Garages are convenient storage areas for vehicles, mowers and other lawn machinery, garden fertilizer, and similar items. What all of these have in common is that they put off fumes. Here is more about that and the importance of proper garage ventilation.
Dangerous Fumes
One of the most serious hazards of most garages is the potential for carbon monoxide to build up in the air when an engine is running. This can occur even if the garage door is open. Since the garage is still closed on three sides, this poisonous gas may not escape very quickly and can create a very dangerous situation.
Other fumes, like those put off by any chemicals stored in the garage, can also build up. Without anywhere else to go, concentrations of these toxins only increase over time.
In detached garages, health effects of the fumes will be limited to occupants of the car or garage. In attached garages, carbon monoxide and other gasses can easily slip beneath doors, through cracks in the walls or enter the home through other breaches. At the very least, this negatively affects your home’s air quality. At worst, it could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Good ventilation for a garage will use an exhaust system to push these bad fumes outdoors and draw in fresh air.
Heat Gain
Another reason that garage ventilation is important has to do with heat gain. This is the amount of heat your home gains through solar radiation and other means.
Heat can build up easily inside a garage simply because it is small and enclosed. Park a car inside with a hot engine, and you can imagine how the temperature will rise even more. If your garage is attached to your home, this heat can radiate through the walls and attic and make your home hotter.
When you have a ventilation system installed, the hot stagnant air has somewhere to go. The garage will still be warm, but it won’t be as bad as before.
For more information about ventilating your Yuma garage, please contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Yuma, Arizona about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about garage ventilation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 928-723-3183.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “karamysh/Shutterstock”
