How Insulated Garage Doors Could Help You Save Money

How and why you should insulate your garage

You can have thick, insulated walls, energy-efficient windows, and weatherstrips around the front door of your Tri-Cities home. But if you don’t also take steps to insulate your garage, those measures won’t be nearly as effective, and Tennessee’s wintery drafts could still cause chills from time to time.

The fact is your garage door is a serious potential weak spot in terms of heat retention. Today, let’s take a look at how insulated garage doors could help you save money on energy bills and keep your home warmer than ever.

Insulating your garage doors – why bother?

Your home’s “thermal envelope” is essentially the layer of insulation offered by your walls, windows, and other heat-saving measures. Unfortunately, most garage doors act like breaches in thermal envelopes, especially if they share one or more common walls with the rest of a house. They’re poorly insulated and may have gaps between their surfaces and garage walls, letting warm air escape outside.

On top of that, your garage door likely opens and closes multiple times per day. If you drive in and out twice per day, or if you have kids coming and going, forget about energy efficiency.

For these reasons and more, it's a good idea to consider insulation for your garage doors. Even simple measures can save you tons of money and keep your garage – and, by extension, the rooms near your garage – warmer, even throughout the winter.

Don’t forget noise-reduction benefits, too. Insulating your garage door often leads to a quieter, more peaceful workshop or storage space. What’s not to like?

3 Ways to insulate your garage door

When it comes to insulating your garage door, you can do so in three different ways depending on your door’s quality and your budget.

1. Buy a garage door insulation kit

By far, the easiest way to have your garage door insulated is to purchase an already insulated garage door. The second easiest way would be to purchase a premade, ready-to-go garage door insulation kit.

These kits can range from $40 all the way up to $150 or more but usually come with everything you need to get the job done quickly and easily, including adhesive tape, utility knives, gloves, and pre-cut boards or batts to cover your garage door's surface. If you're not sure where to start or what materials to use, purchasing a garage door insulation kit is a budget-friendly way to get your project started.

2. DIY garage door insulation panels

However, you can always DIY garage door insulation if you have some home renovation experience and are comfortable cutting insulating boards by hand. If you go this route, be sure to get the supplies mentioned above, including gloves, a dust mask, a sharp cutting knife, and adhesive tape.

Choose fiberglass or foam boards for insulated garage doors

DIYing your garage door insulation means choosing between fiberglass or foam boards.

Foil-faced rigid foam boards are popular choices since they’re durable and easy to cut. You can pick from three different foam board types:

• EPS or expanded polystyrene boards, which resist damage from heat and moisture alike
• XPS or extruded polystyrene, which offers slightly better thermal insulation than EPS material
• ISO or polyisocyanurate, boards of which are faced with foil and offer the highest insulating value per inch of thickness out of all the board types

Fiberglass batt insulation is affordable and popular, as well. “Batt” insulation refers to roll or strip insulation – it isn’t rigid like foam boards. Batt is flexible and soft, and fiberglass batts specifically are made from very thin threads of spun glass.

Premium fiberglass insulation can offer greater thermal resistance than foam boards if it’s thick enough. Some home improvers appreciate batt insulation since they can cut and mold the insulation into the perfect shape without breaking it.

How to apply garage door insulation material

No matter which type of insulation you choose, the process is the same:

• Measure the empty space(s) on your garage door
• Scrub the spaces clean
• Cut the insulating materials or door panels into the right sizes – use a tape measure to get your measurements perfect!
• Then use adhesive tape to apply the insulating materials to your garage door. Presto!

3. Buy a new, insulated garage door

Have a bit of extra cash to spare, or want to make sure your garage door traps in as much heat as possible? A new, insulated garage door could be just the ticket.

For example, the Amarr Lincoln garage door is made of durable, low-maintenance steel. More importantly, it's available with an optional insulating layer to improve energy efficiency and reduce noise transmission into your garage.

You can also select new garage doors with energy-efficient windows. This route is expensive, but it could be worthwhile if your current garage door is really worn down or if insulating it won’t do much given its condition (i.e., there are cracks in the door, it doesn’t fit right because of warping, etc.).

Bonus tip: apply weatherstrips for long-term insulation

Here’s a bonus tip for insulating your garage door, but it only really applies if you’re leaving your home for a while and won’t open your garage door for an extended period. If you’re going on vacation or otherwise leaving your house unattended for some weeks, stick some weather-stripping material along the edges of your closed garage door.

Your garage door's edges are easy spots for warm air to leak out. By sealing these gaps, you'll keep your garage and your home warmer while you're away. Just remember to remove the weatherstrips when you return before you click your garage door opener!

In the end, insulating your garage door doesn’t have to take long, and it could result in you saving hundreds of dollars per year on your energy bill. Best of all, installing a new, energy-efficient garage door isn’t tough with expert assistance like that of Window World.

Window World of Tri-Cities is ready and waiting to help you save money, so visit our showroom today or give us a call!