[Northerner52]

Hi TOV'ers. Any suggestions for cooling a garage that faces East? Don't want to spend any time in the garage but concerned about the contents and the car. I don't have a window but was thinking about adding one and getting this: Access Denied
I do have small windows along the top of my garage doors.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Northerner52

Hi TOV'ers. Any suggestions for cooling a garage that faces East? Don't want to spend any time in the garage but concerned about the contents and the car. I don't have a window but was thinking about adding one and getting this: Access Denied
I do have small windows along the top of my garage doors.

I don't know if that unit will do you much good as garages are extremely hot when compared to an interior well insulated room, at minimum you will have to insulate your doors to help keep the heat out. If you do choose to do so you don't need a window you can put vents in the bottom of your garage door and use one of them for the exhaust. I have vents on my doors and an attic fan along with Owens Corning insulation on my doors which is much better than the solid insulation panels, it helps quite a bit.

[Chatbrat]

The only things you have to worry about are devices that have lithium batteries-they are not to be stored @ temps over 80 degrees

[DangeloInspections]

First, what direction does your garage face? Unless it is north, you may benefit from insulating your garage DOOR. You say you have windows on your garage door, you can add tint to them to lower the UV rays, and insulating the garage door will stop the RADIANT heat from the door from raising the garage temperature.

We typically do not recommend insulating ABOVE the garage unless you are adding A/C to the garage. Heat rises and when you insulate the garage ceiling you are also holding in the heat that comes from hot engines, etc. That being said, some folks swear that after doing so it has helped. Hard to say...it is dependent perhaps on shingle color and how hot your attic gets, which is another topic.

Some folks do add a garage ceiling fan that sucks the warm garage air into the attic. This MAY compromise the fire break dependant on model, but that too is another subject. When you do this you will need make up air, meaning an air intake.

Basically, the first step most often is just insulating the garage door. Many folks say that in itself will lower the garage temp about 10-15 degrees.

Hope that helps! Frank D.

[Bay Kid]

Insulate your door. Add a screen garage door.

[retiredguy123]

I haven't done anything to my garage. It has not been a problem. When I come home, I go into the house.

[John_W]

The first month I was here in our new CYV at the time, a neighbor found a rattlesnake in the garage. That was enough for me, plus roaches, lizards and flying insects, I'm surprised everyone who leaves their door up somewhat doesn't have a screen. I had one installed right away.

In a CYV we had only a 12' door, a 2 car garage would have a 16' door. The obvious choice is, are you in and out a lot. The screens that are motorized I find people washing their car or working in their shrubs, will put the screen up and leave it up while outside, which defeats the purpose.

We went with the horizontal slider like pictured below, and I would say in our villa community, out of 80 units about 25 have horizontal screens and maybe ten have the motorized. The reason it's better, especially on a 12' door is they are four 3' sections. So you only open one section to go in and out and the screen will stay shut the whole time you're outside. We had one installed in 2012 for $850, our neighbor got a motorized 12' screen from the Market of Marion installer for $1650, so you do save money with the slider, those prices are from 8 years ago.

Our laundry is in the garage and I like having the garage door up anyway, so I can go out anytime and not be in the dark. If you want even more air, I found cracking the the attic steps opening about six inches by just pulling it down and putting a small box or something in the gap to hold it open, creates a great breeze. However, this will defeat your garage wall fire protection, so you may want to remove it when you're not out there.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by DangeloInspections

First, what direction does your garage face? Unless it is north, you may benefit from insulating your garage DOOR. You say you have windows on your garage door, you can add tint to them to lower the UV rays, and insulating the garage door will stop the RADIANT heat from the door from raising the garage temperature.

We typically do not recommend insulating ABOVE the garage unless you are adding A/C to the garage. Heat rises and when you insulate the garage ceiling you are also holding in the heat that comes from hot engines, etc. That being said, some folks swear that after doing so it has helped. Hard to say...it is dependent perhaps on shingle color and how hot your attic gets, which is another topic.

Some folks do add a garage ceiling fan that sucks the warm garage air into the attic. This MAY compromise the fire break dependant on model, but that too is another subject. When you do this you will need make up air, meaning an air intake.

Basically, the first step most often is just insulating the garage door. Many folks say that in itself will lower the garage temp about 10-15 degrees.

Hope that helps! Frank D.

What do you think of this option that has a fire stop? Could it meet code?

The GF-14 Garage Fan and Attic Cooler - Buy Direct

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Northerner52

Hi TOV'ers. Any suggestions for cooling a garage that faces East? Don't want to spend any time in the garage but concerned about the contents and the car. I don't have a window but was thinking about adding one and getting this: Access Denied
I do have small windows along the top of my garage doors.

I have an East facing garage with attic and door insulation and an operable window that staus cooler than outside so far.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Robbie0723

What do you think of this option that has a fire stop? Could it meet code?

The GF-14 Garage Fan and Attic Cooler - Buy Direct

A neighbor installed that system, and he never turns it on because you get almost no air flow through those little vents in the garage door.

[retiredguy123]

When you insulate the garage door, that will only slow down, but not prevent, heat transfer into the garage. So, it may take a little longer for the garage to heat up during the day. But, the garage will still heat up to the same temperature as it would without the insulation.

[bumpygreens]

When I lived in Ohio, my garage had no insulation and no ceiling. Attic heat from the rest of the house got into the garage. On a sunny summer day my garage would be unbearable. Here I have a south facing garage, an insulated door, and insulation over the garage ceiling. The temperature in my garage is usually within a couple degrees of the outside temperature.

[biker1]

Install a radiant barrier or other type of insulating barrier on your garage door. The reason for doing this is essentially to remove the aluminum surface as an emitter of long wave radiation into the rest of the garage. This the primary mechanism of how your garage heats up; the sun shines on the outside of your garage door and heats the metal up and the hot metal radiates to everything in the garage. Conductive heat transfer from the outside to the inside of your garage through the garage door is also a mechanism at work but it is small compared to the radiative transfer. A radiant barrier or other type of insulating material on the garage door will substantially reduce the radiative transfer. The radiative transfer goes as the fourth power of the temperature so anything that reduces the temperature of the inside metal of your garage door will help. This is exactly the same primary mechanism that heats up your attic - radiative transfer from the underside of your roof sheathing. I have the white panels installed by Romac on my garage door and they are effective.

Originally Posted by Northerner52

Hi TOV'ers. Any suggestions for cooling a garage that faces East? Don't want to spend any time in the garage but concerned about the contents and the car. I don't have a window but was thinking about adding one and getting this: Access Denied
I do have small windows along the top of my garage doors.

[UpNorth]

If you have a basic non-insulated garage door you can buy a roll of reflective barrier material at Lowes or Home Depot. Cuts easily with scissors and easy to install. It did a good job of blocking the radient heat coming off the inside of the garage door for me. I also prop open my ceiling access a few inches to let some heat escape. Garages can turn into ovens during the summer if you don't do something to block or move the heat out.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Been in Florida 30 years , 9 different homes all over state , I never did anything to the garage to cool it down and never had a problem . I think unless your living out there , it’s a waste of money . FYI during the virus I’m working out in garage , no Insulation , it’s fl it’s hot here