Keeping the heat out.

[Streetbu]

As others have mentioned, painting the door a lighter color would help, but is out of the question given the HOA. Insulating the door WILL help, and help A LOT. It will NOT fix your issue though. It is the very first thing you should do though. What color is your roof? If the roof is a darker color, having no insulation in your ceiling is allowing the heat from the roof to come down into the garage too. You can insulate the block walls and it would help. Fur them out and use the iso board then sheetrock over that. AFTER the garage is insulated, Then start looking at fans, mini splits, straight a/c, etc.

 

[ilovevocs]

I wouldn't mess with a mini split. Fine for a tightly sealed home but not for garage.


Threw an 80% up in the attic and vent it through the roof, plump the condensate out the soffit.

If your good with your tools it won't cost much more than the mini split. I would oversize the unit in the garage.

I have a 70,000 btu 80% with AC in my garage here in Ohio and it's a two car.

With both systems your still going to have to set a condenser outside with close proximity to the garage.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I wouldn't mess with a mini split. Fine for a tightly sealed home but not for garage.

Certainly the first thing the OP needs is some SERIOUS insulation !

Threw an 80% up in the attic and vent it through the roof, plump the condensate out the soffit.

If your good with your tools it won't cost much more than the mini split. I would oversize the unit in the garage.

I have a 70,000 btu 80% with AC in my garage here in Ohio and it's a two car.

The problem with your solution is the number of cooling hours per year he is going to run it in AZ and what you run in OH ! A good mini-split is way more efficient and will easily pay for itself in a couple of years of operation. After that, it is money in the OP's pocket.

With both systems your still going to have to set a condenser outside with close proximity to the garage.

The condenser on a mini-split is much smaller so it can more easily be hidden by landscaping. The HOA will appreciate that !

 

[DC73]

IIf you do go with the limited amount of insulation in the ceiling YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE A POWERED EXHAUST FAN IN THE ATTIC ! You want the attic temp as close to the outside ambient temp as possible.

Actually, powered exhaust fans in the attic are no longer recommended by building scientists including the sites GreenBuildingAdvisor and BuildingScience.com.

The reason is that they depressurize the attic which can cause backdrafting of gas ventilated appliances in the home and they cause makeup air to enter the attic from the conditioned space. You are effectively sucking the good air out of your home into the attic.

Here's just one article:

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/fans-attic-do-they-help-or-do-they-hurt

DC

 

[rayra]

Actually, powered exhaust fans in the attic are no longer recommended by building scientists including the sites GreenBuildingAdvisor and BuildingScience.com.

The reason is that they depressurize the attic which can cause backdrafting of gas ventilated appliances in the home and they cause makeup air to enter the attic from the conditioned space. You are effectively sucking the good air out of your home into the attic.

Here's just one article:

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/fans-attic-do-they-help-or-do-they-hurt

DC

That seems asinine as it either pretends or ignores that things like soffit and gable vents exist. Ideally the powered thermo-controlled vent fan is blowing high-heat air out of the attic space and drawing in cooler OUTside air. Even if that outside air is 95F, it's still cooler than what's in the attic, by far.

 

[G McKay]

I have a thermometer in the ceiling of my garage and it gets up to 130* in the summer. It is a bit cooler down on the floor so I really don't sweat it. (No pun intended) I love the heat.

 

[CNGsaves]

I live in SW Florida. Which basically means my garage gets hot for a good 45weeks of the yr. Even today, where the temps only hit 78 with low humidity, tonight its a little too warm in my garage.

AZ has very low humidity, that is why you can use a "swamp cooler."
Trees, in AZ ? Ha ha ha ! Shade trees need soil and water.

OP says he lives in Florida !!! How did you get off track to Arizona ?? . .

 

[DC73]

That seems asinine as it either pretends or ignores that things like soffit and gable vents exist. Ideally the powered thermo-controlled vent fan is blowing high-heat air out of the attic space and drawing in cooler OUTside air. Even if that outside air is 95F, it's still cooler than what's in the attic, by far.

It's not really asinine. It's just physics and they've done the experiments to prove the theory. No amount of soffit ventilation can prevent those strong fans from depressurizing the house.

They've also proven (especially in areas with high electricity costs) that powered exhaust fans consume more energy than they save.

DC