Insulated the Garage
 

1" of Poly Shield; $110 for material and 2 hours labor so far- plan to cover the innards with what I call shower board and use the doors as giant white boards. Will also serve to cover up the combustible insulated sheathing from any garage shenanigans.

With the heat and a/c ducts coming in the next few weeks*, I might actually get back to work on my own cars. Have already noted a 15 degree temperature difference on a 96 degree day/full sun on doors. Will post pics when it's pretty. Basement soda fountain area completion pics, too.

*I "accidentally" came into possession of a complete, 5 year old, 3 ton Tappan system . . . which I'd never heard of before . . . for the basement that is waaay too much for the space, so the plan is to throw the excess conditioned air into the garage.

It was over 100 degrees here yesterday. I worked in my garage most of the day in relative comfort. I just have a single "window" unit that I adapted to mount in a frame I hung outside the door. It was 75 degrees in my garage. With the three ceiling fans it was quite livable.

I would have melted without AC yesterday. I figured it cost me $1.25 per hour to keep cool. A full day of comfort cost me 10 bucks. I see that as well worth it.

Post some pics, sounds like an interesting project!

I insulated my garage too and debated on putting in a window ac unit. This summer has been so cool barely a need for home ac. Those really hot summer days though, that would be nice. The best thing for me is it makes the winter much more tolerable. The snow all melts off and the cars warm up quicker for heat.

My shop is insulated, even the door has styrofoam sheets on every panel, along with window-mount A/C unit in the wall. I also put a mesh awning across most of the front, which gives some shade to the door in the hottest part of the day. On the worst day so far, it was 115° outside, the A/C keep the shop down to 80°. I've thought of adding a 2nd A/C unit, or maybe upgrading this one (10kBTU)

My garage is built to R2000 specs, except for the 2" thick insulated 10'x10' door.
I have a 2 tonne air conditioner sitting here for it that I've never installed.

I'd like to install a split mini someday, but still need to get a ceiling and roof insulation installed first. And find a way to make it so the garage doors seal up nicely when they're closed. For now I'll enjoy its hugeness in its un-airconditioned glory, but only before 11am and after 6pm.

Awnings or even better a shade tree will drop your summer electric bills. The sun beats on the side of my house, glad it is stucco or it would have cooked the paint. Would get warm in the bedroom, put the tint on the window, which helped, but not enough. I bought the biggest, widest cheap, white plastic blind they had at the home depot. It shades the house a bit, hangs from the eaves. Impressive how much cooler the side of the house is when the sun is not hammering it.

I planted some citrus trees a few years ago along a fence, next to a flagstone walkway runs beside the master bedroom. Used to get like a hot skillet out there when I first moved in, those trees have already helped. It will be like a green tunnel out there in about 5 years and I will get a bunch of pink grapefruit and oranges every year.

Anyone know if I should upgrade from the 1/2 hp motors I'm using since I'm adding ~6 lbs (absolute max) to each door during this process? Not sure what the rating scale is.

Have been considering adding some crepe myrtles to the driveway but I have a feeling that the a$$&*$ birds would just looooove them way too much. Cars would never be clean again.