Knowing how to cool a garage with no window on a budget will greatly improve the condition of your garage while sparing you the extra expense.
A garage without a window can get very hot and stuffy because of poor ventilation
Windows in a garage provides natural light for the garage and helps with cross ventilation of the garage.
To work effectively in your garage as your work space, your garage needs to be cool and comfortable.
Not many people can afford to install air conditioner in their garage, that doesn’t mean that your garage can’t be made cool and comfortable for your use.
You can cool your garage with no window on a budget by simply placing fans in strategic location, insulating your garage doors, roof and walls.
Some practices such as:
- leaving your garage doors open in the early hours of the day and closing it when it got,
- allowing your car to cool down outside after a long drive before parking it inside the garage, and
- painting the exterior of your garage with lighter colors which retains lesser heat
will go a long way to ensuring your garage is cool even without a window.
These and so many other options are available for you. You can cool your garage on a budget. Read on to know more, and also why your garage gets so hot.
If you know why your garage gets so hot, then you are just a step away from solving it.
How To Cool A Garage With No Window On A Budget
You can hardly see a garage with an air conditioner. However, the garage needs to be cool, especially if you use it as your work space or store items that are sensitive to temperature there.
To cool your garage and make it comfortable, consider the following opinions;
- Use a fan: This can be either a ceiling fan, standing fan or Vornado fan, these fans help push hot air out of the garage and circulate cooler air. Place your fan close to the garage door. Fans are the cheapest, and yet, the most effective way of cooling the garage. They help in circulating air, hence making the garage less stuffy.
Do you know that putting ice in front of your fan, gives you a cool air like that of an air conditioner?
- Paint your garage doors, ceiling, and exterior with light colors. Lighter colors retains less heat unlike dark colors.
- Install spinning turbine roof vent to improve ventilation. The spinning turbine roof vent is a passive ventilation system installed in the roof.
- Install a portable air conditioner. Portable air conditioners are quiet cheap and easy to install. The only challenge is that they need to exhaust outside.
- Install insulators on the door and the ceiling. Insulators help keep heat away from your garage. These insulators also improve the effectiveness of the air conditioner. Insulators help to keep heat out of your garage and retain the cool air provided by the air conditioner in the garage.
- Install a dehumidifier, this helps reduce the humidity of your garage as high humidity traps heat and make the garage hotter than it should be. Dehumidifier removes moisture from the air, thereby reducing the humidity of the place.
- Install a swamp cooler. A swamp cooler is like a bucket of ice with a fan blowing over it and blowing out cool air.
- Park your cars outside after a long drive before parking it inside the garage. Parking your car inside the garage without it first cooling down, adds to the temperature of the garage, as heat is transmitted from the car to the garage.
- Leave the garage door open in the cooler hours of the day.
- Keep your garage tidy and clustered free, this helps in keeping it less stuffy.
- Seal your garage door frame to keep hot air out and cool air in.
- Use a door that doesn’t have a window, this ensures that sun does not enter into the garage through the window on the door.
- Consider using a wooden door for your garage, you don’t need any insulator on a wooden door. Wood is a natural insulator.
Why Does My Garage Get So Hot?
Are you surprised at how scorching hot your garage can get? I know you are.
Let’s find out why. Are you ready?
Knowing why your garage gets so hot is a step further towards solving the problem.
The garage gets hot for several reasons such as;
- The direction of your garage can be one of the reasons it gets so hot. If your garage is facing the sun, it will get very hot when the sun rises and increases in intensity.
- A garage without a window will get very hot and stuffy as there is no way for cross ventilation to take place.
- Dark exterior paint or dark doors retain heat more. If the exterior of your garage or your garage door is painted with dark colors
- If you park your cars in the garage without allowing it to cool first after driving it, you will transfer the hotness from your cars to the garage
- The size of a garage also determines how hot it gets. Smaller garage are easy to heat up and easy to get cool, while larger garage though it takes time to heat up, it also takes time to cool off.
- A garage that is not properly insulated will easily get hot.
- The lighting in the garage can contribute to its heat, because light gives off heat.
