Should I be concerned about a hot garage?

[daniel]

It gets hot here on Maui. My house is air conditioned (for free, via solar) but there are no A/C vents into the garage, and yesterday afternoon I measured the temp (with an infrared thermometer gun) at 90° F.

I could get a little cool air in if I left the door to the garage open, letting some hot air into the house. Don't really want to if I don't have to. I could open the big garage door for a half an hour in the early morning before sunrise when the outside temperature is in the middle 70's. But I really don't want to do that. I'm in a good neighborhood, but still... Or I could spend a bundle and get some A/C into the garage by diverting a vent or installing a small A/C unit.

My question: Is 90° F too hot for the car? Obviously, there's no sun on the car when it's in the garage. I'd rather not have to do anything, but when I go into the garage in the afternoon, it's like an oven. (Well, not literally, but you know what I mean.)

P.S. There are places that get a lot hotter than here. We don't get anything like as hot as Phoenix or Las Vegas. But still, it feels sweltering in the afternoon. (Worth it, though, to be able to go out paddling a canoe or kayak on the warm, flat ocean in the morning.)

 

[dedicatedtek]

my Texas garage laughs at your 90° F .

 

[strider]

As long as the car has power it will keep itself cool. Just keep it plugged in and it will do what it needs to do. The danger zone for Li-Ion starts at 104F.

If your hot water heater is in your garage, you can get "free" cooling by switching to a heat pump hot water heater. It will pull the hot air from the garage and exhaust cool air back into the garage.

 

[duanra]

As per the owner's manual, avoid exposing your car to temp over 60c for more than 24 hours.

 

[rhumbliner]

my Texas garage laughs at your 90° F .

+1

Lately, here in Vegas, my garage has been at 108° when I go to bed and stays that hot until I open it in the morning when the outside air has cooled down to 90°. I’ve been thinking about adding a ventilation fan that will exchange the inside air for outside air once the outside air cools down. I’m not sure if such a differential thermostat exists commercially, but here’s a link to a DIY method: http://blog.uvm.edu/cwcallah/files/2016/01/Outside-Air-Exchange.pdf

 

[daniel]

Thanks for all the quick replies! So I don't need to be concerned. I'm very happy about this.

As long as the car has power it will keep itself cool. Just keep it plugged in and it will do what it needs to do. The danger zone for Li-Ion starts at 104F.

If your hot water heater is in your garage, you can get "free" cooling by switching to a heat pump hot water heater. It will pull the hot air from the garage and exhaust cool air back into the garage.

Actually, my hot water is solar. It's in its own little closet off the garage. So both my hot water and my electricity are solar. The solar hot water was on the house when I bought it, and I had the PV installed. PV is common here on Maui, and solar hot water is even more common. My water heater has electric also, but I've switched that off because even first thing in the morning the water is way hotter than I need.

 

[Matsayz]

I wouldn't be concerned until the car yells at you. The car has been designed to work from Texas heat to Norwegian freezing temps. Try not to over think it too much and just treat it as a car. I'm a new owner but from the forums I've read, "a plugged in Tesla is a happy Tesla" so if you have concerns, just plug it in and it'll pull power from the house to run the fans/cooling system.

 

[azred]

It seldom gets over a warmish 115 here in Phoenix and my garage has very little ventilation. My two Teslas seem very happy, probably grateful they aren’t in Grand Forks during the winter.

 

[brkaus]

You really don’t want to tie your garage into your home hvac. Risk of fumes (not so much in a Tesla but future owner) and risk of fire from any ignition source in the garage into the house quickly. Garages tend to collect junk (paint, chemicals, etc).

AC in a garage is best handled by a mini-split.

In any case, nothing to worry about for the car.

 

[ZoomsansVroom]

You'll love an air conditioned garage. My brother has one with anepoxy floor, an air compressor and a vacuum.

It makes cleaning interiors etc much more pleasant

 

[Rockster]

I'm seriously thinking of installing a split AC in my garage. I'm tired of having a garage that's useful just a month or two out of the year. I hate doing anything in my garage most of the time.

 

[355rockit]

I have a QuietCool garage attic fan. It pulls the hot air from the garage into the attic and vents it out of the attic vents. Works well and is energy efficient. Given you have solar, this may be an option for you. I have Ecobee sensor tied into the Vera app and the fan on an automatic switch to turn on when temps go above a certain threshold.

Garage Fan | QuietCool Whole House Fans

 

[CharleyBC]

I’m moving to Maui!

90° is nothing, and nothing to worry about. Here in Sacramento, we get temps well over 100°. Places like Yuma make us look cool. On a 108° degree day, our uninsulated garage gets even hotter. I’ve never measured it, but you can tell when you walk in. The car keeps itself happy.

 

[disapr]

I'm seriously thinking of installing a split AC in my garage. I'm tired of having a garage that's useful just a month or two out of the year. I hate doing anything in my garage most of the time.

I'm probably going to install one this winter.

90* is totally fine for the car.. If these cars can survive Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Florida etc, they can obviously handle 90* on a tropical island.

 

[SageBrush]

I agree -- if the Tesla is plugged in it will protect the battery.
As for the garage, I would think about adding a roof exhaust, ventilation and better insulation. Cool the garage down into the high 70's at night and with a better envelope it will not swelter during the day.

 

[SigNC]

I'm seriously thinking of installing a split AC in my garage. I'm tired of having a garage that's useful just a month or two out of the year. I hate doing anything in my garage most of the time.

Good news you can easily heat your garage with your car in the winter if you want and greatly increase useful months.

 

[daniel]

Thanks for all the additional responses, confirming the first responses: My concerns are put to rest.

Good news you can easily heat your garage with your car in the winter if you want and greatly increase useful months.

This was obviously not directed at me. Upcountry gets cold, and in winter it snows on Haleakala, but down here in the tsunami evacuation zone "cold" is 70°F just before sunup in winter.

 

[T-Mom]

At first I thought this was a joke because I can't imagine what car company would design a car that can't stand more heat than a human. But I see it seems a serious question. I'd think that if you can take 90 F degrees, then so can your car. Where I grew up, this was a cooling trend

 

[Dan203]

If your hot water heater is in your garage, you can get "free" cooling by switching to a heat pump hot water heater. It will pull the hot air from the garage and exhaust cool air back into the garage.

Would that really cool the garage? A heat pump is basically just an AC that sends waste heat into the water instead of pushing it outside. So unless you used a LOT of hot water it just doesn’t seem like it would run enough to actually cool the garage.

 

[SigNC]

This was obviously not directed at me. Upcountry gets cold, and in winter it snows on Haleakala, but down here in the tsunami evacuation zone "cold" is 70°F just before sunup in winter.

Sorry, was just directed at the gentleman that couldn't use his garage much. I did cycle to the sun up haleakala a few years ago.......quite brisk at the top and amazing views!