July is a very hot month here. Although the rest of the year is very nice, the summers are extreme. I had been hoping to have time to work out in my garage but its nearly unbearable with temp. up to 114 and even hotter in the garage. I recently purchased a porable air conditioner and tried it out today. What a disappointment. It hardly made a difference and the air blew hot. I know many of you deal with very hot summers. Any suggestions? I don’t want to throw away anymore money at the problem .
-- “Who wants an orange whip? Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips.” John Candy, Blues Brothers
19 comments so far
a1Jim
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117060 posts in 3540 days
#1 posted 07-19-2009 05:18 AM
Hot here too but not that hot .Sorry no suggestions
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patron
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13600 posts in 3304 days
#2 posted 07-19-2009 05:21 AM
i put porches for shade at the sunny side , it cools down the air before it gets into the shop .
any thing you can do in that line , even temporarily for the summer can help ,
until you can get shade on that side permanently .
more fans too .
-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle
kolwdwrkr
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2821 posts in 3553 days
#3 posted 07-19-2009 05:31 AM
If you bought an air conditioner it may just take a while for it to blow the cold air. Turn it on for an hour and see what happens. If you’ve done that then I don’t know what to tell you either. I run regular fans and it seems to help a bit, but it’s still hot. Good luck
-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~
Mike Gager
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665 posts in 3230 days
#4 posted 07-19-2009 05:34 AM
is your garage insulated?
Mely5862
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22 posts in 3245 days
#5 posted 07-19-2009 05:41 AM
Thank you for all your help. To be honest, I really am not sure if the garage is insulated.and if so how much. I recently bought the house new so I am not sure. It is dry walled. I also bought a garage insulation kit that consisted of foam panals you place in the doors. Maybe kolwdwrker is right and I need to let it run longer! It’s just frustrating. I will also buy some more fans like Patron said and try that. Thanks all
-- “Who wants an orange whip? Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips.” John Candy, Blues Brothers
jcees
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1058 posts in 3762 days
#6 posted 07-19-2009 05:56 AM
I live in sunny FL inland where it’s frequently above 100 with the heat index. Basically I just about shut down for the summer months at least June through August. I only do what I have to and wait for the fall or winter for my projects. I take up half the garage and keep all my big tools on rollers so I can roll them out onto the driveway that’s partially shaded. My real problem down here is 100% humidity. I mean, I have to change shirts every hour if I want to maintain a semblance of dryness on my person. That said, I haven’t done dick for woodworking since the middle of May.
See you in September. Good luck.
always,
J.C.
-- When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. -- John Muir
Don K.
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1075 posts in 3289 days
#7 posted 07-19-2009 06:07 AM
I ran some duct work from my A/C and heat ducts in my attic….and ran two over to my Garage. Insulated my garage door and of course made sure the vents into my garage can be turned on and off. Here in South East OK…it gets between 105 and a 110 all the time during the summer. With a heat index of 115 and above all the time (VERY humid here).
To be honest, this has only raised my elec bill for A/C and Gas bill for heat about ten dollars a month. With the thermostat in the house, it (Heat and air unit) still runs about he same amount as it did before I did this last summer.
If the vents have been shut off for awhile…or I have to open the over head door to bring in material…it takes about a day to get the temp back down to a livable temp (Since the thermostat is in the house)...but once it is there…it makes a world of difference.
-- Don S.E. OK
jjraybur
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56 posts in 3305 days
#8 posted 07-19-2009 06:12 AM
I’m in South Louisiana, and I put the foam insulation on my garage door, and insulation in the ceiling above the garage. Then I installed a mini split a/c unit and keep it at 74. Even with a dog door leading outside, you wouldn’t know it’s over 100 degrees…. Best shop investment I’ve made.
-- Jeremy, Baton Rouge, LA - rayburnfinefurniture.com
newTim
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607 posts in 3570 days
#9 posted 07-19-2009 06:28 AM
Hot in Sacramento too. I’ve got a portable heater/airconditioner/dehumidifier and it actually works pretty good. It is rated for 500 sq ft but I don’t believe it. I added the foam insulators to my garage doors and the attic is also insulated. On 100 plus degree days like today it will not cool the entire garage shop below 80, but it is quite a bit cooler than outside. I have the unit on a wheeled cabinet with an exaust hose to the attic. Anyway, I just move it around so it is blowing on me or pointed in my direction and that works just fine.
My cooler has two setups. One where it pulls fresh air into the cooler, blows it into the shop, sucks hot air out, and exhausts it. The other setup uses room air to feed the cooler. It still exhausts hot air. Like me I guess. It usually doesn’t take but a few seconds to begin to blow colder air.
Next to injuries, I hate to hear about lost shop time. Hope you get it worked out.
“Its a dry heat, so’s my oven, but you don’t see me sticking my head in there.” Anonymous
-- tim hill www.newcalshop.com
miles125
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2180 posts in 3968 days
#10 posted 07-19-2009 01:44 PM
I worked at a shop in Ga that had a sprinkler system made out of pvc pipe on the tin roof. Worked pretty good as i recall.
-- "The way to make a small fortune in woodworking- start with a large one"
cc194217
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7 posts in 3199 days
#11 posted 07-19-2009 02:43 PM
maybe if you have the space on a wall..install a automatic ceiling vent fan. the kind that you usually use on your roof. it has a temp setting… mine is installed on the roof and kicks in at 90. keeps the heat down when i have the garage door open… creates a cross flow from the door to the ceiling…
Sawdustonmyshoulder
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474 posts in 3591 days
#12 posted 07-19-2009 03:19 PM
If it were that hot here in MS, I would seek out some of the guys coming back from Iraq. They gotta know how to endure that kind of heat. I think 114 is a nice spring day in Bagdad.
In MS, it gets hot but it’s humid. I find an old t-shirt fashioned around the head soaks up the sweat and the evaporation of the sweat has a cooling effect. I do have a couple of fans going too. Drink lots of water and cotton clothing. I have heard of “old timers” wearing long sleeves and long pants to stay cool. Same science as above.
My dad had a man that worked for him around the house and old Riley only want hot coffee to drink in the summertime. He said, “It kept him cool.” He also insisted on wearing long blue clothing. I wondered about Riley but I never disputed him.
-- The more skilled you are at something, the worse you are at it when someone is watching.
Mike Gager
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665 posts in 3230 days
#13 posted 07-19-2009 05:22 PM
i think you need to find out for sure whether you have insulation or not before doing anything else, especially in the ceilings
MickeyD
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130 posts in 3489 days
#14 posted 07-20-2009 05:49 PM
I am new to the desert and this is the first summer that I am trying to deal with the heat in the garage. I see that most of you mentioned insulation on the garage door. I think that may be the next step and a bigger fan. Yesterday it was 109 outside and 106 in the garage….too hot for me, but I did manage to stay long enough to help cut some plywood sheets :)
-- -Willing to try
RBWoodworker
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441 posts in 3315 days
#15 posted 07-20-2009 06:06 PM
I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I think a swamp cooler might be a good idea.. it doesn’t cost anywhere nears an A/C unit, but it’s what they use in Arizona in homes..
-- Randall Child http://www.racfurniture.com/
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