Garage Exhaust Fan
 

Has anyone had experience with a window mounted exhaust fan in the garage? I don't want to install one in the attic area, but I want to try to control the temperature inside the garage. Seems like a window mounted fan might help. Anybody tried that?

Is that o.k. with ARC? I think window air conditioners aren't allowed. Maybe I'm wrong.

Fans and Air Conditioners are two different animals.

Good question Gracie. Glad I asked. I think the fan is ok, but I'll sure call and inquire before I invest. Anyway, do we know if those will cool a hot garage? I just want to suck some of the hot air out of there without having to cut a hole in my roof.

I have an air conditioner for my garage in Georgia that vents out the window, but it just looks like a flat piece in the window and does not extend beyond the window casing.

Wonder if the ARC would have a problem with that when I bring it with me.

We insulated the garage door - this helped significantly and installed a twin fan that helps a little.

The fan fits well and is behind (inside) the window screen.

Here is the link for the fan:-

HDX 9 in. Twin Window Fan-FW23-A1 at The Home Depot

What did you use to insulate the garage door?

They sell insulation kits for garage doors in HD and Lowes .

That is exactly the type of fan I was looking at, but you say it only helps "a little." Would it be worth the effort and expense?

Did you install it permanently? OR just when you want to work in the garage?
If it just sits on sill wouldn't that be a way for someone to break into the house?

I have seen a few different types of garage door insulation methods.

A) The insulation kits made by Clopay and sold by Ro-Mac. Their number is 352-748-4575. These look the nicest, as the outer part you see on the inside of your garage door is a thicker white plastic that easily cleans, etc. It has an R-value of 6.2 Ro-Mac is just off of Rolling Acres Rd, just behind Best Buy. You can buy the kit there and install it yourself or have them install it.

B) You can also buy styrofoam or Thermax type sheets at a big box store, cut them and install them yourself. This does not look as nice, but is less expensive.

C) Some folks glue a silver "bubble wrap" to the inside of the doors. There are a few companies that do this also. Personally, I am not a big fan of this method. but it is better then nothing.

Understand that typically your garage is NOT conditioned space, so your goal here is insulating the door from the heat gain you get from the sun hitting it. This is especially needed on south facing garage doors. Stopping this radiant heat from entering your garage is your goal. Close your garage door and walk next to the inside of it during the heat of the day...if you feel a lot of heat radiating from it, you most likely would benefit from insulating your door.

Sadly, The Villages does not offer this option on new builds. Clopay makes many grades of doors. I just replaced my garage doors with brand new Clopay doors that were a "Sandwich type" door....steel on the inside and the outside with over 2 " of polyurethane insulation between the steel.....they have an R-value of over 20. They were not that much more expensive.

Hope that helps....

Frank

Thanks Frank.

Mom and I rent out our TV home now but our garage does face south. I'm going to keep this info in my ever growing "to do list"! Do you have an idea of the approximate cost for the Clopay insulation? We have an Iris with a 2 car plus golf cart garage.

I would not want to mis-quote.....but you might want to call Ro-mac and tell them you have a two car and a golf cart set of doors, four panel. They are very used to quoting for these. You might also want to measure one of the rails on each door for the correct size. The two car is about 16' wide and the smaller door can vary a bit.

The project is VERY easy for most anyone, as the panels are precut and basically slip right in to each section. Doing it yourself most likely will save you about $150.00 Ro-mac can give you a quote for them installing it or you installing it.

If you do it now, you most likely can write it off as a rental expense for income property.....

I'm in Michigan now and won't be in TV until November I'm not sure my tenants would want the hassle of an insulation crew. I'm waiting for the delivery of plantation shutters for the south facing bedroom window now.

We used this video as the insulation guide.

Garage Door Insulation - DIY Radiant Barrier - YouTube

The insulation helped a lot and keeps the inside a little cooler than outside but once you open the door then the temperature equalizes with the outside. When you return with a hot car the insulation keeps more heat in so the fan we installed (it has a thermostat) helps with that.

We removed the fan throughout the winter.

This is our second summer with it and it definitely helped beyond the insulation - but it's not an air conditioner.

I disagree that any of the garage door insulation kits that use a rigid foam or getting/cutting/installing rigid foam panels is simple and easy.

It has been my experience that the required by building code "hurricane reinforcement bars" that run the width of garage doors makes it more than a little problematic to properly install foam panels .... it can be done with the bars in place but it is not easy and removing the bars, insulating and reinstalling the bars is also not a day in the park.

