mack_turtle Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 anyone have tips for making my garage a bearable place when it's hot outside? all my tools, bikes, and spare parts are out there, but for 9 months out of the year, it's like an oven! I park two cars in that garage (because that's where cars live and I'm not the kind of savage who would leave a car out in the driveway) but I know to leave the car out temporarily if the engine is hot. I've lined the inside of the garage door with insulating panels and it seems to help deflect a little of the heat off the door, but it's not a big help. insulation? fan to blow air outside? a full blown AC in there seems like a waste of energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Cars in the garage? We did that in the north because we didn't want to dig the cars out of the snow every morning. No reason to do it here. Cars out yeilds a much better garage bike shop. I just put a large fan blowing on me when I'm out there. But I'll still shower when I come in pretty much 100% of the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 cars in the driveway leads to bird poop and sap all over the car, flaking and faded paint, and a guaranteed busted window from lowlifes that prowl the neighborhood. no thanks. however, where I park the car doesn't help the garage much. parking the car outside makes a marginal difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) My garage is fully finished with sheetrock, but I don't think it has insulation behind it. I added fiberglass insulation on the doors and that made a huge difference. My long-term project is to automate an exhaust fan and vent such that it monitors garage temp and when the temp outside is cooler than inside, it opens up a vent and an exhaust fan will turn on. I already have the sensor (dual window open sensor and temp sensor which is nice). I need to get an exhaust fan (bathroom) and connect it to a smart plug, then run it all with SmartThings. That guarantees at least the day will start with the coolest possible temp. Edited October 21, 2020 by AntonioGG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 My take away so far is that my neighborhood has fewer lowlife prowlers. Also we seem to have fewer birds and near driveway trees--I never recall having birds shit on my car in the morning. So that's all good. But one thing that really affects garage comfort is luck (or selection criteria if you make it a consideration). My previous residence had a west-facing garage. Of course this means the sun is beaming into the open garage in the late afternoon and evenings. That really sucks. But the new joint has a north-east facing garage! Life is way better that way. The other thing is to have a cold beverage always nearby. Keeping it in the garage refrigerator between sips helps. I don't normally chill my whisky, but when it's really hot, I may keep it in the freezer between sips. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 5 minutes ago, Barry said: My take away so far is that my neighborhood has fewer lowlife prowlers. Also we seem to have fewer birds and near driveway trees--I never recall having birds shit on my car in the morning. So that's all good. my driveway has tree debris and bird poo all over it. crime data shows a lot of car break-ins and everyone I know has had a busted window at some point. I can't stay up all night guarding my car and a I have a perfectly spacious garage for keeping my car safe and clean. that's a bit of a thread derail. my garage faces southwest so it's not too bad in the morning. the setting sun hits the front of the house pretty hard later in the day. I drink a lot of water while I'm out there but it's still miserable. I've not tested the temp, but I'm sure it gets warmer than the outside air, but without any hope of a breeze. a fan helps but it's not nearly enough to keep me from needing indoor breaks when it's at its worst, which is why I need some sort of active ventilation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notyal Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 My garage has a large, nearly wall sized door that can completely open, which really helps with ventilation. Other than that, we have a couple fans. Since covid, the garage has been adapted to a home gym as well. My wife wants to put a portable RV style A/C in there, but it seems pretty wasteful. My garage is pretty shaded and faces a preferable direction, so it's tolerable. We both exercised out there all summer without dying, but it would be nice to just drop it down a few degrees for an hour or two as needed. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texbiker Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I had this problem. I had a roof turbine vent installed and it made a big difference. Open the small door and a breeze can be felt pulling air up and out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 After spending years in turn of the century homes with either no garage, one car, dirt floors, shitty small 2 car, etc, we bought this house partly because all the garage space. I'll never park my cars in the driveway or street. If I wanted that, I'd live downtown. IMHO, the best thing you can do is get some exhaust fans in the roof. The garage just traps heat at the ceiling and no matter ho much air you pump in, it has no place to go. I had to work on a few cars in the garage this summer and I opened the door from the house to the garage and placed a large fan in the doorway pulling cool air from the kitchen and pumping it into the garage. Dropped the temp 10-13 degrees throughout the day. When it's 100* plus outside, I don't care if my power bill goes up $20 for the month and also have a solid home warranty so YMMV. Back when I lived in SLC, built my rockcrawler in a 1 car garage. Never again with small garages ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 17 minutes ago, mack_turtle said: ...that's a bit of a thread derail. Not really, it's in