The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Southern Bolters Cool Thoughts

With it being so HOT here in the Southland, I was just wondering what everyone is doing to stay COOL.. I have been trying to get things done early in the day or later in the evening. I have 3 fans in the Shop and it's still not enough...

Some days here in east central Florida, I’ve seen the humidity be higher than the temps, I’m sure you have too. In my shop, I leave the shop roll up door open about a foot or so. Just enough to let in some air but still block the direct sunshine. I have a large pedestal fan pushing air towards the rear of the shop then three smaller fans forcing air flow to move in a circular direction. Seems to work well. Still hot as hxxx though. I try to do a 12 mile bicycle ride 3 or 4 times a week . If I’m not out riding by 8 am ish, it doesn’t happen. Just too hot. I’ve replaced the PS pump on the 454 C10 & am just finishing doing valve cover gaskets on my ‘90 Toyota 4x4 PU w/V6 3.0 engine. My fan set up made shop conditions not too bad, all things considered.

Let us pay attention to how our forefathers cooled their home in the south before electricity. They made allowances for breezeways through the center of the home in the east/west directions of prevailing winds. The kitchen was located outside of the home not only for fire safety, but also remove a heat source.
Here is what I learned from my millwork/window training. Windows could be constructed as solid, unmovable sash, single-hung where the lower sash raised up. Then there was the preferred double hung window where the upper sash could be lower while the lower sash could be raised. 99% of us do not understand how to utilize the feature of a double-hung since the advent of air conditioning. Have you ever noticed that homes from the 19th Century, the interior and exterior doors have operating transom windows above the doors? That feature was to allow the heated air at the upper levels of the room to vent outwards. The same was true with double-hung windows when used properly the lower lower sash is raised about 2-3 inches and the upper sash would be lowered about the same. NOT just opening the lower sash as far as you can! Air current studies show that 'cooler' air would come in the lower opening and cycle out as hotter air from the top opening.
Here is my recommendation for a garage: open the big door about 6 inches and then go to your double hung windows and open just the upper sash. Set up fans to push hot air out the upper sash, (yes you can keep one for yourself) and once the air current is established you should have a cooler garage. One downside of drawing air from the large door is if you have a super-heated concrete driveway on the other side of that door then close off that heat source and find a better cool air source on another side of the building.

Archie, I have seen many older Homes where the air flow was managed with Transom's and directed to a central vent in a hallway or stairwell.. I am at a great disadvantage currently though, as I have no Shop Bay Doors as yet...

When I was researching for our wood stove, I learned a few things about "moving" (pushing) air. At the farm house, it was hard to get heat up from the basement ... so we turned the stairs around so it came up naturally. The previous owner had a big tall fan try to move the heat around a corner, twice, and then up the stairs. The first fix was to cut a air grate in the floor in the living room and a LOT of warm up came up on its own.

It also seemed that cool air was just blowing into the same room from the door that went to the garage. I mean, it was really blowing ... my hair gave it away. (We put in new weather stripping and that helped tons.)

We used the storm door to bring cool air it at the bottom, and let hot air out at the top. I think Archie is correct that air flow has a lot to do with it. Rather than pushing the warm air into the room, we found if we pushed cool air onto the wood stove, it moved that warm air at the stove into other parts of the house.

In the summer, the farm house was 10 degrees cooler than the fields. We had great trees all around the house. The garage was nice a cool. John's shops, not so much -- only one set of buildings was shaded.

Now here, we don't have a wood stove here. No room for it plus no real need for it. This house is really small (800 sq ft). But for cooling, the house is fine (sometimes too cold even tho thermostat is set at 82 during the day ) but getting some cool air into the attached garage has been a challenge. The garage is on the west side of the house -- no window, no shade, concrete out the doors. We're pondering diverting a vent from the house (we have two to spare) into the garage and we'd only open it when we need it.

Those older homes knew about the value of cooking outside. We rarely "cook" in the hot months. No oven for sure. Quick cooking on the stove. Make extra and freeze. Microwave. Grille.

I learned a bunch from our Mennonite neighbors and how they tried to stay cool in the hot months. When it was super bad, many of them slept outside, or porches, packing houses, barn, etc. No one stayed upstairs to sleep that was for sure. Most of them had good shade trees around their home.

I hope folks are able to stay cool during all these heat advisories.

One of the best things I’ve become aware of for shops here in the sunny south is radiant barrier material in the ceiling or underside of the roof. It’s cheap & only about a 1/4” thick but does a great job of reflecting the sun’s heat. I first put it in the ceiling of the 18x 30 garage at my house. I was amazed at how it lowered temps inside the building. Since then I had it installed in the 40 x 60 building we built in 2021. Since then we added a 100 sq ft restroom to that building & used the radiant barrier there too. Stuff does an amazing job at keeping heat out of a building.

Early in the day is my time for outdoors work. Today was yard work until 11 AM, then a dip in the pool to cool off from the 96 degree temp.
My workshop has A/C so when I want to be there I turn it on about 30 minutes before. I also use the ceiling fan.
Our house has very wide eaves, 3 feet, so the windows get a lot of shade. We also have several large oaks that shade the house and roof.
When we moved in in 2006, I had R-19 insulation added to the attic space of the whole house. It really helps with keeping the cooling bill down. You pay for insulation whether you have it or not, so why not put it in place.
I have added a misting system to my back porch. We have found it helps to lower the temps when we spend time there. It's like a swamp cooler.
Ceiling fans throughout the house help to make us feel cooler both night and day.

One of the additions I'm planning for my uninsulated, metal roof and aluminum siding shop is a couple of the turbine style roof vents, the ones that rotate without a power source just from the rising hot air flow. Eventually, I'm planning to spray insulate the walls, install a drop ceiling where possible, and air condition the place. Right now the only source of ventilation is a 12 X 12 hole where a roll-up door will be eventually, and a 4 foot round shop fan.
Jerry

I leave the shop doors open at night, next morning fairly early, close em almost shut leaving about foot for any breeze that pops up. Eventually it's everything open with fans. But until about 10 am or so it's pretty comfortable. Highs here have been near 100f with feels like of 103 to 108f.

But I have been thinking about some sort of ac system.

RonR

I used to put up acoustical ceiling many years ago. So I installed ceiling in my shop with six inches of insulation. It sure makes a big difference.

It seems it wasn’t that long ago there was a discussion, maybe in the General Forum, about how you work on your truck when it’s so cold out that everything is frozen and how do you keep your shop warm 😊

Yep.. Cool Thoughts 😎