Portable Options For Cooling A Garage
If you spend very minimal amount of time in your garage, then I’d like to suggest a less energy-intensive cooling solution for your garage. If you find yourself in this class of people, I’m sure the following suggestions will be highly beneficial to you.
Fans
The importance of this equipment can’t be overemphasized as a long or short term cooling option. It does a lot of wonders to your garage; For instance, fans generate a strong airflow that helps push hot air out of the room. The more airflow that is being generated, the less heat your garage experiences.
Just so you know, a fan will be ineffective if your garage is extremely hot. The reason being that; a fan only works with moderately warm temperatures.
Dehumidifiers
Are you aware that decreasing the humidity of your garage leads to a reduction in temperatures and also prevents profuse sweating?
Well it does, because humid air traps heat and makes a room feel hotter than it is. So, if you are storing any goods in your garage that are sensitive in nature, furniture, or even electrical equipment, it is essential to check out the humidity level to prevent your properties from being damaged by fungus, rust, mildew, or other moisture issues.
It is therefore advisable to get a dehumidifier in any humid environment as this greatly affects the temperature levels of your garage and in turn ensures your comfort.
The disadvantage a dehumidifier has is that; it does not generate air, cold or hot, into a room. So, you may probably still need a fan to do that. Combining these two equipment is guaranteed to make it a low cost and energy efficient cooling system for your garage.
3. Swamp Cooler
A swamp cooler adopts the benefits of evaporation for it to work. For instance, you can use a portable fan to blow air across the top of an ice bucket. This ensures that cool air from the ice bucket will be propelled and circulated through the room. You can also set up a water sprinkler along with the fan, which generates a fine watery mist in the air, which is quite different from when you use only the fan.
As we have established before, if you are looking for a crude yet temporary cooling solution then try this procedure.
Top 5 Air Conditioners for a Garage With No Window
Below is a list of best air conditioners for your garage;
Honeywell HL09CESWK
If you have a larger garage, this should be your number one option. It can cool and dehumidifies a large garage effectively and quietly. You can easily move it around, thanks to its caster wheels. It comes with a remote control. It has a “fan” and “sleep” mode too. And you don’t need to drain it, it has a self evaporation system.
HomeLabs 14000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner
It’s portable and has wheels which makes it easy to move around. It also dehumidifies the air and it operates quietly. It doesn’t take more than 30mins to put together.
Black Decker BTU Air Conditioner
This air conditioner is environment friendly and not only does it cool your garage, it dehumidifies and fans it too. Guess what? It also saves energy by regulating the temperature of the garage at night. All you need for this to happen is switch on the sleep mode.
SereneLife SLACHT128 BTU
Serenelife air conditioner is very portable and the best option for a garage with little space as it doesn’t take up much space. You can also move it to another room when the need to do so arises, it’s very easy to install too.
Whynter Elite Air Conditioner
A very eco-friendly product. It not only cools and dehumidifier the garage it can also heat it up. It filters the air with carbon air filter which makes for cleaner and fresher air. Furthermore, it has wheels for easy movement, and it also has dual hose which enables it to work more effectively.
What To Consider Before Buying An Air Conditioner For Your Garage
To find a perfect air conditioner for your garage, consider the following factors;
Budget
You have to count your count before deciding on which air conditioner to purchase. You can get a good portable air conditioner for a few hundred dollars, but that’s not all. There are other expenses that continues even after the purchase such as energy used, electricity consumed and maintenance. So, you have to choose one that is saves energy and can easily be maintained.
Size
You have to, first, consider the size of the garage you want to cool down. The larger the garage the stronger the air conditioner unit you will need. And you also have to consider the space where you will keep the air conditioner, this will help you choose the right size of air conditioner.
Efficiency Rating
Check the efficiency rating of the air conditioner. The higher, the better. An effective air conditioner can cool a space with less energy. There are some portable air conditioners that use battery. This also saves energy.
Power Rating
Also check the power rating of the air conditioner, this helps you to know if the air conditioner can cool the space you want it to cool.
Venting System
Consider the venting system of the air conditioner. Some portable air conditioner has dual venting hose for exhaust and intake while some has one for the same function. It is said that portable air conditioners with dual hose work better than those with a single hose.
