Summer blues

[Namco]

*Sigh*. Well, it's that time of year again. For me Summer marks the time of year when the garage hits 90+ degrees (32 Celsius) in the garage making it much too hot to stand in front of the arcade cabinet, much less turn it on to overheat. I can't lug the thing into the house because it's much too big and will upset the wife.

Now I'm trying to think of ideas to Summer proof my classic gaming experience. My next project could be one that is accepted into the house, such as an LCD based slim cabinet or a classy looking cocktail. This will allow me to bring the arcade experience inside where I won't be sweating on my CP. Another that I'm thinking about involves my newfound fondness for pinballs involves building a VP table. But LCDs have such bad viewing angles and the 40" plasmas that are commonly used for the purpose are too pricey. Plus altering the tables to run in fullscreen portrait mode is a taboo topic on many boards for some reason.   

Here's a few more ideas I've though of:

• Add a portable air conditioner to the garage (impractical)
• Stuff the cabinet with dry ice (more impractical)
• Play console games (the most impractical idea of them all)
• Build a bartop (great idea!)
• Build a small desktop CP (kinda taking a step backwards there)
• Spend more time playing real vids and pins (if you can find them)
• Troll the boards (what I'm doing now)

Anyone have better ideas? If so, let me hear them. Because as it is now, I can only play in the morning before work, or after 10 in the evening and playing Mame32 on the desktop keyboard just ain't happenin'. 

[ahofle]

Just curious, what is your garage door made of?  Mine is the crappy thin metal variety.  The garage became an oven in the summer and was frigid in the winter.  So I finally put some 1" thick foam insulation into the individual panels for insulation.  I can't believe the difference.  I can actually tolerate being in the garage now.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=76453.0

[Namco]

Just curious, what is your garage door made of?  Mine is the crappy thin metal variety.  The garage became an oven in the summer and was frigid in the winter.  So I finally put some 1" thick foam insulation into the individual panels for insulation.  I can't believe the difference.  I can actually tolerate being in the garage now.

Wood, but the roof is exposed and there's no insulation on them. I'm sure all the heat just leaks in from the roof and heat of the sun, plus the furnace/AC unit in the garage contributes to the heat as well. All the hot air just gets trapped up there, it's like an oven.

[TOK]

I'm in a somewhat similar situation... My air conditioner vents into the the garage, and even with a circulating fan drawing the air out, its pretty uncomfortable. Fortunately I have three working games in the house, its just my JAMMA machine and 2 project cabinets that are out there.

[Ginsu Victim]

My wife gave me the small office for my cabinet. It's right under the A/C vent.

Sorry...that didn't help any.