Garage Door Insulation: How to Keep Your Home or Business Warm in the Winter and Cool in the Summer
Garage doors play a crucial role in adding a layer of security to your home or business place. But what if we told you that it can do more than that? It can go as far as helping you save cost on energy. That’s where proper garage insulation comes in.
With proper insulation, your garage door can prevent cold air from entering your space during winter. And prevent hot air from infiltrating during the summer.
With an insulated garage door, your HVAC unit won’t have to overwork itself, saving you money on both energy costs and HVAC repair costs. So investing in garage insulation, helps you stay comfortable in your premises.
Key Highlights
- Insulating your garage door can greatly improve energy efficiency and save you money on heating and cooling costs.
- Different types of insulation materials, such as fiberglass, foam board, and reflective insulation, can be used for garage door insulation.
- Insulated garage doors can help regulate temperature control and create a more comfortable environment in your home or business.
Types of Garage Door Insulation Materials
There are several materials you can use to insulate your garage doors. And we’d use a few minutes to discuss them. Some of these materials are fiberglass insulation, foam board insulation, and reflective insulation.
Let’s give a quick overview of each of these before we discuss their pro and cons. Fiberglass insulators are made of tiny fiberglass. It has a huge R-value that measures its thermal resistance.
Foam boards are made of rigid foam panels. They are known for their high energy efficiency. While reflective insulators are made of foil-faced foam. Just as the name suggests, it reflects heat away from the garage door, maintaining the temperature inside the garage door.
Now to be sure of the type of insulation material that perfectly fits you, you’ll need to be abreast with the cons and pros of all these insulation materials. Let’s introduce them to you:
Fiberglass Insulation: Pros and Cons
Fiberglass insulating materials have proven to be effective yet affordable. Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider using fiberglass insulation.
Pros:
- When compared to other insulating materials, it’s affordable
- It has a high R-value. This means that it offers high thermal resistance.
- Easier to install when compared to other insulating materials.
- It also offers soundproofing benefits.
- It offers a good amount of resistance to moisture
Cons:
- Can sag over time, especially when not properly taken care of
- Itchy and irritating to the skin when installing
- Requires you to put on person protection equipment when installing to shield you from exposure.
- Less effective when compared to other insulating materials
- Overall, fiberglass insulation is an effective, yet cost-effective option that offers both thermal resistance and soundproofing benefits.
Foam Board Insulation: Features and Benefits
Foam board insulation is a popular choice among people who need a superior energy-efficient option. Here are the cons and pros of this option:
Pros:
- Provides excellent heat insulation. It’s a superior energy-efficient option
- It also provides resistance to moisture, making it immune to molds and suitable for humid environments.
- It is lightweight, making it easy to install.
- Since it’s light, it can be easily cut into various shapes.
- It provides good soundproofing. This can help you focus on work inside your space, without having to hear distracting noises.
Cons:
- It’s relatively more expensive w compared to other insulating materials. It becomes even more expensive when you are working with a really large garage door.
- It’s also more susceptible to damage when compared with other options.
- Some types of foam boards are inflammable and can release harmful fumes when burned.
Reflective Insulation: How It Works
The reflective insulators work by reflecting away the radiant heat of the sun that hits it. By that, it allows no sunlight to gain access to your premises.
The foil-faced foam possesses the radiant power it needs to bounce away radiant heat. This type of insulating material is most useful during the scorching summers. By installing reflective insulators, you reduce the amount of heat that enters your space from outside, maintaining a cooler living space.
In hotter climates, reflective insulators are the best, they save your cooling unit a lot of strain, helping you save on cost.
But here’s another thing you should know about the reflective insulators before making a choice. When it comes to colder climates, it’s not so effective in heat retention.
Benefits of Insulating Your Garage Door
All this while, we’ve been focusing mainly on the energy efficiency benefits insulated garage doors offer. But it’s far beyond that. Here are the benefits of insulating your garage door:
Temperature control: insulated garage doors help to improve the temperature regulation within your garage. Your garage insulators keep you comfortable while performing activities inside your garage.
