Cooling in Florida

[bek003]

I live in Central Florida near Mickey Mouse I have read through a bunch of the cooling ideas for the garage and I was wondering what would be the best bet to reduce temps in the garage. It is cinder blocks on two sides and attached to the house. I am looking for an easy way to reduce temps 10 degrees in the summer. My goal would be to keep it between 80 to 85 tops.

I am on a very low budget because kids, and wife no I mean life have taken most of my money away.

I know I need to insulate the garage door. What is the cleanest way to do that? It has to be tough enough for the kids to touch it so Foam may be out. The 1 year old may poke her fingers into it and it may not look nice enough for the wife.

My father in law totes a small windows unit around with him in his garage and it works to keep where he is working cool. I was considering one because of the price, but I want a more professional look, but on the other hand cheap is good and if a hurricane comes a generator can run it and keep one room in the house cooler.

So ideas, feed back, ect…

 

[comp]

have used the foil covered Dow board on many doors,,,wouls a exaust fan help you ?

 

[g17jimmy]

Keep your eye on ebay. I found a wall mount 2 ton Bard heatpump for $350. For my 900 sq ft insulated pole barn it will be great. I have just got it installed, just in time to not need it.... We don't run our A/C here from April-July....

 

[bek003]

Living in Orlando Florida is wonderful, but at times the heat in the garage is a few degrees to much for extended work or detailing. I am just looking for suggestions by those in humid southern climates who have resolved this issue on the cheap or what you have attempted and what has helped or was a waste of time.

It also needs to be kid friendly and kid safe. I would prefer to avoid any major construction or holes in the cinder black walls, unless they were done by a professional, and that may be out of the budget this year.

 

[JB740i]

An old electrician friend of mine installed what I think were house exhaust fans on either end of his garage in the attic to **** the heat out of there. He didn't have a ceiling though, just open rafters. He said between that and the insulation he put under the roof it stayed reasonable in there.

I need to go by and check it out again since it's about time to get mine built.

 

[rsanter]

what about just a dehumidifier?

bob

 

[Worsedog]

My solution wasn't the cheapest but I have a used 3 ton standard a/c in my 30x40 detatched.