garage heat
 

Has anyone had sucess getting their garage cooler. I am thinking of adding a solar fan, and maybe insulate the ceiling. I think maybe by insulating the ceiling i may keep more heat in. Maybe just a solar fan? any suggestions?

Call The Solar Guys for a solar fan. They do a great job of installation and it really keeps the garage a lot cooler.

We put in a regular fan in our garage. We had a lot of parties in there.... Had it set on high, it did not help... I say save your money on a fan, install the screen door!!

Garage Cooling
 

I'm taking a three step approach to this.

The first step was stop the heat getting in by insulating the garage door. I added a "radiant barrier" on the inside of the door. This was a simple DIY project that took about 3 hours and cost $50.

This step was completed about a month ago and seems to have dropped the temperature quite well. I am waiting for the hotter weather to confirm how helpful this really is.

Insulating the attic above the garage would help a lot but we use that space for storage so can't do it.

The second step was to "vent" the heat from the garage. I'm testing this by leaving the attic stairs open a few inches. If this proves worthwhile I may add vents (and perhaps a fan) to the garage ceiling.

The third step would be to add a solar roof fan in the attic to further vent the hot air. At this stage I'm not doing this and there is information that this "may" not be a wise thing to do.

I am going to do this in several steps and try to be as scientific as possible. Suggestions to make it more accurate would help.

Step 1. Measure inside and outside temperature in the garage over three or four days with about 4 readings a day. Looking for the difference between the two.

Step 2. Insulate the garage door and retake the temperature as above. Record any improvement in the difference.

Step 3. Insulate over the garage and retake readings.

Step 4. Add a solar attic fan above the garage and again take readings.

Step 5. Only if still needed, add a garage screen door and check again.

This process will take at least several months to complete, but in the end I should know the impact of each change.

Can you post that information?

I saw a real nice attic fan in the garage ceiling that was thermostatically controlled in the attic. The couple had a couple vents in the bottom of the garage door. It's was amazing. Cooled the garage and the attic temperature by 30+ degrees.

I don't see a solar fan moving that much air.

Environment and Energy News » Best Available Research on Attic Fans and Power Ventilators

Here is a link to one of many articles available on attic fans. Basically there may be more disadvantages than advantages.

Regarding temperature readings I have taken since insulating the door, the inside temperature is now only a couple of degrees warmer than the outside temperature and that is after opening and closing the door several times during the day. I never expected the inside temperature to be lower than outside but before insulation it was much hotter.

My immediate neighbors (uninsulated doors) and I will compare temperatures when it gets really hot - that's the only way we will really know - as the readings will be taken on the same day under the identical conditions.

The fan I'm talking about is mounted next to the attic access in the garage ceiling. It's pulls air out of the garage and blows it into the attic. This blows the hot air out the soffit and the other roof vents.

This thing was like $800 installed and works like a champ. Cool garage for those summer time projects and cooler storage in the attic. It's not an energy saver (I think it's runs on 220 volts) but it is sooooo nice.

By ventilating to the attic, you have voided the fire rating of your garage ceiling.

That's incorrect, it has a built in fire damper.

Coolmygarage.com has some examples

Do you know who installs these
 

It looks good on their web site. Do you know if there has been any temperature comparison or a look at the electric bills changes.

Can you find out who installed your neighbors system

I have a 2X4 in attic stairs, so stairs are open a little for fan to suck up hot heat. I also put in a vent in ceiling, to help suck out the heat. The suggestion of having a fan in ceiling of garage, sounds even better!!

Insulation is a no brainer
 

We rented a designer home here for 6 months starting in July, 2011, beautiful home except the garage was about 130 degrees and miserable to go into. Of course, the owners would never know it being snowbirds...

Insulating the garage and lanai(s) of our new Courtyard Villa was a no-brainer for us. Costs $250-$450, depending on the sizes. That should take care of the problem. As for losing storage, we were able to put plywood over the insulation, so we didn't lose any storage...

Tom

The block tile wall on the west side of the house is not insulated (except for the block tile itself). Has anyone put a layer of insulation on an exposed garage wall and covered it with sheetrock?