Noise reduction: If you are like me who love my peace and quiet, then this is a major benefit to consider. It shuts you out of the noise coming from outside. Be it traffic noise, noise from the buzzing city, or even construction noise. You can work with full concentration.
Protection of temperature-sensitive items: Not all objects should be exposed to either of the extreme temperatures. You are certain of the longevity of objects that might be damaged on exposure to extreme temperatures.
Save on energy cost: By reducing the strain of your cooling or heating effect, you save on both energy cost and the cost of repair on your unit damaged by too much strain. In the long run, you can end up saving up to the initial cost of installing the insulator.
Seasonal Considerations for Garage Door Insulation
Every season comes with it extreme temperature. This means to properly defend against extreme temperatures in your garage year-round, you need to put in measures for both summer and winter.
Preparing for Summer Heat
During summer, garages tend to get very hot. The direct sunlight hitting the garage door subjects the garage to extreme heat. To defend this, apart from installing a cooling unit, you can also install reflective insulation specifically designed for double garage doors. This won’t only complement the cooling unit, but it will also save it from doing so much work. Another thing to defend against this heat is to make sure the garage is properly ventilated.
Preparing for Winter’s Cold
Winter is a season for another extreme temperature. This time around, instead of heat, it’s cold. But the reality remains that both extreme temperatures are uncomfortable and unhealthy. Insulate your garage door thoroughly using insulators with high R-values, which can be found at home improvement stores, hardware stores, and online. Measure your garage door before making your purchase to ensure the kit you buy is compatible with your type of garage door. This will help shield your garage from cold transfer and keep it warm during the winter months. Also, make sure there’s no gap or air leak throughout the insulation. With this, you’ll be sure to defend against the winter cold.
All year round: The reality is that you can’t have a separate plan for summer and revamp your garage all the time when the winter comes in. So to get your garage properly energy efficient throughout the year, you’ll need to take in some measures from summer and some from winter. Combining them is a perfect way to go about the all-year-round approach.
Cost Analysis of Garage Door Insulation
It’s important to do a cost and savings analysis when choosing to insulate your garage door. Here is a breakdown of the cost analysis:
To budget your garage door insulation project correctly, consider the insulation material type, garage door size, and any other tools or materials you may need. Take into account the entire installation process and its labor costs.
Research different insulation materials like fibeglass, foam board, and reflective insulation so you can choose the one that fits your budget best. Make sure to factor in any possible professional installation fees if you decide to use professional help.
By insulating your garage door with styrofoam or liquid nails, you save costs in the long term because you’ll use less energy. The thermal barrier helps you to prevent heat transfer and thus, you can achieve a more stable temperature in your garage, reducing heat loss. This eases the load on heating and cooling systems thus, it may prolong their lifespan and reduce maintenance costs. Additionally, with easy installation using liquid nails, you can save on labor costs by installing the insulation yourself.
The exact amount you get to save may vary depending on local energy rates and climate conditions.However, several homeowners and companies documented impressive energy savings and a quick return on investment (ROI) after they insulated their garage doors.
Looking at the initial costs and long-term savings, insulating your garage door can be an investment that is worthwhile and you will realize this in the form of reduced bills, less frequent damage to your HVAC unit, and increased comfort.
Conclusion
What’s the reason why you haven’t insulated your garage? It’s a great way to ensure you stay comfortable and save costs. If you are considering insulating your garage door, then you need professional advice and help in both making the right choice and performing the insulation process.
Over here in Marlton, New Jersey, Dave Mosely The Door Guy is the right choice for you. With our years of experience in the industry, we’ve encountered the most challenging insulation problems and no problem might seem too challenging for us anymore. We are properly equipped with all necessary insulation kits. We are here to help you with your insulation problems. Reach out to us now.
