Hi guys,
I live in Florida and the summers here are very unforgiving. I always wanted to convert my garage into my hobby room but I am very much in doubt because of the humidity and heat during the summer. I was just wondering if anybody has ever tried using solar panel exhaust fans. I was thinking of using two in my garage which they sell at Costco. What do you guys think.
Glen
I don’t think leaving your trains in an un-airconditioned space in Florida will give a good result. I left some O-27 track in my garage in Florida, and it turned to a pile of rust.
I have the same problem you have, no place to put the trains in my house.
I have a layout in Florida, never had anything rust on me in the garage. I keep engines and rolling stock in the garage. I store most everything not currently on my layout in the garage. I’m near the gulf and perhaps the gulf winds keep the temperature from soaring like in does in the center of the state.
Where in Florida?
Hi Frank53,
I saw the pictures that you posted. Is this layout really in your garage? Well I guess if I put 2 solar powered exhaust fans on my garage roof it might work? Thanks.
No it is in a small (11.5 x 11.5) spare room off the garage. The garage is my workshop though. Maybe I have more temperature tolerance, but I have had no problems working in there year round and I have seen to ill effects from humidity.
I was going to say earlier that I had friend when I lived in Tallahassee, FL that had his whole collection in his double car garage he never open the double door you entered by going Thur his breeze way into laundry room into garage. I don’t believe it was air-condition from my memory.
i dont live in florida but i live in new jersey and still gets pretty hot in the summer and had my trains in the garage for 15 years and never a problem . when it does get hot i do open a window turn a fan on to let some hot air out.
My father lived in New Jersey. In the dead of summer it would get hotter than it does here in Florida. He stored our trains in his attic eaves in 1964. Postwar trains, track, accessories. They sat there through cold winters and blazing hot summers for 38 years before I retrieved them in 2002. They worked perfectly when I started using them again in 2004.
No damage or negative impact whatsoever.
I live in West Palm Beach, FL and the biggest problem I have is with track rusting on me. Had to go to Gargraves stainless steel track, other O gauge tubular rusts on me, even Lionel’s Fastrak gets dirty too quick, and loses power at the connections. My layout is indoors and upstairs in the air conditioning, and I have to use Gargraves stainless steel track.
Is your garage finished? Sheetrock already on the ceiling? If the roof on your garage ends in a peak, I would go with a ridge vent instead of the solar powered vents. There’s no moving parts and nothing to fail.
I’m a huge fan of insulation although I would never use any fiberglass batts, no matter what the colour. What I have found over the years is that critters like to use it for nests and bathrooms. I use either an expanding foam or board insulation.
Insulation would help cut down on temp extremes.
I once was offered an opportunity to scavenge a garage layout here in Austin, which is also hot and humid. I took some trees to be polite, but there was no track on it that was remotely usable.
Hi Balidas,
Yes, my garage is finished. I will look into ridge vents. Thanks.
Hi Balidas, i will look into ridge vents. Thanks. Ohh and yes, my garage is finished.
I would suggest that as a minimum you get a good dehumidifier. I think it is the humidity that is the problem and not the heat. Along the east coast of Florida, there is also salt spray. Salt will dissolve steel pretty fast.
Thanks Servoguy, i have thought of that and I am currently looking into that too.
Ridge vent or otherwise you still need air coming in to expel the hot air through the ridge. Be sure you have a few or more soffit vents. You may also want to look into a way to insulate the garage door if you do not already have an insulated garage door. Use garage door weather seals on the outside of the door also.
A finished FL garage does not always mean an insulated garage. Anyway, you need to check and make sure there is at least insulation above the garage. A dehumidifier on year round sounds good. With insulation and attic ventilation I skip the dehumidifier and use a window shaker AC unit when it gets hot.
When we hit Disneyworld the last time, we rented one of the multitude of homes in the Orlando vicinity that folks living elsewhere (in this case the UK) bought and just rent out to Disney visitors. This one was newer. The attached garage was finished and the floor sealed, then covered with indoor/outdoor carpeting, They also had the garage attached to the house HVAC system on it’s own zone and programmable thermostat. It was set up as as a game room for the renter, with a pool table and other stuff.
So it was just as comfortable in there as it was elsewhere in the house, but only when and if and how long you wanted the heat/AC/dehumidification. And the garage could still be used as a garage whenever they wished. Now that manufacturers have every manner of size and shape of flexible ductwook, tapping the garage into your home HVAC system if you have enough capacity will not require major reconstruction and labor to get ductwork and returns into and around the garage…assuming your garage is attached. My garage is unheated but attached with the walls and ceiling finished and insulated to code. Sadly, it is reserved for the cars and other stuff to keep all of them out of the elements and extremes year round.
Short of that, the peak venting and additional soffit venting is a good idea. Works well in my attic.
Also consider using a whole house fan for moving a lot of air fast. Mine is mounted in a second floor hallway and has 36 inch fan blades. Every 2 minutes (or is it 4?) the fan pulls/evacuates a 2400 sq. ft.area’s air from the house/open windows and pushes it into the attic where it then mixes with the superheated Summer air up there and pushes it all out the pe
I have had soooo much trouble with things from Florida and rust I will not even consider biding on anything that has metal and is coming from Florida. JMHO.
Kev.
Besides steel rusting, there is another problem: Zinc disease, where the zinc die castings swell up and turn to powder. This doesn’t happen with everything that is diecast, but you won’t know which pieces are turning to powder until it is too late. Personally, I won’t take the chance.
The worst area in Florida is the east coast. The salt spray will totally destroy a air conditioner condensing unit in 3 years. And it gets inside the house, also, and corrodes stuff in there. Unless you have been to Daytona or some other beach area, you have no idea how bad the salt spray is. On an average day, visibility on the beach is limited to about a mile because of the salt fog coming off of the ocean. Cars that live along the beaches rust from the top down. Worse than cars driven in the salt up north.
My home is near Orlando, and salt spray here is not a problem, but humidity is.
I agree with KRM that buying stuff from Florida may be risky, particularly if it is from the coastal areas.