Too hot in the garage... ne suggestions?

[irishanaconda]

Well my garage has no windows and i live in arizona. I keep about 5 thermomiters in the room and notice at the highest shelf that i keep my lab cages on it gets to about 94 and its killing off about 1 breeder female a day and not to mention there not producing. basicly i was wondering if any one knows of a way to cool down the garage with no outside ventilation? Right now i have been putting 8 blocks of ice behind the fans but that only works for about 4 hours or so. the room is about 20X10 feet.

[hmj75]

Well my garage has no windows and i live in arizona. I keep about 5 thermomiters in the room and notice at the highest shelf that i keep my lab cages on it gets to about 94 and its killing off about 1 breeder female a day and not to mention there not producing. basicly i was wondering if any one knows of a way to cool down the garage with no outside ventilation? Right now i have been putting 8 blocks of ice behind the fans but that only works for about 4 hours or so. the room is about 20X10 feet.

If you have fans circulating around already, you can try and putting an exhaust fan...Without windows you can also try running an ac duct into the room...

[lusciousdragon]

When i bred rabbits we would freeze milk jugs and 2 litter bottles to put inside of the cages. Maybe you can do that with smaller bottles and put them into the cages of the ones in the highest temperature. Then they could regulate their body temperature by moving closer or further from the frozen bottles. If they are dying, then the bottles sure couldn't hurt to try. You should be able to fit quite a few small bottles into your freezer. Make sure to leave air at the top of the bottles for the ice to expand or they will pop.

[wolfy-hound]

There are also room AC units that are self contained. They don't require any outside ventilation and I think they're pretty reasonable(under about $400 for a large one).

Otherwise, if you can lower the animals closer to the floor, put in fans for circulation, or even(if it's an attached garage) you could open the door to the house and let the house AC cool the garage(might get pricy).

If you put frozen bottles in the cages the rats might(will) chew on them, so I'd put them on top of the rack(racks right?) or outside the tank up against the glass.

Sometimes in summer my snakeroom gets too warm and I move the snakes from upper bins to lower bins and don't use the upper ones at all. That usually fixes the problem. Sometimes I use a fan too.

[PiedPeddler]

There are also room AC units that are self contained. They don't require any outside ventilation and I think they're pretty reasonable(under about $400 for a large one).

If you just want to get through the next month, some of the other suggestions might get you by. But, if you think you'll be doing the same thing again next summer, I think Wolfy's suggestion might work out for you. They aren't exactly self-contained though. They do not have a condensate drain, it just collects in a bucket at the bottom of the unit and you'll have to empty it regularly, at least this time of year you will. Also they have flexible ducting designed for intake and exhaust through a window, and since you don't have a window, you'll still have to accommodate that. You can't just plunk it down in the middle of the garage and expect it to cool. I looked into these for my snake room, but decided against them in favor of a window unit. I'm guessing it's not your house so you aren't allowed to cut an opening and frame in a window unit on the side of the garage, which would actually be your most affordable and practical long-term option. Good luck Shane!
- Paul

[tomfromtheshade]

94 degrees is too hot.

Get yourself some air conditioning. Even if you only get the room temp down to 80 degrees you will be waaay better off.

[wolfy-hound]

I didn't realize there was ducting, the one at my bro's house didn't look like it had anything like that. Of course, I wasn't picking it up and looking either. I just know it made the garage icy cold.

And yes remember you don't need to drop the temps to 76F, or where you'd feel comfortable in regular clothing. You only need to drop the temps to a reasonable level for the rats. With a fan, it needn't be that low.

[PiedPeddler]

94 degrees is too hot.

Get yourself some air conditioning. Even if you only get the room temp down to 80 degrees you will be waaay better off.

I set the A/C in my garage to 87. My production from the Norway rats has slowed for the summer, but they are still producing and the ASF's are doing fine, although I did have a few adult ASF's die the first time the temperature spiked. A/C is costly to run when it's over 110 outside and overnight lows are above 90, even with a moderately insulated garage. I consider 87 degrees to be the tipping point. Any warmer seems to really hurt production and may affect the health of your breedstock. For every degree from 87 down into the 70's, you will be rewarded with increased production. I am probably going to drop my garage below 85 this week because most of my ball clutches are hatching now and I'll want a steady supply of fuzzy Norway's to offer the hatchlings.
- Paul

[PiedPeddler]

One more comment regarding my post above. The 87 degrees I'm referring to is 24 hours a day because it simply does not cool down at night in the Arizona metropolitan areas. They are probably less impacted by higher daytime temps if they can cool down a little at night.
- Paul

[suzuki4life]

I change from pine to pellet bedding in the summer months
I have a few circulation fans but the building hit high 90's this summer. They are still producing. Humidity hurts them more than temps.