If you had a choice for a hangar with door facing south or north, which would you choose. North would be great to keep the heat away but south could see relative humidity decreasing due to higher air temp in the hangar, and possibly moisture evaporating faster after rain? What about in practice from your experience?
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Door facing North or South for Florida hangar?
- Thread starter soarak
- Start date
I'm always a fan of South. I know it doesn't matter as much in Florida, but my thought is that in the Winter, with the sun relatively low in the sky, you'll get warming sun directly into the hangar. In the summer, the inclination of the sun means the sunlight will <mostly> fall on the roof, not shine into the hangar. Again, probably a better strategy for points North of you.
Well finding out if there is a vapor barrier under the concrete could be quite difficult. The hangars were built 20 years ago. How would you find out? The only option is to tape 12”x12” plastic sheet to the floor and see if there is moisture under the sheet in a few days.
"Cold" is a relative term.
Auburntsts
Well Known Member
Personally, I don't think it matters in the rare instance where you actually have a choice. Location (eg Pan Handle vs South Florida vs Coastal vs inland) can have a larger impact overall. My 8 years in Tampa vs the same amount of time in Northern VA has taught me that the number of days where the hangar is an absolute oven are greater in FL and the hangar never gets anywhere as cold as I saw in Manassas, at least not for any length of time. It's FL so the humidity is generally high most of the year so unless your doors seal really well (mine do not) moist salt air is an ever-present issue.
Note: My doors face South and the hangar is not insulated or climate controlled in any way (same for my Hangar in Manassas although its door faced East).
Note: My doors face South and the hangar is not insulated or climate controlled in any way (same for my Hangar in Manassas although its door faced East).
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RV7Guy
Well Known Member
I'm in the planning stages of building a home/hangar at Love's Landing, in Weirsdale, FL. Beautiful corner lot My only choice is to have the hangar door facing East. 60x70. The door will be insulated and covered on the inside. My current hangar home in Chandler AZ has the door facing North. Definitely the best orientation as the summer sun is in a southern sweep. The garage door is south facing and the garage gets really hot.
I'm in SC and my hangar faces North. In the summer, the hangar doesn't get hot until around 1200, then pretty much remains the same temperature for rest of the day as the sun isn't shining on my doors. In the winter, the steel T-hangar, with insulated ceiling, it just about stays just above ambient temp throughout the day.
The best insulation I found for my hangar doors (1 Schweiss bifold, 1 Higher Power hydraulic) is the 2" foam board with the radiant barrier. Mount it on the inside, on top of the metal framing so it has an adequate gap between the metal skin and the radiant barrier. Went from walking by an oven to no heat rise on the inside surface of the foam. I installed it with 2 sided tape 12 years ago, nothing's come loose yet.
