Making my garage more livable.

[2K4CE]

The setup:
3 car garage
Finished walls and ceiling.
North facing.

I'm relatively sure the walls/ceiling are insulated, as they don't really get that hot. Garage door is NOT insulated, but is north facing and almost always shadowed.

It still gets toasty in there, by 5pm its 92 inside if it's 100 outside.


So, the third car slot I use as a garage gym. I have a portable AC which is useless over 80f or so. It blows out the doggie door in the gym.

I've thought about finishing the third car spot and including it in the house AC, but its cost prohibitive.

Should I insulate the garage door? Ventilate the ceiling? any ideas would help.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

I'm relatively sure your walls and ceiling are NOT insulated.

Guess you know where to go from here...

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Is there an attic space above the garage? If so, it should be obvious if it's insulated or not. If not, first step would be to add insulation there.

If you're just wanting to be cool while you workout, suggest you move your equipment into the house (if possible) or upgrade your a/c to a much more capable unit or a mini-split system.

Point being...insulation in an unconditioned space is not going to keep it cool for long.

Phil

 

[2K4CE]

Thanks. Strangely, the garage attic shares the air with the house attic. I say strangely, because my HVAC tech and electrician were both surprised by that. Apparently normally there's a solid wall separating them. It does have blow in insulation- maybe a gable fan would help?

It's possible the walls might not be insulated. I need to get in there with an IR thermometer and find problems i guess.


Minisplit and walling off the workout area would be ideal... just not affordable sadly.

 

[2K4CE]

PS - I also need to improve air quality.
I was thinking of putting a box fan in the doggie door that runs only when the garage is warmer than the outside, but i haven't quite figured that out yet.

 

[Sundodger]

Put in a gigantic attic fan. At night evacuate all the air from the shop and the attic so you cool down both the shop and the attic. Seal up when the sun comes up.

 

[krcoomer]

You can check for insulation in walls by taking off a switch plate or receptacle plate and looking around the edges of the electrical box and looking for either fiberglass or cellulose. Sealing air leaks is the other thing you can do relatively inexpensively to help your "bought air" stick around.

 

[Falcon67]

Yes, insulate the door - it still transmits heat from outside whether in shade or not.

Thanks. Strangely, the garage attic shares the air with the house attic. I say strangely, because my HVAC tech and electrician were both surprised by that. Apparently normally there's a solid wall separating them.

Not around here, that's normal. Never see any "walls" in an attic separating the space over a garage. Exception: A house that is spray foamed so that the entire space under the roof is conditioned space. Then they will wall off the garage overhead space. Other that that, standard conditions here are continuous attic, no insulation over the garage area.

Without insulation and some conditioning, not much. Our house garage - 2 car - runs 101F these evenings and will still be 92~95 in the morning with the attic below 80F. And the door is insulated.

 

[matt_i]

Keep in mind insulation is just a "resistor" to heat flow. You need some way to remove heat from inside and place it outside to give your insulation a chance. As mentioned a room AC or mini split heat pump are the most common ways.

A swamp cooler (evaporative) cooler works well if your humidity isn't always pegged. Ideal for desert areas. But it really needs airflow to the outside to work well and promote air exchanges.

 

[2K4CE]

Yeah, we're at about 17% humidity.

I did some checking
At 11 am, 96f outside,
Two outside walls: 91-92
Ceiling: 91
Garage door: 96

I guess insulating the garage door will slow it down a bit, but bt 5pm, all bets are off


Minisplit is ideal, but budget is very low

 

[KMdef9]

Do you have windows? If so, they need shades.

 

[Kevin54]

Yes, insulate the door - it still transmits heat from outside whether in shade or not.



Not around here, that's normal. Never see any "walls" in an attic separating the space over a garage. Exception: A house that is spray foamed so that the entire space under the roof is conditioned space. Then they will wall off the garage overhead space. Other that that, standard conditions here are continuous attic, no insulation over the garage area.

Without insulation and some conditioning, not much. Our house garage - 2 car - runs 101F these evenings and will still be 92~95 in the morning with the attic below 80F. And the door is insulated.

Isn't it code nowadays that there be a firebreak between the garage attic, and the house attic? If there is, that would explain the solid wall between the two.

For the OP.....is your garage attic and your house attic insulated? If neither one, or if one or the other is insulated and the other one not, insulate it. A lot of times on a house, a garage is nothing but storage space. Normally the walls of the garage are insulated wherever they share living quarters with, in the house. The rest is most likely uninsulated but drywalled. You can find out by poking a hole in the drywall on an outside wall, and take a hook pick to see if you snag any insulation, or if blown in insulation, you will have some come out.

And if you only have insulation that shares the living quarters, you will have to insulate the rest of the garage. Along with that, insulate your garage door. You'll be surprised as to how much of a different it will make. And if the ceiling isn't insulated, either blow it full, or add some R32 batt insulation. Also if you have windows, get some cheap blinds up to them so you can block the sun from beating down inside. Every little bit helps this side of adding air conditioning to the garage.

 

[ZRX61]

I picked up a cheap portable swamp cooler from Lowes of HD. Has mats on two sides, vent on the third & the side opposite the vent is just sheet metal. Vents can be angled up/down & left/right. It's on casters, hooks up a hose & plug it in. Worked ok for a 1000sq ft shop if it was pointed where you were working (except when welding because it would blow the gas away).

 

[wssix99]

If you have cars in there - don't insulate. Just get a fan to change the air until you can afford the mini-split - then insulate.

I have a super insulated garage (for winter heating) and it is killing me during the summers! The residual heat and humidity in a car's engine is enormous and the insulation will just keep all that inside. Plus, you'll have the heating from the sun to contend with during the day.

The best you can hope for is the same as the outside temperature, so a fan will get that for you.