.

I'm going to do some sealing but it's definitely not going to be a finished/insulated space. I guess I'll see how much it runs vs how much it seems to help with humidity. My basement dehumidifier runs all the time in the most humid months but it's a blip on the bill vs the central AC.

[brkriete]

Letting my basement dehumidifier just run was like 100-150/month (damp New England fieldstone basement). Now I turn it on for a day or two after rainstorms and then turn it off.

[murphyreedus]

Letting my basement dehumidifier just run was like 100-150/month (damp New England fieldstone basement). Now I turn it on for a day or two after rainstorms and then turn it off.

Yeah, ouch. My combined gas + electric bill only passes 300 in the heaviest usage months.

[Wilhelm]

Saw similar electric bill results running a dehumidifier in Morristown NJ.
Maybe they make some that use less.

[Skander]

Anyone run a dehumidifier in their uninsulated garage/shed?

I'm moving to a garage gym and am looking to keep the rust off my equipment. I'm in WI and we don't get the extreme hot + humidity that other places may, but enough that my strongman stuff in the garage does rust a bit. I'm thinking of throwing a dehumidifier out there along with a few of those moisture absorption buckets. The garage doors get opened and closed enough that nothing will be a perfect solution, but thinking it will help a little.

I'm also planning to insulate the garage doors, redo the seals, and spray foam any obvious gaps to hopefully keep heat/bugs/dust down.

If you do set up a dehumidifier, get one that can drain itself and save yourself a bunch of hassle.

Isn't heat a major biproduct of dehumidifiers? Out of desperation this summer tried to run mine in the heavy house and it just made it even more miserable. I feel like heat and humidity run a little too hand in hand in Wisconsin for that to be so helpful except during big temp swings...

[murphyreedus]

Isn't heat a major biproduct of dehumidifiers? Out of desperation this summer tried to run mine in the heavy house and it just made it even more miserable. I feel like heat and humidity run a little too hand in hand in Wisconsin for that to be so helpful except during big temp swings...

Probably, but I doubt it's going to make much difference heat-wise in an open 3-car garage. The garage does have a window right by the gym area, so I could put a small window AC in to cool the gym area directly, but I don't know if the smaller ones have a specific humidity control, and I don't need cooling out there 24/7.

I don't know, we'll see how it is after I change the door seals and stuff.

[Skander]

Isn't heat a major biproduct of dehumidifiers? Out of desperation this summer tried to run mine in the heavy house and it just made it even more miserable. I feel like heat and humidity run a little too hand in hand in Wisconsin for that to be so helpful except during big temp swings...

Probably, but I doubt it's going to make much difference heat-wise in an open 3-car garage. The garage does have a window right by the gym area, so I could put a small window AC in to cool the gym area directly, but I don't know if the smaller ones have a specific humidity control, and I don't need cooling out there 24/7.

None of our 5k btu units do, but we had a gift card and I got a 8k btu unit for one room... So so much nicer than the 5ks. It has that mode, it's pretty decent. I think that would be the best solution, though again the 8k wasn't cheap. You should probably grab one now before summer and COVID shortages mean they're non existent...

[murphyreedus]

It's only a small sliding window (opening is like 21"w x 19"h), so I'd need to find a unit that can fit plus make a frame for it. Most of the decent ones look a little too big.

[mgil]

It's only a small sliding window (opening is like 21"w x 19"h), so I'd need to find a unit that can fit plus make a frame for it. Most of the decent ones look a little too big.

If you’re going to seal up what you can and kinda “finish” the garage, I’d probably just buy a DIY mini split for about $1500 and have full HVAC. Probably about 12,000btu of AC and 15,000btu of heat.

[Skander]

It's only a small sliding window (opening is like 21"w x 19"h), so I'd need to find a unit that can fit plus make a frame for it. Most of the decent ones look a little too big.

