Garage Door Screens
 

As a newbie we noticed many homes have electric roll down screens on their garage doors. Assuming it keeps your garage cooler during summer months especially since our garage faces due west. Our golf cart gar door is separate. Would installing on just that door do the trick? Any estimates of cost for these screens? Thank you!

We like our overhead screen door, use it much more often than the regular garage door, and it definitely helps keep the garage cooler. Coolbreeze installed ours a few years ago and it cost a couple grand. Inflation being what it is, I’m not sure what they cost these days?

Why not install the small retangular vents on the bottom of the garage door? Works real good and there is no chance then that you'll back into the screen when it is down. Our garage has cooled down dramatically with these two vents on the bottom of the door.

We used cook aluminum “Thumper the owner was great to deal with. That was 7 years ago and we paid $2000.00 and never regretted it.

We used Shade Bros about a year and a half ago and paid $3200. Definitely worth it

At third house garage facing northwest, screen lowered temp about 5 degrees. It was only noticeable if we opened the lanai doors, and back door we got about 10 degrees difference if there was a steady wind.

This house garage faces due south, and without a screen, both doors open, we cool about 4 degrees. Instead of investing in a $3500. Screen for this house we are installing a mini split. Then can control temp that makes difference

Our house faces west and we were blessed with fairly dark garage doors. So we had Shade Brothers put up screens on both (2car + golf car) doors. Wow the difference is amazing! Our screens are mounted outside under the soffit and allows me to have the doors down or cracked a bit and the screens down at the same time. This keeps the sun off the doors when we’re gone and the garage is so much cooler. I also considered Thumper because I liked the looks of his screen but didn’t like the fact I’d have to buy 2 new door openers plus the loss of several inches of vehicle clearance. Also with his it’s either screen down or door down not both. Everyone at Shade Brothers was fantastic to work with, and they were fast! We ordered our shades on a Monday and they were expertly installed on Wednesday! Would definitely use them again if I had to.

If heat is your concern, a less expensive alternative is to buy garage door insulation and install that. If your garage doors have windows, buy some high quality window film.

We did both last year and it made a big difference. It’s an easy DIY project that you can do in a few hours.

There are a few posts in this forum going into details on what insulation to get.

Forget about the screens.

Garage screen doors DEFINITLY help with the heat. They also let a lot of light in if you use your garage for anything besides parking...laundry for example. There are three types of doors. Sliders, that obstruct some portion of the opening even when open. Roll up doors come in two styles. One style mounts on the outside using the frame as a mounting back. They roll down in a vertical track on each side of the door jamb. They are prone to blowing out in strong winds but can easily be put back properly. They also reduce the head room somewhat, so if you have a higher vehicle that's something to consider. The best option, IMHO, is Thumper's retractable screen garage door. They've been in business a long time and have the style down pat. The door rolls up and down just like your hard door. It mounts as a second overhead track overhead and uses the same vertical track as your hard door. It's a very unique invention but it works! It looks good, it's out of the way when you aren't using it, it's stable in bad weather, and it's easy to keep clean. You do have a second lifter mechanism but a universal remote handles both lifters easily. We've had ours for some 10 years and it has been trouble free. Cook Aluminum company is owned by Thumper and they do the installs and service...highly recommend them.

We put a garage door screen up about a year ago and it does help to let air into the garage. Our house faces east and we get a lot of air coming from the front to the back so we can leave our man door from the garage open and our rear lanai open and get so much breeze coming through. Of course when it gets to be in the 90’s the a/c comes on and that door get closed but we take advantage of the fresh air as much as possible.

those vents on the bottom of the garage door really don't work. How could it, if hot air rises and the vents are just above the floor?

we bought our new garage screen from Coolbreeze a few years ago. Love it. We don’t have a golf cart door so only one big screen and was around $3000. It’s wonderful most of the year when temps are cool. You can open your garage and interior doors and windows and Cool Breeze comes in.

Those screens do not keep your garage cooler a matter of fact since your door faces west it will be hotter. Suggest insulation on the door and attic will provide a little relief. Insulating the walls and radiant barrier in the attic provides significant relief.

The problem with that is the garage is already cooler in the cooler months and it is the hot months he wants relief. Any air coming in will not help unless you also provide a way for the hot air to get out.

My garage faces south and is in the sun most of the day.
I have a screen on my garage, it is not powered it is manual and has a sliding door in the middle.
It's very easy to use it's on a track, you pull it down with two straps and in a minute, it is in place.
What is nice about these screens is during the day you can see out and people can't see in.
Many times, I have done work in the garage, pull down the screen, plugged in a large fan and have been very comfortable.
If you think there are times you might need an extra work area, screens are a good investment.