hot garage

[apvbguy]

Hi everyone, I am getting my LEAF SL tomorrow and I am busy reading these great forums. the info on here is great.
My question is about heat and battery life, my garage gets very hot in the summer, I am in FLA and the garage is neither air conditioned or well insulated. will sitting for prolonged periods of time in a garage that gets well over 100 degrees ok or do I need to keep it outside of the garage?

 

[cwerdna]

You planning to lease or buy?

How many miles you will be driving daily? How much of it highway? Will there be charging along the way/at your destination?

Can you update your location info via User Control Panel (near top) > Profile (left side)? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

 

[RegGuheert]

will sitting for prolonged periods of time in a garage that gets well over 100 degrees ok or do I need to keep it outside of the garage?

It is not O.K. unless you have leased and are O.K. with losing perhaps 30% of your battery capacity over the next three years. Cooler is better.

 

[apvbguy]

You planning to lease or buy?

How many miles you will be driving daily? How much of it highway? Will there be charging along the way/at your destination?

Can you update your location info via User Control Panel (near top) > Profile (left side)? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

I am leasing, it will not be a daily driver, it is a toy for me (retirement is fun :lol My longest trips would be about 70 miles R/T(very rarely done) I am in Northern FLA the summers can be very 85+ degrees with high humidity and winters are mild.
there are not too many charging stations around here so my trips will have to be able to be completed on one charge. Thanks

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Good that you're leasing. As the battery degrades, you will need to keep your speed down if you don't have the ability to charge along the way/at the destination.

See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11682" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (at 100 kph, 65 mph indicated on speedo) and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

 

[KJD]

Anytime the temps are over 80f you should park outside of the garage at night.

 

[surfingslovak]

Anytime the temps are over 80f you should park outside of the garage at night.

Yes, absolutely, that's sound advice. If possible, please park outside or under a carport when it gets hot or try to improve ventilation in the garage.

 

[jrreno]

You will note from my post that I am much farther south in Sarasota. I always keep my Leaf in the garage which does get quite warm in summer. I charge most nights to 80% starting at 1am. I have not experienced any battery degradation to date.
One thing I am looking into is a replacement for my hot water heater which is in the garage. GE has a nice domestically made heat pump hot water heater. I have read many comments from people that have installled them that it cools their garage ( extracting heat to heat the water).
As you can see we do not put a lot of miles on but we have taken many trips beyond the range of the car with level 2 charging sessions to get back home.

 

[surfingslovak]

You will note from my post that I am much farther south in Sarasota. I always keep my Leaf in the garage which does get quite warm in summer. I charge most nights to 80% starting at 1am. I have not experienced any battery degradation to date.
One thing I am looking into is a replacement for my hot water heater which is in the garage. GE has a nice domestically made heat pump hot water heater. I have read many comments from people that have installled them that it cools their garage ( extracting heat to heat the water).
As you can see we do not put a lot of miles on but we have taken many trips beyond the range of the car with level 2 charging sessions to get back home.

Yes, based on what owners have seen in Phoenix and other hot locales, low mileage definitely helps. That said, the first signs of trouble typically manifest themselves around the first anniversary.

 

[DanCar]

Consider installing a swamp cooler in the garage. They are cheap. If you only charge to 80% battery degradation won't be an issue.

 

[apvbguy]

once again this forum is one of the best around for great people sharing good info, thanks!

 

[Herm]

Does your garage door get hit by direct sunlight at any time of the day?.. if so insulate it with some styrofoam sheets, easy to do and inexpensive.

Probably a good idea to put in a ventilation fan, it does wonders in lowering the temperature, hardly uses any power.

 

[apvbguy]

Does your garage door get hit by direct sunlight at any time of the day?.. if so insulate it with some styrofoam sheets, easy to do and inexpensive.

Probably a good idea to put in a ventilation fan, it does wonders in lowering the temperature, hardly uses any power.

I am in FL and the garage faces s/w and takes a good 6 hours of direct sun, so it gets really hot in there.
installing a fan is probably the route I will take, regardless of the leaf it is just way too hot in there!

 

[Stanton]

I live in similar conditions (with the exception that my garage door doesn't have a Southern exposure), and I have been able lower garage temps with a shop fan blowing directly UNDER my Leaf. I only do this on the hottest (100+ degree) days where I see 7TB and you can see from my sig I have yet to lose any capacity bars. Yes, I have lost some capacity (and expect to lose a bar sometime in my second year), but using an 80% "end only" timer for the morning along with the fan has obviously helped.

 

[EricBayArea]

In the summer it will get in the 80s, 90s and hit 100 for a handful of days. Since I have a detached garage (its a few steps from my front door), once it is in the 70s/80s i leave my garage door open about a foot and then the door on the opposite side of the garage open. This allows it to vent through. Although I never thought of leaving it outside...

 

[RegGuheert]

One thing I am looking into is a replacement for my hot water heater which is in the garage. GE has a nice domestically made heat pump hot water heater. I have read many comments from people that have installled them that it cools their garage ( extracting heat to heat the water).

+1

I installed one last fall and can attest to the fact that it puts out a lot of COLD! (I guess it really takes in a lot of heat, but is sure FEELS like it puts out cold!) Ours isn't in the garage since it is a bit cold here for that in the wintertime, but in a warm climate like FL or AZ I think installing one of these in the garage right beside a LEAF makes good sense!

 

[Herm]

I am in FL and the garage faces s/w and takes a good 6 hours of direct sun, so it gets really hot in there.
installing a fan is probably the route I will take, regardless of the leaf it is just way too hot in there!

I had the same problem in Florida and it was an oven.. go to Home Depot, buy a few sheets of 3/4" styrofoam and line the inside of the garage door with it.. use double sided carpet tape to attach it, works very well.