the OP! But I wonder if a misting fan would be too messy? Enough mist for evaporative cooling but not so much as to condense on anything--with the right balance, that could work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericbike6 Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 20 minutes ago, texbiker said: . I had a roof turbine vent installed and it made a big difference. This is a great idea, and well worth the install. Center of the roof in the garage, you can even get solar powered ones so that it will turn the fan on at a certain temp. Worked great in my last house. Need to do in my current house, but the builders put a flat roof on the garage(mid 70's house) and I want to create some pitch on the roof. So most likely a project for next year. Otherwise leave the cars outside if you plan on doing any work in there, the heat soak from a car that was just running will raise the garage temp 15-20 degrees easy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 19 minutes ago, Barry said: Not really, it's in the OP! But I wonder if a misting fan would be too messy? Enough mist for evaporative cooling but not so much as to condense on anything--with the right balance, that could work well. Swamp cooler may be better. They make a huge difference. I have a West facing garage so that's why for me the insulation made a huge difference. The attic above the garage was not insulated but it had plywood. When I had a company come put an extra 6" of blown insulation they blew some in there. I highly recommend getting some extra insulation, and some at all for places like the garage. I think it's the best bang for the buck. For my garage doors, I went with the Owens-Corning fiberglass kit for garage doors b/c it had the better R-value. @ATXZJ I don't think I would have survived building my race car in that tight a confine! How did you jack it up? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 My truck is just fine in the driveway. 5 years and the white paint is flawless. Wife's car, in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 I'll look into having a roof vent installed. I may need to totally redo the roof of the house in a few years anyway, though. My original plan was to install a small fan in an exterior wall, near the ceiling. I would feel comfortable DIYing all of that (but not the roof vent) if it could do enough to push high, hot air out of the garage to be worth the effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 1 hour ago, AntonioGG said: Swamp cooler may be better. They make a huge difference. There's a couple of really good inexpensive options on this list: https://theozonehole.com/the-best-swamp-coolers-for-garage-reviews.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I have a big floor standing fan that I attached to the wall with a hook. Then got a wireless switch so I can flip it on when I am working on bikes, keep it on full and pointed down. Works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Attic fans and vents will do wonders for your A/C in the summers. Prior to this one, we lived in a "green certified" home with attic ventilation and high efficiency A/C and insulation. Really liked how they designed that place. My current 2 story, 2400 sqft 1970s asbestos home runs about $275-300 a month for electricity with everyone working from home now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggo Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Swamp coolers work best in a dry climate. A quality dehumidifier is the way go if you don’t like to sweat. Knocking down the latent heat is key here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Our hot evenings tend to be fairly dry. And swamp coolers work great when I've experienced them at local restaurants. Unless you have an air conditioner running most folks work with their garage door open. A dehumidifier doesn't make sense in that situation.--you'd effectively be running it outside. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willatter Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Above posters are correct about the roof ventilation. Can make a big difference if done correctly and you have the proper amount of air coming into the attic space. I would recommend ridge vent over any motorized form of ventilation if your roof allows it. Much more surface area with ridge vent and it is a passive system so no replacing motors every few years. Get the roof inspected before you do anything, depending on where you live you could have roof damage that could get replaced by your insurance company. It is much cheaper to add ventilation during a new roof install than to add to an existing roof. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions, I own a roofing company and we do lots ventilation install and upgrades. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinerider Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Two story. Kids' bedrooms upstairs, so no sun heating. Garage door has insulation for winter, but keep it open for summer. Have a cheap ceiling fan above the workbench/bike shop, and have a box fan on a rolling fixture with extra long cord if I need to move it around to where I'm working at the time. Yeah, I sweat, but I sweat bourbon and hops, so not a bad combo to smell like😁 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 On 10/21/2020 at 7:43 PM, Barry said: Unless you have an air conditioner running most folks work with their garage door open. Never. My neighborhood is a mosquito magnet. The only thing worse than sweat while working on a bike is the incessant buzzing of a mosquito. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheX Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 I have awesome neighbors, working with my garage door open works well. It's nice to have them walk by and stop to chat. I have a variety of fans that help if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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