Spray Foam Insulation

Is Your Garage Door Insulated?

Do you know that you can lose precious heat through your garage door? Have you considered installing garage door insulation? Perhaps you should. We have a two car garage. It's not heated, most aren't. So, you may wonder, just how you are losing heating through it? Here's how. Most garage doors open directly into the kitchen, as our's does. We always notice the kitchen feels a bit chillier during the cold winter months and always feel a chill when opening the door out to the garage. However we never considered garage door insulation until we saw a neighbor installing it.We got online and did some research into garage door insulation. It seems that not a lot of people consider insulating their garage doors, so we're not alone. Of course installing garage door insulation will help keep the garage cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. In fact, the use of reflective foil garage door insulation can keep the garage up to 20 degrees cooler in the summer.

Another place that may be in need of insulation is the garage ceiling, especially if you have living space above the garage. A lot of homeowners notice the change in temperature in living spaces above garages during warm/cold months of the year.

It's easy to find garage door insulation kits online. It's a definite do-it-yourself project. Most garage door insulation kits use reflective double foil panels. R-values are how insulative products are rated. The higher the R-value the better the insulative effect. Reflect double foil garage door insulation generally has an R-value of 6.0.

These panel kits come in a variety of sizes which allow them to fit most standard metal residential garage door easily. They can be cut to fit exactly with a utility knife. Some more expensive garage door insulation kits have insulation panels that fit exactly so they don't need trimming at all. Most kits come with double sided tape.

You can use residential insulation panels bought at Home Depot or Lowes just as well. Some homeowners prefer to buy fiberglass and foam insulation with a higher R-value rating and install it themselves. If you do-it-yourself you can use metal duct tape.

Don't forget to take into account the extra weight you're adding to the garage door when you install insulation. You may have to re-balance the spring-tension of the garage door opener. At the same check to make sure that the rubber gasket between the door and the floor is sealing tightly.