Quote:
Originally Posted by MandoMan
I had a garage-to-attic ceiling fan professionally installed last summer. This cost around $800–much cheaper than an AC system. My garage door faces East, though I use a screen door all summer. However, I’ve only used the fan a few times. What was I thinking? If I park my car in the garage after driving it in the sunshine, it emits a lot of heat, and that’s when the fan could help most. But unless I’m working in the garage, why bother? Even when the sun is shining on the screen rather than the steel door, it heats up the garage a lot. But the fan is only going to pull in hot, humid air from outside. Also, the vents in the door installed by the man who installed the fan are near ground level, so the air pulled in has just flowed over a very hot concrete driveway and may be even hotter than the air eight feet off the ground. If the temperature outside is 90° and much hotter near the driveway, sucking it into my garage is not going to make it much more pleasant to work there. It’s still too hot. A better idea might be to leave my car outside for the day once I’ve had it out and it is hot. Using the screen door on the garage, the shady garage will usually feel cooler than being in the direct sun, even if it is still 90°. The previous owner of my house left a desk fan attached upside down to the ceiling aimed at the workbench, and that seems to help a lot more than than sucking air into the attic. The ceiling fan might work better in the evening, when the temperature drops, as it could gradually cool everything in the garage by twenty degrees. But the sun will heat up the garage the next morning, or parking a hat car in the garage will heat it up in a few minutes.
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I also had a similar fan installed and have not used it much. Mine is a 3-car garage with a window. I chose not to have the doors pierced with vents since I can open the window instead. If one is working near the window, the airflow produced by the fan is helpful, but other than that, I don't think it was worth the money.
Add to that, the thought of using it in the evening when temperatures are cooler is only moderately helpful, because by that time of day humidity is back near 100% and all the fan is doing is pulling in moisture. Again, not worth the money.
OTOH, screens on the garage doors are very well worth the money. They afford good airflow through the garage, keep the insects out, and slow down the gators.