How to Ventilate Your Garage Properly

Garages often get neglected. If you’re like many individuals, chances are you use your garage as a storage unit or a second-rate room in your home. Even so, you still need to ventilate your garage properly. Poor garage ventilation is not good for a couple of reasons. First, the chemicals and fumes your vehicle generates, along with tools or machinery you might operate inside your garage, are hazardous if they get into your home.

Also, heat buildup in an attached garage in the hot summer months can make the rest of your home uncomfortable. In the wintertime, it can have similar effects.

So, here are some options to ventilate your garage properly, some are easier and less costly than others.

  1. Install Door Vents
    An easy solution is to install vents in your door, one set low and one set high, that will ventilate passively by drawing various temperature air currents through the vents. Remember, vents aren’t the best option for colder climates where you’ll have to insulate your garage, or if you want to ensure the whole space is ventilated properly.

  1. Install a Garage Exhaust Fan
    Garages tend to develop bad odors and fumes because of:
  • Exhaust that travels in from vehicles
  • What you store in them
  • The lack of fans and windows that can stir air movement

Because of this, many people invest in a garage exhaust fan that helps generate air flow. You can purchase a garage exhaust fan online for under $450.

  1. Open Doors and Windows
    You can ventilate your garage naturally by opening the windows and doors to the outside. This can produce a cross-ventilation to help move the airflow in your garage.

  1. Invest in a Ventilation System
    If you’re okay with investing some money to improve your garage ventilation, you can install either a passive or active ventilation system. Either type of system will help remove stuffy, hot air from your garage. The passive system uses little to no power. The active system does require electricity to properly function. Both types will help to lower your garage temperature in the summer and improve the airflow all year-round.

Ventilating your garage doesn’t need to be difficult or intimidating. There are various avenues you can look into once you understand the basics and particulars of the design of your garage.