Frank your comments are basically correct - however we have a south facing garage door and with the soffit and gutter overhang we find that the sun, being very high in the summer, does not hit the door as much as you'd think.

I think a west facing door would be worse.

We removed the stiffeners across the door - we just have one door for a 2 car garage.

It was very simple and easy and the entire job didn't not take very long - about 3 hours I think including measuring and cutting the panels.

Yeah, that was my experience too. I tried to install the foam insulation panels on the inside of my garage door but trying to work around the hurricane bars drove me crazy. I finally gave up. You say Romac has an installation?

I'm still interested in the fan too. Seems like you could suck out hot air, but I guess with creating air flow you are sucking out hot and at the same time sucking in outside hot air. It's a dilemma!

So, you removed the hurricane bars, installed the insulation, and then put the hurricane bars back on the door?

Yes - removed and reinstalled. Very easy - just a few bolts per stiffener.

They needed to be removed to pop in the insulation boards per the installation video I posted the link to earlier.

That can be (and I have done) exactly that .... but:

- removing and reinstalling the bars is difficult for 1 man.

- the bars are held on with self tapping sheet metal screws and about 20-25% of them will strip the old holes in the door ribs. That means you have to try and slightly move the screw enough to get fresh metal (and you do not have a lot of room to do so) and redrill with the self tappers.

All of that being said ... it is worth the effort to do this on a WEST facing garage door as they get the most direct afternoon sun.

To the more recent comments...I agree, that afternoon sun from the west can be just as bad if not worse.

I apologize if I offended anyone with my statement of this project being easy...on a typical 4 panel door, two of those panels have two hurricane bars. For some folks they may find it easier to remove one of these bars on each of the two sections to install the insulation panels for that section, then bolt them back on. They are typically just held on with lag type bolts that easily come off and on with a socket set. It was just that I've spoken to folks who have ordered the kit from Ro-mac and told me that they installed the kit themselves with good results and no problems. Of course, we are all different with our own individual strengths.

We all have areas of expertise and areas that we would consider challenging. For those comfortable with weekend DIY projects, this job would most likely be easier then most home projects. For those whose areas of expertise do not include tools, it is nice to know that Ro-Mac and other companies can handle both the sale and installation.

Respectfully, Frank

Always remember to take air out you must allow for air to come in from outside to replace it, so you will need a door or window open. If you have gas appliances in your garage and don't allow for make-up air you will have a negative effect on them. You'll essentially pull air down the flue along with the by-products of combustion and may also blow out the pilot.

I have a fan in the garage, and I agree completely with previous post. My garage door was insulated and had windows, so I removed the windows and installed screens, all was well until one storm about 2 weeks ago, had significant rain inside the garage. So I went on a search for suitable vents, and never found any. However, I was able to find plastic (aka Lexan) that is 20 times stronger than glass, which I cut to size, and then cut a hole in the center for soffit vents and screen. The result is plenty of air flow, I still get light in the garage, and so far no rain!
Here are some photos of my installation.

This is an excellent thread. :-)
Question for villagetinker: Thank you for the photos. I have seen some garage doors with the vents at the top ... and other garage doors with the vents at the bottom of the doors.
Is there a reason they are put on either at the top or the bottom?
Thank you,
Gary

you can do most anything if no one complains. if a someone does then your district guy will check and see if its good or bad. the rules are complaint driven. no one drives around checking anymore.

Gary7, when I was doing my research for garage door vents, all of the vendors that had vents were for the bottom of the door, TO LET WATER OUT!!! I actually found very few garage door vendors with any form of vent to replace the glass windows. My opinion, it does not matter if the vents are high or low, as the outside air is all the same temperature. I also figured if I used the existing window locations, less chance of complaints, and more protection from existing overhang. My total cost was around $100 for the supplies, and several hours cutting the plastic, installing the vent on the plastic, sealing, and then installing the assembly in place of the glass.
Hope this helps.
Oh by the way, several neighbors mentioned how much cooler our garage is.

Our CYV (2006)has combustion air intake grill in the ceiling.

That is per building code for gas hot water heaters.

That's correct but if you install a fan you're now going to pull air in thru that vent and down the flue. Air travels in the path of least resistance and if the only way to get replacement air is thru that grille and flue then that's where it will take it from. I sold ventilating equipment for 40 years and I only mention this so someone doesn't unknowingly create a hazard. Make sure if you have gas appliances you have a source of replacement air.