Whether you have a little amount of work or full time, you certainly don’t like to perform work in unpleasant conditions. Due to various factors which we will discuss shortly, garages can become very hot in summer times that it may lead to the point that the work becomes unbearable and in the worst case – deadly.
Garages are prone to heating up excessively during warm weather. Depending on your budget and your extent to stay cool, many methods exist to cool down your garage. They are also some methods that work temporarily and some methods that work permanently. Here are some Tips for Keeping Garage Cool.
Why do garages get heated up?
These are the main reasons that can lead up to a heating garage.
- High use of Dark Color – Dark colors absorb more heat, thus, it is highly possible that if your garage is painted with dark colors, it might get hot.
- Vehicles kept in it – When you put your vehicles in the garage after using it in a hot day, chances are there that the temperature within the vehicle to lead an increase in temperature of the garage.
- No insulation systems – When no insulating system is present to restrict the flow of heat from outside to inside, that may lead to an increase of temperature of the garage.
- No Proper ventilation – If your garage is not properly ventilated, air circulation would be low, and thus it might contribute to the retaining of heat that is obtained in the above-mentioned factors.
- Closed doors/windows – Closed doors and windows trap the air inside the garage, which can heat it.
- Humidity – The higher amount of humidity can make the temperature felt considerably higher than low humidity. So, this can increase the perceived temperature of the garage when moisturized air comes into it.
First, let’s see some temporary methods to curb the heat in the garage and then the permanent methods. We can obviously derive the solutions for cooling the garage by looking at the causes of it which are described earlier.
You must choose the methods to apply are of temporary or permanent based on budgets and also of your work time. If you go to garage occasionally to put some vehicles, you probably not need to do much than temporary arrangements to cool the place down.
Temporary methods to cool the garage
- Open the doors/Windows – This is the most obvious way to cool down the garage. By opening the door and windows, you let the cool breeze in, thus letting the temperature cool down a little.
- Manage the time you use Garage – Although technically this is not a fix that cools your garage, still it can certainly help to get away with its ill effects. Generally, the temperatures of the garage can become unbearable at the times of afternoons, so if you carefully plan your schedule and work in the garage while it is relatively cooler like in the mornings, you can get the work done with no ill effects of heat.
- Lower the Humidity level – As seen above, having a high humidity level can make us feel even hotter than it is actually is. So look for a dehumidifier and install it so that it draws the humid air and passes back the clean air thus reducing moisture in the air. You must also notice that dehumidifiers store the moisture collected at the tray to the bottom of the unit. Once it is full, it stops working. So, make sure that you empty the water every day.
- Provide insulation by using insulated curtains – Insulating curtains can prevent hot air from coming outside, so you can use them to stop your garage from getting heated up by the sun directly.
- Park your recently used hot vehicle outside – As mentioned earlier, a recently driven vehicle can radiate heat continuously, so it also helps in increasing the temperature of the garage.
Now let’s discuss some permanent methods to get your garage cooled
- Use ventilation fans to circulate the air – By installing 1-2 feet sidewall ventilation fans your garage, you can cool it down. It almost can solve the problem of non-ventilation. It lets a lot of air in and lets the hot air go out. You can also use ceiling fans, table fans, etc. There are two kinds of ventilation, active and passive. The kind of ventilation that requires little to no energy consumption is a passive one. It is generally installed on the roof and is most commonly seen in the form of spinning turbine roof vents. Although the active ventilation is more complicated and costlier, it’s more efficient to remove the hot air than the former as it is mechanically driven.
- Install Attic Vents – As Heat air rises, by installing vents at the end of the roofs of the garage, you can help the hot air to escape thus cooling the surroundings.
- Upgrade your insulation – Use some other methods of insulation like filling the wall with foam insulation (the foam insulation is filled in the empty space obtained by drilling the wall). This also helps to keep the garage warm during winter.
- Paint your Garage with a light color – By painting your garage with light colors like white, it absorbs less heat; thus the garage will be comparatively less cool than one painted with dark color. Although it is an expensive one, replacing your roof with light colored roofing materials can also help.
- Install an air conditioning unit – Air conditioning too is costly but it’s an effective one. Based on the size of your garage, you will be needing different kinds of ACs like window mounted (for small garages) and portable AC’s (for large garages).
Conclusion – Due to Many factors, garages can become a hot place so often. If left unchecked, the effects range from the unpleasant workplace to fatality. Based on your need of the garage and budget, you can select any of the methods to cool it up like just ignoring the heat or to paint it with light colors or to install ventilation and air conditioning units.
Be aware that you let only professionals let install the different installations that are described earlier.