If you’re going to seal up what you can and kinda “finish” the garage, I’d probably just buy a DIY mini split for about $1500 and have full HVAC. Probably about 12,000btu of AC and 15,000btu of heat.

Though FYI, if the heat is the important component of that for you, I'd recommend mounting it a bit lower. The ones we had installed in our house cool great, but the ones up by the ceiling just don't do a fantastic job of heating since it mostly floats right up.

[mgil]

Yeah, or pair them with a ceiling fan.

[murphyreedus]

See, this slippery slope is how I'm going to end up with a new detached garage, fully finished with HVAC.

[Skander]

Kind of bummed- I've got a T3 24" depth, and have been supersetting a lot. Wanted safeties outside, but hadn't thought about the pin pipes... Turns out I can't really have both at once, defeating the purpose of getting them- they both use up the same real estate on the front as each other and my safety points are too close. Tried a bunch of different configurations, they all suck.

Just annoying when things don't work out. Probably not worth trying to return them, and I'll probably figure out some kind of insanity to use them for.

[Wilhelm]

Kind of bummed- I've got a T3 24" depth, and have been supersetting a lot. Wanted safeties outside, but hadn't thought about the pin pipes... Turns out I can't really have both at once, defeating the purpose of getting them- they both use up the same real estate on the front as each other and my safety points are too close. Tried a bunch of different configurations, they all suck.

Just annoying when things don't work out. Probably not worth trying to return them, and I'll probably figure out some kind of insanity to use them for.

Would strap safeties mount on a higher hole?
I see they come in 24" and 36"

https://www.titan.fitness/racks/rack-ac ... STRAP.html

24"
https://www.titan.fitness/racks/rack-ac ... STRAP.html

[Skander]

Kind of bummed- I've got a T3 24" depth, and have been supersetting a lot. Wanted safeties outside, but hadn't thought about the pin pipes... Turns out I can't really have both at once, defeating the purpose of getting them- they both use up the same real estate on the front as each other and my safety points are too close. Tried a bunch of different configurations, they all suck.

Just annoying when things don't work out. Probably not worth trying to return them, and I'll probably figure out some kind of insanity to use them for.

Would strap safeties mount on a higher hole?
I see they come in 24" and 36"

https://www.titan.fitness/racks/rack-ac ... STRAP.html

24"
https://www.titan.fitness/racks/rack-ac ... STRAP.html

Yeah I think it's possible those could maybe work, but then I'd be $200+ in when I could just learn to drop my HBBSs on the occasions when I'm supersetting squat and bench...I think I've heard they're too long also.

Apparently the older version of the safety arms were shorter, these are too long for my rack to be used inside. That would be ideal though, since then there's no use of the front post. I'd still need a second pair though...

I solved the problem today by just not benching cause I was exhausted. Maybe I should just do a quick bench session on off days...

[Tommy1507]

Bought a used rack for 300€. I think the price is okay, bc most shops have nothing in stock.
First workout felt a little bit weird. I have only 60cm space lengthwise available and the hooks take another 11cm from that. But i think i get used to it. Also the holes are either too low or high for the bench press.
I hope i can upgrade it sooner than later.

[Wilhelm]

Bought a used rack for 300€. I think the price is okay, bc most shops have nothing in stock.
First workout felt a little bit weird. I have only 60cm space lengthwise available and the hooks take another 11cm from that. But i think i get used to it. Also the holes are either too low or high for the bench press.
I hope i can upgrade it sooner than later.

Nice!

You can place rubber matting, or plywood/whatever, under your bench (inside the rack rails) to get it the right height.
Should be fine for squat too since that is a little more forgiving of a small variance in height.
Just needs to be wide enough for your stance.

Or you can just do a small piece and put it down just for bench.

Kind of guessing, but a 3/4" rubber mat would likely be more stable for squats since it wouldn't wobble on any high spots there might be in the floor like a single sheet of plywood could.
Some combination of this approach anyway.