How do I get airflow in my pole building

My old house had a second garage door on the back and the breeze made it tolerable in the summer. I’m looking for a cheap way to get airflow in the pole building. My first thought is to make use of the fiberglass light panels on the west side of the building. Remove part of the panel and install some type of window/vent. I’d like to do this without a fan but would consider it if it was cheap and quiet.  I will need to easily close it to keep the garage watertight for when it rains. The other option is to cut an opening at the rear of the building (south side) through the metal siding. Suggestions?

Thanks!

What's the prevailing wind ?

Ridge vent is best,  Keith's Big Ass Fans thread would be of interest to you

In reply to iceracer :

 Prevailing winds are out of the southwest.  I get pretty good breeze most the time  since there’s mostly  open field to the west. 

Toebra :    I already have a ridge vent and I’ve tried to put a fan at the south end of the garage but it really doesn’t do any good unless I’m standing right in front of it. I need some way to get cross ventilation in the garage. 

My garage faces west and has a 5x7 roll up door on the east side.  Easy to open for airflow and taking big stuff outside when there are 2 cars blocking the big door.  Keeps it very comfortable inside until it hits 90 out then everything is just uncomfortable 

Insulating can only help to keep it more comfortable, but that might be beyond the scope/budget here. They make gable fans. Can be triggered manually, or setup to turn on automatically at a set temp. This can interfere with the soffit/ridge vent combo in certain cases though. Metal roof or asphalt?

In reply to STM317 :

 Asphalt, but may change to metal in the future. Insulation is down the road but I’ll need to stud the walls and finish the electric. I’m looking for quick/ cheap fix to get some air. The doors face the north so no air flow at all. 

Ridge vent is useless unless you create a convection current  from the bottom so the heat can rise from the soffits. No ceiling means you can't do this.  

Ridge vents are almost universally misunderstood.

Just stick a big wall fan up as high as you can. 

Or, roof mount whole house fans. 

I don't think I can overstate the positive effects of insulating the underside of an asphalt roof. There are potential moisture issues related to this depending on your climate, but the difference is dramatic.

Big box fan from Grainger with flappers/shutters/whatever they're called that close when the fan isn't running? Maybe with a healthy sized ceiling fan for circulation. 

Cut in another door opposite your current big door. Barn door, overhead door, man door - whatever. As big as you can fit.

In reply to OHSCrifle :

I don’t think I’ll get much air flow since I store racks of firewood on the south end of the building. And that’s not going to change. 

RevRico:

I’ll have to check Grainger. Something up high out of the way is what I’m thinking

Would this work?

Yup

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I don't think I can overstate the positive effects of insulating the underside of an asphalt roof. There are potential moisture issues related to this depending on your climate, but the difference is dramatic.

I’m guessing this won’t work up north.?

RevRico said:

Big box fan from Grainger with flappers/shutters/whatever they're called that close when the fan isn't running? Maybe with a healthy sized ceiling fan for circulation. 

This.  My dad put a big fan on the side of his garage . It can be used to remove paint fumes, heat, exhaust, or humidity . A quick run at night and it is cooled down very quickly . It's a high volume fan . 

In reply to rustybugkiller :

It worked very well for my garage, I’m in MI.

But I didn’t insulate right at the roof deck level, I insulated at the horizontal rafters.  Or at the “ceiling” level I guess.