ANY GOOD IDEAS IN KEEPING A WORKSHOP COOL IN THE SUMMER.

[reed]

Any good ideas in keeping a workshop cool in the summer!
Let me know.
Thanks.
Steve.

[BSOrion]

Steve (Dragon),

Are you not feeling well... I'm a bit surprised! 

Seriously, in your case (if we are focusing on your garage) the first thing I would do is to get insulation up in your rafters and ensure you've got good ventilation in your roof.  Ceiling insulation alone would make a huge difference... keeping the heat that is generated by the roof from coming down into your shop.  I remember thinking about that when I was there since it felt like there were 50-heat lamps overhead.  So, that along with insulation in the walls, would also extend your workshop season into the winter.  Then, you could install some exhaust ventilation into the door or wherever to hook up to cars and bikes when you need to run them.  I realize the venting part is an issue... maybe a ridge vent installed at the peak and if you have a way to install soffit vents, that could be a solution.  I can check it out when I visit next, but that is what I would do.

I'm sure there will be some other great ideas out there.

Orion

[CL-100]

How large an area are we talking about?  The previous reply was right on the mark.  Since heat rises, it needs an escape from the roof area or it just accumulates until it layers itself down to the lower areas.  If you can find them still, those old roof turbines did a decent job and are an easy install.  After that, you can consider attic fans on each end.  One to pull in fresh air from the outside and other to push the warm air from inside to out.  Anything to pull in fresh air from the lower levels that works in conjunction with exhausting hot air from the upper levels will be a noticeable  improvement.  Ceiling insulation should be among your first corrections. 

Once you've got that taken care of exhausting heat in the upper areas you can consider those stand-alone A/C units in your work area.  They have a large exhaust hose to vent the heat the from the compressor to an outside window or door.  Again, it depends on the size of the area you're trying to condition.  Best of luck.

[BSOrion]

Yep, concurr with CL100.  A side benefit to getting some good insulation up on the ceiling I forgot to mention is that whether finished with sheetrock or whatever type of wallboard, that would help with lighting.  Instead of being lost up into the attic, light would remain reflected back down into the shop space.  The lighter the color, the better.

Man, I really miss our garage!  For now, I'm living vicariously through you all.

Orion

[moonpup]

Steve, once you get your shop well insulated, here's an idea and some pics of what I put together to cool me down.

I had a house fire a while back that leveled my garage and got part of the house. During the rebuild, my old furnace was removed and replaced with a new one. Since it was just going to be tossed, I grabbed the blower motor out of it and rigged it up for use in my new garage.

I hangs on 2 "L" brackets and I made sure it would be able to swivel from side to side and tilt up & down, ensuring coverage to any part of the garage.

This motor was made to force air to all the rooms in a 2000 to 2500 sq. ft. home. I put a 2 speed switch on it and most of the time, the low setting is all I need. The high speed feels like a blast from a Concorde jet at take-off! 

You can find them sometimes on craigslist or you could call your local heating & a/c repair companies to check if they have any used ones you could get cheap.

(or you could just get a large shop fan or two from Harbor Freight or Home Depot)

[old smokey]

Moonpup,
That is the same thing we grew up with as kids. The blower fan went in my parent's bedroom window (talk about "white noise") blowing the air outside and the rest of us opened our bedroom windows for a strong breeze at night. Years later when the "whole house" fan came onto the market we cut a hole in the ceiling for a more civilized lifestyle.

[coxy]

g day all over here in oz we are trying to keep warm its freezing .i just swapped a set of amal carbs and 4 bodies for a jet heater .bring on summer! 

[Jimmy]

I worked in shops that had a wall swamp cooler mounted on a rolling cart . You could move it to any area .It would blow heat in the winter.We got it free because it leaked water. We didn't use water with it. ..........................Jimmy,90k