Keep Your Electricity Bills Low with an Insulated Garage

Investing in Insulation

One of the easiest ways of saving money on your electricity bill is doing a quick check to make sure your home is properly insulated. Most homeowners know that houses with leaky insulation cost more to keep warm or stay cool.

However, some homeowners don’t realize the importance of insulating their garage, which allows outside air to creep further into the house, resulting in inflated HVAC bills.

Eliminate a Huge Source of Heat-Loss

"Often, though, the garage, you know, that not‑quite‑inside, not‑quite‑outside room in your house that sports an enormous, extremely conductive metal door–is ignored, even though it can be a big source of heat loss in winter," said This Old House.

"That’s not to say you should heat your garage; heating your garage is inefficient. But you can take several steps to better protect your garage from the elements so that it no longer sucks the heat right out of your home."

The amount of air that enters the garage is much greater than any other part of your home for several reasons, most of all because the garage door is the biggest entry point in your home.

In most home construction projects, garages tend to be built as quickly and cheaply as possible, treated almost as an afterthought.

However, adding basic insulation to your garage doesn’t take much effort and is fairly inexpensive. If you choose to do it yourself, using spray foam insulation is one of the quickest fixes, with many of these insulation solutions providing superb R‑value. Applying it to the walls and then covering it up with drywall immediately improves hot and cold air retention.

Part of insulation efforts should include discovering small hole and cracks in the wall, which allow air to enter from outdoors. Fill these spaces with plaster or caulking, depending on the size and shape of the fissure.

Garage Door Insulation

Since the garage door opens and closes frequently, the weather‑stripping at the bottom of the door can become damaged and cracked due to changes in temperature, in addition to the door applying pressure to the material every time it closes. Scrape off old weather‑stripping, including the leftover adhesive, before replacing it with the new one.

There are a wide variety of garage doors that are built with insulation in mind. These solutions provide a much better R‑value than simply tossing some additional insulation on your current garage door. There are a variety of materials that you get to choose from, depending on the aesthetic appeal that you’re attempting to create. Wood, steel, aluminum and fiberglass doors can all be treated to provide excellent insulation.

The cost of electricity is constantly on the rise, which increases the return on investment of spending time and money on insulating your garage. When it comes time to choose an insulated garage door, contact us today to learn more about the best solution for your home.