Anything short of an air conditioner, the best you're going to get is the same temperature as it is outside. That's why I went with the screen, also if you're in the garage working or doing laundry you'll need the extra daylight. I thought about the motorized screens, but if you're outside working in the yard it's too much trouble to keep putting it up and down. We went with the horizontal sliders, so you can open one section go and close it behind you. Also it's much cheaper, we paid $850 installed for our 12' door opening.

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/7888/screenveq.jpg

I know several Villagers who had a screen system put on their garage door opening to ventilate to space. Michele's Hideaway Screens seems to be very popular.

Also Cool your garage! Garage fans, attic air conditioning, and more. - My neighbor has one (GF 14) since he's away all summer and stores some vintage cars in his garage so he doesn't want 120 degree garage.

If you don't mind spending $2,500, Jack's Solar has an interesting solution. It's a hot water heater that works on the same principle as a heat pump. The unit generates heat to make hot water using far less electricity than a standard unit and "exhausts" cool air into your garage. Sounds very intriguing.

Happinow had her garage air conditioned.

We just open the garage door. Pretty soon it will be cooler.:popcorn:

Air condition garage
 

We were very surprised at how hot the garages get. It was too hot for us so here's what we did.....first, we bought a stand alone air conditioner and put a vent through the garage wall. Then we called Romac and they insulated our garage doors for us, which helped a lot. We quickly found out that the stand alone air conditioner was not helping at all because we have a rather large garage and it just couldn't keep up with the heat. Next we had an attic fan installed with a thermometer on it, as the other poster suggested. It comes on when the attic gets to be 105. It works well. Then we put lots of extra insulation in the attic and Munn's put in a commercial separate air conditioner in the garage. This is the cats pajamas because the garage stays at a constant 77 degrees. It took a lot to figure out what was best for us but we finally did it. from reading the other posts, there are many ways to keep your garage cooler. Good luck with your decision.

That's pretty much the theory behind us installing a screen, to let the outside in. However with snakes, bugs and gators all in play I wouldn't do that without the screen. We had one neighbor find a rattlesnake in his garage and two more non-poisonous snakes were found in the street one block over. Also we've had a gator roaming around Odessa Circle in the past, which is just outside our villas, that came from Southern Star golf course pond.

This is exactly what I did also. Make sure screen is white solar as John shows in his pic and not the traditional see thru black as the solar screen reduces the heat and provides exterior privacy while allowing you to see out. If you open your attic entry the hot air will rise into the attic and with a solar roof vent it will help suck the hot air out of the garage, but this added step has its own set of drawbacks so I stick with the screen. Garage is still hot but about 10-15 degrees cooler than outside air, especially when sunny.

John, would you share who did the work for you? ....and do you recommend them? You can PM me if you would prefer not posting...thanks

Take these steps in order and you will have a garage that stays cool enough to work in.

1. Insulate the attic space above the garage with at least 6 inch insulation.
2. Get the foam insulation and cut the panels to fit your garage door panels.
3. Install an attic fan, solar is good.
4. Install a ceiling fan, one or even two in the garage to keep the air moving.

These steps will cost less then $750. And if you need it even cooler, install a garage door screen, but those get a bit expensive. Get the one that opens along the same track as the door with a remote control if possible. If you install the sliding type it's not a matter of if, but when, you will back the car or golf cart into it.

Kitties?
 

You mentioned that the kitty litter would be in the garage - so would the kitties have a pet door in and out of the garage, into the cooler home? IMHO, even a modified garage would be too hot and stuffy to keep kitties in full time.
p.s. found your post on this and it sounds like you are planning to have a pet door. Kitties thank you.

you could insulate the garage door and put in some vents and a fan in the garage ceiling to draw air in. You must remember that the temp outside is 90 plus so it will still be fairly warm in the garagedrd
drd

I put in slider screens. Spend the xtra 100 bucks for the high end UV solar ones. I've had neighbors who drive motors on roll ups went out. $1000 to replace the motor. I also put in a ceiling fan.

I tried the stand alone unit, one that was 13,500 btu cooling and 11,000 heating. Was a waste of money. Did finally get my money back when I took it back to Home Depot. Did not put out enough to feel over 3 feet away. Was supposed to be the best from all reviews. Let it run 16 hours straight in the garage did not make 1 degree difference.