Insulated Garage Doors

For people with homes that don't have insulated garage doors, winter can be a pretty cold and desolate time of year.  Any room of their house that's located adjacent to that garage is going to be extremely cold.  And if they're in a 2 story house with a room over the garage, they have even more heat loss to deal with.  And with all that heat loss comes sky high heating bills.

A simple fix for these enormous heating bills would be for these homeowners to install insulated garage doors. Not only would they help reduce energy usage and help lower those astronomical heating bills, but insulated garage doors would also greatly increase the value of their home.

In today's economy, though, many homeowners have other priorities that have to come first. Even though it would save them tons of money in the long run, the money for new insulated garage doors simply isn't in the budget. What these homeowners need to realize is that they could insulate their existing garage doors and still make quite a dent in their energy bills. We talked to some contractors and came up with the following tips to help show these homeowners how they, too, can have insulated garage doors.

Insulated Garage Doors Tip #1

Many of the major home improvement stores carry garage door insulation kits manufactured by companies like Prodex and Falcon Foam. These are different types available for different purposes and budgets, but the two most popular are reflective foil insulation and foam insulation panels. These kits come with all the materials you need including detailed installation instructions. Some even have a video included.

Insulated Garage Doors Tip #2

If you have a standard size residential garage door then you may consider using reflective foil garage insulation. Look for an R6.0 rating. This type of insulation comes in big rolls like aluminum foil but its much heavier duty. There are two types of this foil available, single and double foil and you'll want to look for the double for better performance. This double foil has two layers heavy duty polyethylene air bubble between two layers of 99.9% pure aluminum foil. Its cost will depend on the number and size of doors you'll be insulating but usually ranges between $120 and $200 and it can easily be installed in a matter of hours using a utility knife, adjustable wrench and some cleaning supplies. The one drawback with using the foil to insulate your garage doors are that is doesn't qualify for the stimulus tax credit.

Insulated Garage Doors Tip #3

You could also choose to use panel garage door insulation, which is available in two different types, either fiberglass or foam panels. A popular brand of fiberglass is Owens Corning. Again, depending on the area you'll be covering, prices will range from $100 to $200. The foam panel is similarly priced and they fit right inside the channels of the garage door without any other installation supplies. These types of insulation will both qualify for the federal tax credit that's available for homeowners who install insulated garage doors.