Whether you just want to walk through your garage to enter your house or make it a space where you spend hours working out, do home improvement or delve into creative activities, sweltering temperatures should never be a concern.
In this article, we have listed 9 garage cooling ideas. From the most simple and cost-effective to the most technical and expensive, here are a few cooling garage solutions which you may find helpful. Here we go!
1. Park your car outside
This method is probably the simplest and yet a very efficient way to keep your garage cool in the summer. After driving back home, rather than parking your car straight into your garage, let it cool off in the driveway.
It can take one to several hours for the heated engine and the car body that absorbed sunlight on the road to cool down. The longer your vehicle remains under the sun after it has been driven, the longer it takes for its temperature to drop. Therefore, if possible, try to park your car in a shaded area before you park it inside your garage.
2. Open the garage door
If you have enough time in the morning before heading to work, open your garage door to let a breath of fresh air go in. However, make sure you remember to close and lock your garage door before you leave.
Do the same in the evening, and if you have a garage with windows, don’t hesitate to open them as well. The cross-breeze that happens when the garage door and the windows are all opened is one of the best ways to cool down a garage fast.
3. Declutter your garage space
The airflow generated by opened doors and windows won’t be as efficient if bulky items clutter your garage space. Large boxes and objects can easily retain the heat and prevent the air to circulate. Besides, the dust settling on top of them often results in poor air quality.
As a consequence, it is worth spending a day or two sorting out the stuff you may have stored up over the past few months or years. For optimum air circulation, place your boxes and big items along the walls, or even better, up onto shelves. That way, you will make much better use of your available space and boost the efficiency of garage cooling methods.
4. Use fans
Another affordable garage cooling solution is to install a ceiling fan. Nevertheless, it is only possible when the ceiling height is at least eight feet. If your garage ceiling is lower, it might obstruct your garage door opening or closing, or potentially prevent you from parking a tall vehicle. That’s the reason why it is always good to have the dimensions of your garage in mind when you are about to select a ceiling fan.
If you have more than one fan available at home (pedestal fans, box fans, etc.), place one at an opened window or garage door to blow the heat from inside your garage to the outside. A second fan can be aimed in the direction where you will stand.
Fans are not necessarily the best cooler for the garage, since they won’t lower your garage’s temperature. However, they still create a highly appreciated airflow under scorching hot weather.
5. Use a dehumidifier
If you live in a relatively damp area, as humidity traps the heat and makes us feel hotter than it is, you might want to consider a dehumidifier for your garage.
Since this type of device does not blow out cold air like an air conditioner unit would, dehumidifiers work best when they are combined with an effective ventilation system.
6. Select light garage door and wall colours
An additional garage cooling solution consists in changing a garage’s door and wall colours. Since dark tints have a tendency to retain the heat, if you are ready for a good old painting sesh, lighter colours for your roof, exterior walls, and doors do wonders for cooling the garage.
7. Insulate your garage
One of the most common reasons for an overheated garage is defective isolation. The three following tips will show you the countless benefits of having energy-efficient insulation not only during summer but all year-round.
Insulation of the garage door
The garage door is where most of the air temperature is gained or lost. The simplest and most affordable way to prevent air transfer is to use a door sweep and/or weatherstripping on your garage door and around your garage windows. However, sometimes, this insulation method might not be enough.
In that case, replacing your existing door with an insulated garage door from Garolla might be the solution you are looking for. Our door slats are made from twin-walled recycled aluminium and insulated with high density polyurethane foam. Not only does insulation help keeps things warmer in the winter, but it can prevent excess heat entering the garage in the summer. Put simply, proper garage door insulation will keep your garage cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Insulation of the inside and outside garage walls
If your garage construction is in progress, you should focus on insulating the exterior walls first, since they are very likely to be most exposed to the sun. If no further changes can be made on the outside, insulating the inside walls of your garage will be the next step.
When the garage walls are bare, you can install Batt insulation, then cover it with drywall to make sure people or pets will not hurt themselves with the small spiky bits that they are made of. If drywall has already been set, another solution is to retrofit the walls with blow-in cellulose.
Insulation of the garage ceiling
Improving the insulation of your garage attic is a solution that can be implemented separately or on top of all the methods, we have mentioned so far.
In case you are building or refurbishing your garage ceiling, and are ready for some labour-extensive work, consider placing drywall under your ceiling. A technique that requires fewer efforts consists of stapling Batt insulation along the attic and securing it with a net.
Eventually, a garage radiant barrier is another energy-efficient option to regulate the temperature in your garage. It can be used in the attic but works as fine on the walls, as well as on the garage door itself.
8. Install a ventilation system
A ventilation system can be active or passive. Either way, the airflow will be processed by a fan placed on the upper part of a wall or a roof. To make sure you meet the current security and electricity standards, asking a professional to install your ventilation installation is best.
The spinning turbine vents placed on roofs are a perfect example of passive ventilation. They use wind energy to spread out the hot air that accumulates in the garage’s attic to keep the rest of the room cool.
Powered by electricity, an active ventilation system is more efficient at removing the heat from the garage, it is, therefore, more expensive. Active ventilation can also be installed in a garage’s wall to produce even better results. Wall fans work best when they are placed opposite the garage door.
9. Choose an air conditioner for your garage
This option certainly is the priciest of all the ones mentioned in this article, but it’s surely the most effective for a cool garage. So, if you plan to spend hours in this part of your house throughout the year, buying a garage ac can be a good investment for you. Bear in mind however that insulation has to be done before using an air conditioner if you want to make the most of it and save on electricity bills.
The simplest solution is to use a portable ac for a garage that you can put wherever it fits best. In that case, remember that you still need outside venting access for this type of device.
A more technical solution requires the installation of a ductless air conditioner for a garage, also called a mini split air conditioner. It is designed to be installed in a wall with a ventilation system that carries the air through it.
Want to know more about our made-to-measure insulated garage doors? Contact us today!