Hot garage
 

Any recommendations for how to solve a hot garage? Do attic fans work better, or does insulating the door and adding vents work better? Which contractors do you recommend?

I think most of the companies that install the solar lighting tubes for your home also install a cooling system for garages. I don't have one but they look pretty interesting.
Solar guys is one of the companies. I don't know their number, but they are on 441 in Summerfield.

Insulating the garage roof would be very beneficial. My garage ceiling is not insulated because I have too much junk up there. I have had a temperature actuated attic fan for a few years in the peak of the gable on the garage and usually left the drop-down stair cracked open 5 or 6 inches for air flow but it did not seem to help much. Someday, I'll get up there, clean it out and insulate it.

We have a solar attic fan and the garage is not as hot as it once was. I don't recall the company, but, they also installed our solar tubes.

Solar Guys' advertisement mentions an exhaust ceiling fan to cool a hot garage. I also called Solar Lights and More, a similar opertation in the area who installed our solar fan in the roof 5 years ago, and they do not do garage ceiling exhaust fans. Based on someone's suggestion here, we have installed vents in the two lower corners of the garage door and we leave the trap door to the attic open 6". My guess is this has lowered the temp about 10 degrees in the garage. Next step will be insulation above the garage and insulating the garage door. That should lower the temp in the garage another 10 degrees.

My neighbor
 

had the solar guys put a solar vent fan on the roof. Very expensive with little if any noticable difference.
The problem is all around the perimeter of the house is perforated sofit. The air that the exhaust fan removes comes in from those sofit openings. It may cool the attic a little but will not help much for the garage.

I happen to have a man door at the opposite end of the garage doors. If I open this door and rasie the garrage door 4" it's like a wind tunnel in there. It really cools hte garage regardless of the attic temp.

Now I need to work on a permanent lover in the man door. Our garage doors can be fitted with a bottom panel that has stamped in vents all along the bottom. The panels are also fitted with screens and I will have to add screens to my man door louver as well to keep the critters out.

Sorry I have temporarily run out of cash so I haven't made this modification and don't have any proof that this will work. I do know that if you pull air out of a space you must allow fresh air in from somewhere. I am fairly certain that I will get flow thru ventilation from a change like the above.

I can say for certain that if I prop open the man door and rasie the garage door a few inches it stays cool. Remember the air temp it still over 90 during the day. So cool is a relative thing.

Where do we get one?
 

Can we all get a man door with a permanent lover? I know lots of women who would like one of those!

As opposed to a revolving man door with temporary lovers, huh? It IS getting hot in here.

So glade I checked back
 

to see if anybody had other ideas. I just gotta ask why are you oblivious women reading this stuff. I am sure you think a screw driver is...oh never mind. Have your fun.

It was a very funny typo!:1rotfl:

No reason to get upset, many women are good handywomen as well as professional carpenters.

A screw driver is a drink made with orange juice and vodka isn't it?

Never underestimate a woman with her screwdriver! :eclipsee_gold_cup:

Trudy

screwdriver
 

What's his name??????????

:laugh:

If you were a carpenter, and he was a la..., no wait.

oh, nevermind.

I have a solar fan in the attic plus insulation; we just insulated our garage doors. We have a piece of wood between the opening of the attic to keep it open; we keep our garage window open about four inches.

According to the guy who insulated our doors; he says the temps inside will never be cooler than the temps outside. If you're willing to keep the attic opened just by putting a piece of wood acorss the opening and open the window a few inches, you don't need to install vents.

I rather keep the window open a few inches than the door open - too many creatures come crawling in. The vents do the same thing as keeping the window open.