Our garage gets very hot in the summer. The door is south facing, and we have both a refrigerator and a chest freezer inside. I put some radiant foil insulation on the garage door, which has not helped much if any.
I'm looking at maybe three additional options to cool it down, and wanted to get some feedback on these:
1. Install a power garage fan that vents to the outside of the house. I'd have to create a second intake vent somewhere. www.quietcoolfan.com makes a garage-specific fan, though it sure seems that I can repurpose a low-CFM gable-mount attic fan to do the same thing at a much cheaper cost ($80 vs $400).
2. Install a fan in the garage ceiling that vents to the attic. (Same web link as above). I already have a gable-mounted power attic fan...not sure how it would interact with the additional airflow and heat from the garage fan. I also wonder here about code...do codes typically allow garages to vent to the attic space?
3. Insulate the garage walls. One full side of the garage is on the west side of the house, and is not insulated. Half the other wall is on the other side of the front porch, and is also uninsulated. I'd have to tear down the drywall in the garage, install insulation, and re-drywall. (Good think the drywall job doesn't have to be up to interior-level aesthetics!) I might even consider adding foam board insulation on the ceiling of the garage as well.
What would be the best solution to start with?
I'm looking at maybe three additional options to cool it down, and wanted to get some feedback on these:
1. Install a power garage fan that vents to the outside of the house. I'd have to create a second intake vent somewhere. www.quietcoolfan.com makes a garage-specific fan, though it sure seems that I can repurpose a low-CFM gable-mount attic fan to do the same thing at a much cheaper cost ($80 vs $400).
2. Install a fan in the garage ceiling that vents to the attic. (Same web link as above). I already have a gable-mounted power attic fan...not sure how it would interact with the additional airflow and heat from the garage fan. I also wonder here about code...do codes typically allow garages to vent to the attic space?
3. Insulate the garage walls. One full side of the garage is on the west side of the house, and is not insulated. Half the other wall is on the other side of the front porch, and is also uninsulated. I'd have to tear down the drywall in the garage, install insulation, and re-drywall. (Good think the drywall job doesn't have to be up to interior-level aesthetics!) I might even consider adding foam board insulation on the ceiling of the garage as well.
What would be the best solution to start with?