Cooling down an uninsulated shop.

[Hax Planx]

A gable fan and vent system would be nice, but it is a cinder block building and the cinder blocks go all the way to the crown. Would a fan really cut down much on the radiant heat?

[Hax Planx]

I can only imagine what I would pay for AC out there. No vents and they would be difficult to install.

[Hax Planx]

I'm thinking a radiant barrier would help a lot. Actually, just about any barrier would probably help. I asked about radiant barrier paint today at a box store and the paint guru said they had glow in the dark paint and fluorescent colors. I said nothing and walked away with a permanent loss of an IQ point. I saw I could get 1000 sq ft of radiant barrier online for $100 and $40 shipping, but installing it would be an interesting challenge. That's probably the way to go for the long run though.

[Hax Planx]

I know renovation is probably the way to go, but I was hoping for a band aid cure for now.

[Mike in Arkansas]

Does anyone have any actual experience with the radiant barrier paints? Are they as effective as aluminum barriers assuming both are applied against the roof decking?

[Mike]

I think more attic ventilation would probably help. Use roof vents or a powered fan in the gable end. If you have soffits add soffit vents and if not put a passive vent in the opposite gable end. Since it sounds like the building does not have a ceiling you could get your lower ventilation from leaving windows open.

Mike O.

[skeezics]

its a window unit. missing the inside grill but in a shop it wont matter. i was going to cut a hole in the wall for it but my shop seems to stay cool enough.

skeez

[bluemax1811-newsgroups]

I re-roofed my entire house and garage in January. I went back with radiant barrier and ridge vents AND a BLACK roof! The garage (my shop) is now cooler than it has ever been. I lower the garage door about half way in the afternoon to block the afternoon sun. Its the first time I've been able to tolerate working out there during the day in the summer. Yes, I need a fan blowing on me, but it used to be unworkable at all.

As you know, I too, live in Houston.

Bob Davis

[Dhakala]

Why not a swamp cooler for 1000 sq. ft.? Today, I saw a $350 unit at Home Depot rated for 800 feet. The $450 unit was rated for 1500 feet.

It's not for your square feet. It's for your comfort, right? :-)

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 18:11:23 -0500, the opaque Hax Planx spake:

Put a small sprinkler up there and plumb it indoors so you can turn it on and off at will.

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals - --------------------------------------------------------

Web App & Database Programming

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Laundry and dishwashing are not heating and cooling costs directly.

The $50 sounds very cheap given today's energy, but not impossible in a well insulated house. I can do 2000 sq. ft. for less than $100

As for the people living there, they add to the total heating, not to the cost.

Body functions = heat Light bulbs = heat Computer = heat Cooking = heat Washing + drying clothes = heat

[Hax Planx]

That's an even better idea. Thanks.

[MakaNui]

I'd say you need to put in some roof vents. If the air inside is hotter than the air outside then it will try to escape upwards. If you have no ventilation in the top half of your building then the heat has no place to go. Thing to remember is, if you ventilate the top of your building, you need to allow intake vents in the bottom half of your building too. Vents come in all types and sizes some powered others not. I've had good luck cooling my houses attic crawlspace and workshop (small as it is it don't take much..) with Whirly turbine type nonpowered vents. These are the spinner type you see on warehouses and such. They are cheap and effective. Venting isn't the cure all answer, but it is an affordable starting place. Good luck getting the heat out.

Aloha... Craig

[Hax Planx]

Leon says...

Ah, takes me back to my college physics days. The reason why insulation and a radiant barrier are needed is because heat can be transferred in two ways: by physical contact of one substance that is hotter than the one next to it, or by infrared radiation. Insulation protects against the first type of heat transfer, but like you said, unless it incorporates a reflective barrier, which a lot of it does now, it will absorb infrared along with the rest of the house. This is bad in both the summer and winter. In the summer, your house, including the insulation, absorbs infrared from the sun. Then long after the sun goes down, your house may still be hot and sticky because it has stored all that energy and continues to radiate it onto you. It is bad in the winter because when it absorbs the infrared, it eventually must radiate it away, but the radiation goes in every direction. Some goes back into your house (good), some is radiated away (bad). When IR hits a reflective material, it bounces off instead of being absorbed. Infrared isn't heat, it becomes heat when it is absorbed by some material. Infrared barriers act the same way a mirror does, which is why they are bright and shiny. Infrared barriers are good in summer and winter because in the winter, it reflects the infrared back into your house heating some object that can absorb it, and in the summer, it reflects IR from the sun instead of allowing the material under it to absorb the IR and beam it inside.

I know that's more than anybody wanted to know, but since I spent five years cramming on this stuff, it should be useful for something.

[D. J. MCBRIDE]

I believe the radiant paint is a Sherwin Williams product. And, I believe it is available as an interior wall paint, in colors for those rooms that catch a lot of sun on their exterior walls. I've heard it opined that if you are not going to condition the space then insulation is not the way to go. But, maybe that's just for high humidity locales like Houston. I'm also not a fan of blown-in cellulose insulation. I'd be afraid it will break down as the years go by, make dust. Not to mention the chemicals it's likely treated with.

[Prometheus]

Have you considered installing a fan in the wall near the peak of the roof, where the heat collects? If you do that, and open a window at your level, it should cool the place down fairly quickly and signifigantly. Even a good size passive vent might help quite a bit.

[Prometheus]

It dropped the temperature in my old shop from scorching hot to whatever temperature it was outside in a matter of minutes, and it sounds like you have exactly the same situation in yours. IIRC, they had some vent fans that mounted directly to the inside of the roof right next to the ones mounted on the wall at the hardware store, so that may be easier.

[Hax Planx]

Most people are recommending vents and fans, but it is a cinder block building and they would be difficult to install.

[Hax Planx]

If they are in the roof, what about rain? Or maybe you are talking about a hooded vent?

[Hax Planx]

Thanks. I'll look at Sherwin Williams products.