Preventing condensation when opening garage doors

[maverick302]

I have a raised ranch with a two car garage out the back. This means that two walls are poured concrete foundation (underground), and one wall is shared with the house. Garage doors are insulated, as is the one wall. Come summer time, the garage stays cool to a point that when I open one or both overhead doors, everything gets saturated in condensation. Walls, cabinets, tools inside the drawers... Obviously this is a problem I'd like to prevent or at least minimize. Is there any solution that might help? I have found that a fan helps to a small degree, but not nearly enough to combat the impending rust fest.

 

[Jlbc212]

Your garage and everything in it is acting just like the evaporator coil in an air conditioner.Keep the garage warm. A garage heater in combination with a dehumidifier should help minimize condensation. Condensation occurs when the temperature inside the garage is below the dew point temperature of the outside air.

 

[maverick302]

I may ultimately need to "preheat" the garage when I can predict needing the doors open, but it sure is nice to work in a sub-80° garage when it's 95+ outside, with no active A/C running.

 

[maverick302]

Any other suggestions?

 

[Jazz1]

You need Year round temperature control. We don’t have that issue up here but there are still 3’ of snow in my yard

 

[Jlbc212]

I may ultimately need to "preheat" the garage when I can predict needing the doors open, but it sure is nice to work in a sub-80° garage when it's 95+ outside, with no active A/C running.

I have a similar situation in that three of my 12 ft high garage walls are concrete for more than half their height. At an outside temperature of 95 degrees and a relative humidity level of 60% the dew point temperature is 79 degrees. Unless you are running a dehumidifier or an A/C (which makes no sense with the doors open) anything in your garage at or below 79 degrees is subject to condensation on their surfaces. It is simple physics. I keep my garage at a constant 50 degrees throughout the winter. It would take way too long to bring the garage up to a comfortable temperature if I didn't. There is just way too much mass of material in there. It would be like trying to work inside an ice box. Look up the definition of enthalpy. As the outside temperature rises and the garage and all that mass in it is still relatively cold compared to the outside air, I run a dehumidifier. I will run it most of the summer months, turning it off if I desire to work there with the doors open. I like to read if anyone else has a "simple fix."

 

[kbs2244]

A circulating fan will help.
But nothing will help cool metal and humidity.