How to Ventilate a Garage: Fans, Vents, and Air Flow Tips

Have you ever walked into a neighbor's garage and noticed a musty scent immediately? Was the interior wickedly hot in the summer or bitingly cold in the winter?

Garages have a tendency to get neglected. People often disregard them as storage units, as well as second-rate rooms in their homes. However, skipping proper garage ventilation is a major no-no.

Poor ventilation in a garage is bad news for two significant reasons. First, the fumes and chemicals generated from your vehicle, as well as machinery or tools you may operate inside the garage, are dangerous if they seep into other parts of the house.

Secondly, the heat that builds up in an attached garage during the summer months also makes the rest of your home uncomfortable. The attached garage can have a similar effect in the winter.

To correctly vent a garage, many homeowners invest in items like a garage exhaust fan to help with airflow. Below are the basics of how to ventilate a garage: how to assess your space, which ventilation options to consider, and the right materials to get the job done.

How to Inspect Your Garage Ventilation

If your garage suffers from poor ventilation, there is little you can do about it without costly repairs or renovations. So if you don't have the funds to install more windows, or don't want to keep the operating door cracked open for security reasons, the next best solution is a garage exhaust fan.

Inspections related to garage ventilation aren't too complicated. Ask yourself a few simple questions:

• Are you uncomfortable when you stand in the room?
• Is it too hot or too chilly?
• Does the space give off strong, undesirable odors?

Though garages don't have the same room temperature control as the rest of your home, they should be at least bearable. Intense, chemical odors are always a sign of poor ventilation, so your garage should not smell like you just walked into a hazard zone.

Measure the Square Footage

If you have come to the conclusion that it's time to ventilate the garage, then the next step is to get the square footage of the area. This figure tells you how much ventilation power you need. If you don't already know it, measure the height and width of the area and then multiply the two for total square footage.

Choosing a Garage Exhaust Fan Kit

Garages have a tendency to develop bad fumes and odors because of:

• What you store in them,
• Exhaust that travels in from automobiles, and
• The lack of windows or fans that could stir air movement.

As a result, many homeowners invest in some type of garage exhaust fan to help generate air flow. Exhaust fans can be purchased at your local hardware store, and many of them are sold in kits that are fairly easy to self-install.

If you have any questions about the product, such as how much square footage it will help ventilate or where to place the fan, you should ask a rep at the hardware store. There are many varieties of garage exhaust fans across different price ranges, so you have plenty of ventilation options to fit your budget.

How to Prepare for Garage Exhaust Fan Installation

The garage exhaust fan kit should walk you through the installation instructions. However, since instructions posted on a product label aren't always the most specific or clear, here are the basic steps to prepare for fan installation:

1. Cut a hole in the garage ceiling where you want to place the exhaust fan.
2. Once you cut through the ceiling, you should be able to locate the electrical wiring box.
3. Before you begin working with the electrical wiring box, it's extremely important that you shut off all power in the garage. You're dealing with wires, so you don't want to get electrocuted.
4. Then run new wires from the nearest junction box to the opening. If you're installing a large fan, you may want to create a separate circuit or two, as these fans can draw a lot of electricity and may overload existing circuits.

How to Install a Garage Fan

Now that the prep work is complete, it's time to install the actual fan in your garage. Here are the basics of fan installation:

1. Connect the exhaust hose to the fan, and then push it through the roof until the nozzle is entirely through.
2. Secure the hose to the outside of the roof with the installation brackets provided in the kit.
3. Connect the wires to the fan and screw the fan into the ceiling or side wall.
4. Once the fan is secured, caulk around the edge of the casing to prevent air from escaping back out of the garage immediately.
5. Turn the power back on in the garage and test out the new fan. If it's not operational, first check the troubleshooting section of the manual.

Other Garage Heat Ventilation Factors to Consider

A fan in your garage will go a long way toward keeping temperatures pleasant and eliminating nasty odors. Still, an exhaust fan can only do so much, so there are additional measures worth taking.

Account for Which Way Your Garage Faces

South- and west-facing garages struggle with hot temperatures the worst because of how the sun wears on them during the day. Though a fan will help, these garages are still at a disadvantage, and it's very hard during the summer to keep them completely cool.

Park Hot Cars Outside

Try to avoid parking cars in the garage immediately after driving. Automobiles that have been out on the road generate an insane amount of heat, and it takes a while for the engine to cool down.

So even if you take the vehicle out for 15 minutes or less, consider parking it outside for a few hours until it cools down. It won't radiate as much heat into the interior of the garage.

Rethink Insulated Doors in Warm Climates

While insulated garage doors are incredibly efficient during the winter months for preventing cold air from coming into your garage, they are actually counter-productive during the warm months.

Insulated doors keep hot air trapped in the garage. That isn't a problem if you live up north and experience long, bitter winters. But if you live in a more mild climate, you would do better to avoid installing this type of garage door.

Improving Garage Ventilation and Air Flow

Garages aren't just unpleasant when they're warmer or colder than the rest of the house and full of strong odors. They also negatively impact the rest of your home.

If the garage is too hot or cold, the adjacent rooms get impacted, too. It's impossible to stop this transfer of heat or cold air. Consequently, your best means to combat the problem is plenty of air movement.

Your garage can only get as cool as the temperature outside. However, by installing one or more ceiling or sidewall exhaust fans, a vent system helps keep the temperature within reason.

For the best results, placement matters. Exhaust fans that are positioned high on the wall or ceiling, as well as directly opposite the main garage door, offer the most effective air ventilation. A garage through-the-wall ventilation fan and a ceiling vent both work well in this setup, giving you a couple of solid ventilation ideas to compare.

Building a New Garage With Proper Ventilation

Every garage should be properly ventilated to air out the chemicals and fumes generated by your vehicle. Your garage also builds up heat over the summer, so it will feel uncomfortable without a good garage ventilation system, especially in a garage with no windows.

At Danley's, we construct different sizes and styles of detached garages to accommodate your needs. All our garages are built to air out the heat, chemicals, and fumes generated by your vehicle. Speak to a specialist and get a free quote online now.