Ventilating your garage

Like any other area of your home, your garage needs ventilation to ensure the quality of air inside it. This is true whether you’ve converted your garage into a home office, or you open it once a year to dig out the kids’ boogie boards for your annual beach trip. The way you use your garage doesn’t determine whether it needs ventilation, but it will inform you approach to making sure it’s ventilated appropriately for your needs.

Ventilating the garage you use for storage

The less time you spend in your garage, the less likely you are to notice the effect of poor ventilation – until you discover water damage or mould on your precious belongings. So it’s just as important to get the ventilation right.

Before you get started, it’s really important to check that your garage isn’t susceptible for flooding and that any leaks in the roof are sealed. If you’ve ruled out any of these kinds of issues, great! You’re ready to focus on airflow.

If you use your garage purely for storage space, aim for 4-6 air changes per hour. It may be possible to achieve this rate using passive vents. However, if you have a lot of condensation or humidity in your garage, think about whether you need an exhaust fan or ventilator too.

Tips: Choose a hooded or domed vent to shelter the vent from rain or run off water and keep the inside of your garage dry.

Garage Workshop Ventilation

When you’re working with chemicals or fumes, ensuring the space is adequately ventilated is critical. The engineering toolbox suggests Depending on the type of work you’re doing, you may need to install a rangehood over your work area to extract air efficiently. Check out our rangehood kits and inline fans to explore your options.

Office conversion

Most garages aren’t built to facilitate the level of ventilation you’ll need to maintain your comfort and productivity over a working day, so when you convert the space, make sure that you think about air quality right from the start. The right solution for you depends largely on how well-sealed the structure is, the materials its built from and the climate you live in.

Consider adding passive vents with filters, or perhaps even a low-capacity exhaust fan to quietly draw air out of the garage over the course of the day. The right set up will depend on a few factors including climate, whether the garage is connected to your home and

 

Check out our exhaust calculator to find out how strong your fan needs to be to achieve enough air changes to meet your goals.