Dehumidifier
Some air conditioner has dehumidifier, so it does not just cool but also dehumidifies the air. Buying an air conditioner and getting a dehumidifier, not bad right?
Wheel
Portable air conditioner doesn’t mean it’s very easy to carry around. Some portable air conditioner are quite heavy, so while buying one, look for the one that has caster wheel and/or good carriage handles, this will help you in moving it around.
Noise
Portable air conditioner are known to be noisy, so look for one that is relatively quiet.
Warranty
Remember to look for one with a good warranty.
Remote Control
I am sure you don’t want to keep going to the air conditioner to adjust one or two things when you can just sit down and do just that with a remote control or even a mobile app.
How To Vent A Portable Air Conditioner In A Garage Without A Window?
Ventilation can be an issue, especially when that garage has no window for the warm air to go through. Hence, here are the ways to vent a portable air conditioner without a window in your garage.
Venting Through a Door
A portable air conditioner is designed in such a way that the warm air it generates has to go somewhere. Outdoors is the best option to consider and one of the easiest ways to vent a portable air conditioner is through a door. Specifically, a sliding door. Although, other kinds work as well, they are not as effective as a sliding door would be.
There are kits built specifically for sliding doors which allow you to vent the exhaust outdoors. But If your garage does not have a sliding door, then you can manually create a temporary vent on the door. Just make sure you can get a tight seal around the entrance for the exhaust hose.
Venting Through the Ceiling
If your garage has a drop ceiling, which granted, is uncommon in many modern residential homes, but common in older homes with high ceilings, then it is possible to rig an exhaust vent to work with a drop ceiling tile in your garage.
This procedure is manually tasking, so consider using a ceiling vent kit rather than a hose which isn’t exactly light and can be quite stressful during installation.
Venting Through a Wall
You can install a vent in the wall of your garage, but this should only be considered after all the above options have been tried and sadly failed. Only then should you try this permanent solution for a portable cooling system.
I’ll advise that you seek out professional help to effectively and neatly install a vent in the wall of your garage, ’cause doing it the wrong way can lead to more harm than good in the long run.
How To Insulate Your Garage Roof and Door
Roofs:
- Remove everything from inside your garage: Insulation can be hectic, and you do not want to get any of its residues on your valuables.
- Locate all electrical boxes: They should have enough room to heat up without causing a fire. In other words, there should be plenty of space around all wiring and other electrical parts.
- Install the vapor barrier by stapling it into place: You should remove any condensation or mold on the surface before you install the barrier.
- Place insulation snugly against walls and rafters: Bear in mind that; Batt insulation can be moved from the left to right, the front to back, or any other direction. You can also cause gaps in the insulation, if you overdo spray foam. Most importantly, never allow gaps or spaces between any insulation.
- Replace your ceiling panels.
Door:
- There are three common ways to insulate a garage door, and they are:
- Reflective foil roll insulation;
- Rigid foam board panels;
- Flexible batt insulation.
If you own a steel door, it can make use of these three ways; Wood frame and panel doors work best with rigid foam products, while flat doors are compatible with rigid or reflective rolled foil.
Note that, the insulation should be cut to fit and secured with an adhesive or clips which is supplied by the manufacturer.
- Make use of a garage door threshold seal to make up for any worn gasket strip that has settled and is no longer level. The threshold seals, especially when secured with adhesive, are watertight and easy to install. The required tools are: a tape measure, utility knife, pencil and straightedge. It is advisable to use those that are made from 100 percent recyclable material that will not rot, decay or lose their colour.
- Finally, V-shaped weather stripping should be installed on the frame outside the door when the door is closed and this deterres Drafts, moisture and vermin after completion.
The Benefits Of Insulating Your Garage
- Insulation is the only way to keep the heat out
- Insulation is an excellent sound barrier
- Insulation often raises the value of a home
- Insulation increases the life span of the roof, door, walls and the floor of the garage.
How Much Does It Cost To Insulate A Garage?
Garage insulation costs depends on the size of the garage and the insulation you purchase. Sebring estimates the costs of insulating a garage to be about 50 cents to $1.25 per square foot. This means insulating a three-car garage would cost about $338 – $845.