Remove Garage Heat

[TacoMeat]

Am I over thinking this? Should I look into removing some of the garage heat generated by the inverter?

Was thinking about something like this above the inverter.

Amazon.com

Easy to setup a type of automation that would turn on at X garage temp and turn off at Y garage temp.

 

[blrmaker]

Does it come in brick color?

 

[eppich8479]

Is the garage attic vented? Insulated? Drywalled?

They also make attic power fans with temp sensors.

 

[Supervstech]

Am I over thinking this? Should I look into removing some of the garage heat generated by the inverter?

Was thinking about something like this above the inverter.

Amazon.com

Easy to setup a type of automation that would turn on at X garage temp and turn off at Y garage temp.

To effectively remove heated air, you will need a fresh air return as well.

 

[MarkSolar]

I've found that our cars generate way more heat than the inverters, so on hot days I don't pull in the garage when I get home. Most inverters are designed to operate up to 140F, much higher temps than you're likely to see in your garage. I'm guessing they start to derate about 110F, also probably way higher than you'll ever see.

 

[Delmar]

Is there living space above the garage? if not a solar attic fan would work well.

However it is against fire code to vent the garage into the attic.

 

[TacoMeat]

Is the garage attic vented? Insulated? Drywalled?

They also make attic power fans with temp sensors.

Semi insulated. None above ceiling, door is a little bit but all walls are.

Garage door isn't super sealed.

Just something to maybe pull heat to attic or maybe outside

 

[chrisski]

How much heat are you expecting to remove with that?

I have an outdoor temp of up to 115 f and would not expect miracles from a fan. I would not expect miracles in Colorado either. I found a 24 k BTU AC worked well for me.

I agree with @MarkSolar that parking a car in the garage adds a lot of heat.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I've found that our cars generate way more heat than the inverters, so on hot days I don't pull in the garage when I get home. Most inverters are designed to operate up to 140F, much higher temps than you're likely to see in your garage. I'm guessing they start to derate about 110F, also probably way higher than you'll ever see.

You sure about that? I don't live anywhere near Texas or Florida and our garage is on the north side of our house, but it gets unbearably hot in there in the summer. Over 100 would not surprise me.

 

[jharrell]

Is there living space above the garage? if not a solar attic fan would work well.

However it is against fire code to vent the garage into the attic.

I believe it just needs needs a fire damper to be up to code, I have seen a few garage vent fans they all seem to have a damper that closes if it hits like 160F. Main issue is you need air intake, cutting holes in garage door and putting vents is typical:

QuietCool Store - Garage Whole House Fan with Wireless RF Control

Experience the ultimate in garage ventilation with the QuietCool GA ES-1500 Garage Whole House Fan. Designed to cool and ventilate your space for just pennies an hour, this fan is perfect for garages, man caves, and workshops.

store.quietcoolsystems.com

My next project will a heat pump water heater since the current one is right next to the inverter and batteries, even thinking about ducting the exhaust directly at the batteries somehow.

Just something perfect about using the waste heat from the inverter to help heat my water while using 1/4 of the electricity compared to the resistive heater and cooling the garage some to boot.

 

[glandpuck]

Am I over thinking this? Should I look into removing some of the garage heat generated by the inverter?

Was thinking about something like this above the inverter.

Amazon.com

Easy to setup a type of automation that would turn on at X garage temp and turn off at Y garage temp.

In the past I had an Outback Radian 8K inverter and 3 Outback charge controllers. All generated a lot of heat and were connected to a large FLA battery bank. And in the So Cal area, the ambient temp could reach 115 degrees on the worst days. Outback inverter performance begins to degrade at I believe temps over like 77 to 80. But the inverter will still perform at temps up to like 115. The software would allow the operator to see the temperature of the MOSFETS and learn if they were near the critical limits. Fortunately, the onboard cooling fans prevented that from happening. But I know cooler is better.
I set up an electric fan blowing right onto the inverter. This resulted in about a 10 degree reduction in internal temperatures.
Next I purchased a small 5K btu window AC unit and set it up right in front of the inverter. The power cost was about 500 watts after start up. But low and behold the inverter temps went right back to normal like 75 degrees with the AC blowing on it. The garage was hot, but the inverter very comfortable.
So depending on what you want to accomplish, something as small as a small framed enclosure and small AC unit may be all you need to make things cool down.

 

[hwy17]

I use a dryer vent with a PC case fan above the inverter. That solution looks nicer.

I started off with a timer and ended up settling on a system where I just plug the fan in at the start of summer and unplug it at the end.

 

[Delmar]

My next project will a heat pump water heater since the current one is right next to the inverter and batteries, even thinking about ducting the exhaust directly at the batteries somehow.

Just something perfect about using the waste heat from the inverter to help heat my water while using 1/4 of the electricity compared to the resistive heater and cooling the garage some to boot.

The HPWH is a Godsend in the hot & humid south. My garage is on the southwest side of the house and the HPWH makes it tolerable inside.

 

[cs1234]

To effectively remove heated air, you will need a fresh air return as well.

Do you need a fresh air return in a mostly uninsulated poorly sealed garage? Does it not get enough air from under / around / through the garage door for a 176cfm fan?

 

[jharrell]

Do you need a fresh air return in a mostly uninsulated poorly sealed garage? Does it not get enough air from under / around / through the garage door for a 176cfm fan?

My garage door is well insulated and sealed any kind of exhaust fan would not work well without a intake of some sort although 176cfm is pretty low the full size garage vent fans are 10x that and list 1 square foot of free vent per 750 cfm

 

[HarryN]

Use it as an excuse to put air conditioning in your garage. Wish I had done that years ago.

 

[Quattrohead]

Use it as an excuse to put air conditioning in your garage. Wish I had done that years ago.

Best thing EVER

 

[SparkyJJO]

Just make sure your garage is insulated or you'll burn tons of energy.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Yup, I put at 12k BTU Mini Split in my garage, not to keep the inverter cool, but to keep the batteries at a healthy temp. Keeping the inverter (and me, when I'm working in the garage!) cool is just a bonus.

My garage is uninsulated. Shared wall with the house is insulated, but the other 3 walls and the attic are not. I did buy the foam insulating panels for the garage door and it seemed to help. When it's over 100*F outside, the mini split does struggle to maintain temp.

Wish there was an easy way to insulate a finished garage.

 

[Quattrohead]

Wish there was an easy way to insulate a finished garage.

Blown in insulation can be done, drill a hole at the top of each bay and blow in cellulose. Works quite well.
Do the same in the attic. Make sure your door seals are good.

 

[TacoMeat]

I use a dryer vent with a PC case fan above the inverter. That solution looks nicer.

I started off with a timer and ended up settling on a system where I just plug the fan in at the start of summer and unplug it at the end.

Did it make any kind of difference?

 

[HarryN]

Yup, I put at 12k BTU Mini Split in my garage, not to keep the inverter cool, but to keep the batteries at a healthy temp. Keeping the inverter (and me, when I'm working in the garage!) cool is just a bonus.

My garage is uninsulated. Shared wall with the house is insulated, but the other 3 walls and the attic are not. I did buy the foam insulating panels for the garage door and it seemed to help. When it's over 100*F outside, the mini split does struggle to maintain temp.

Wish there was an easy way to insulate a finished garage.

The "easy way" is to accept that plaster board is just a temporary wall, intended to be changed.

When you are ready, just tear it off, insulate, and put up the plaster board again or hire that part done. Plaster board / texturing guys are remarkably fast and efficient.

 

[Lt.Dan]

The "easy way" is to accept that plaster board is just a temporary wall, intended to be changed.

When you are ready, just tear it off, insulate, and put up the plaster board again or hire that part done. Plaster board / texturing guys are remarkably fast and efficient.

The hard part of it is moving the multi-ton worth of equipment and storage out of my garage, and where to put it while all that happens.

I do need to repaint the entire place though lol

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

I think personally, I would opt to DIY something, just add a gable on the outside, an insulated duct, and use standard attic-style fans.

But as others pointed out, you definitely need a place for air to intake. Same reasons attics have a roof vent (and fans sometimes) along with perforated trim to allow airflow into the attic from the bottom and exhaust out the top.

 

[TacoMeat]

Yep that's the only problem I need to figure out is intake air.

We have a dual whole house fan (because humidity isn't really a thing here in Colorado) So I know if I put a garage fan like quietcool garage unit we can get it out, it's the exchange of air that because the problem with such a large unit.
Was thinking that with a smaller fan that is <= inverter fan CFM would help just remove the heat generated, but there's a side of me that just doesn't want to make a hole in the garage to the outside.

Also thought I could put a inlet right behind the intake of the inverter then place an exhaust above.



The inverter is getting replaced so I'm going to have it off the wall, best time to do something like this. I just need to figure out something that I could shut during the winter, but that might be as easy as a magnetic cover.

Then during the summer it would pull in fresh air but not the heated garage air, then as long as the top fan just pulls out the heat.