If your garage is common with the rest of the house, its insulation is important, because the heat exchange through the connection door is a factor that contributes a lot to your increased energy consumption for heating your home. The main energy hog of an old garage is the door. Garage windows are usually small and many times there are no windows at all, so the thermal exchange takes place through the garage door. If your door is old, then chances are that its insulation is not very efficient.

Your Garage Door Insulation and the R-Value

Latest models of garage doors, since 7-8 years ago, started to include the r-value of the insulation in their technical specifications. R-value is a clue of how well your garage door protects the interior of the garage against cold and how efficient it is in preventing thermal exchanges on its surface and all around it, on the edges. The higher the r-value of a door, the better its insulation. Common garage doors have an r-value between 5 and 7. Such doors come with a polyurethane insulation or with a special insulating foam injected inside their structure. This is how such doors feature a good thermal efficiency without you needing to do anything else to insulate it better.

Older Garage Doors Can Have Good Insulation Too

If your garage door is old, that’s not necessarily a reason to replace it, in case it’s still solid and good. The key to paying less for good thermal protection is to get a so-called “garage door insulation kit“, which is easy to install and relatively cheap. Such kits are usually suitable for any residential garage door, allowing its refurbishing into a well-insulated one. Kits can be for 8 foot one car garages or 16 foot two car garages, they are usually made of polystyrene and they can provide an average r-value of 5. It’s not the best one can get, but it’s surely more than decent for only a fraction of the cost of a new garage door. It makes sense to buy such an insulating kit, because nobody loves to throw money on the window. Insulating windows and doors should be the priority of each responsible homeowner or family head. Ignoring the benefits of insulation could be fine, but in this case you’d surely have to bring in more money to compensate for the bigger energy consumption in your home.

Garage door panels may also have thermal insulation qualities, thus contributing to a significant improvement of the R-value of your garage door. This is important, because in case of older doors, the quality standards regarding insulation properties were lower than they are today, so one may wish to insulate the good old door instead of replacing it, because it’s obviously cheaper. Replacing garage door insulating panels shouldn’t be too hard to do, if you carefully follow the installation instructions that must have come with your purchase. The two main parts of the project care basically to unscrew the old panels and to bolt the new ones in place.

When buying garage door panel replacements, it’s best to go for the same manufacturer when you bought the door from. That’s because it’s a greater probability that the spare parts fit, and besides you can get specific tips and advice for your garage door model. Here are a few garage door parts dealers who sell garage door panels, so you can make yourself an idea of where to buy such panels in case you need them:

Garage Door Depot

Garage Door Depot offer replacement panels for Clopay garage doors in the Value series, for the following models:
1000 – Traditional raised panel design
1001 – Flush Woodgrain design
1100 – Extended elegant raised panel design

Pro Door Parts

This company offers parts for several garage door manufacturers: Genie, Liftmaster, Wayne Dalton, Linear, Stanley, Todco and a few others. However, it’s not very clear from their website if they provide panels for all those doors or just hardware and automation systems.

Garage Doors of America

This is a company that provides garage door repair services in all states. Although their website contains a “Garage door parts” section, they rather seem more inclined to provide full repair services rather than just the parts. Anyway, it may be a good idea to have the professionals fix the garage door for you, although it could seem like a lot of fun to do it yourself. Let’s not forget how dangerous torsion springs can be.

American Door Supply

They are perhaps one of the best sources of garage door panels out there. All replacement sections they provide can be either insulated or non-insulated, and made of aluminum, wood, steel or any other material you need. American Door Supply cover door models from manufacturers such as Clopay, Amarr, Raynor, Winsor, HAAS or GADCO. They also provide weatherstripping solutions such as bottom seals, jamb seals, header seals, brush seals, dock leveler seals or entrance door seal kits. Thermal insulation is important, so you may want to consider it at your next home renovation.

Weather stripping is the cheapest and the easiest to install. Moreover, it’s easy to replace when it gets old, so it can save you a lot of money on long term too, not only on short term. As there are many models of garage door weather stripping, it is important to see which one your door has, so you can buy the same type, otherwise you risk that it doesn’t fit. Some weather strip kits include top and side seal, like this Frost King SG30WH Frost King Plastic Garage Door Side and Top Weather-strip kit which is designed to seal and cushion overhead garage doors and which compensates for uneven concrete, thus sealing out drafts and dust. Size also matters. This one, for instance, is available in two sizes: for one car garages and for two car garages. Color is another factor that matters: brown garage doors ask for brown sealing kits. You can’t install a white weather strip on a dark garage door, because it won’t look too nice.

The garage door threshold is another important part of the garage door insulation puzzle: as it is exposed to wear, it needs periodical replacement. Such a threshold prevents water from rain to enter your garage, as well as dust, leaves, insects or snow. Garage door sealing thresholds are easy to install, as they usually are sold together with a powerful adhesive that helps you fix it firmly in position.

Maintaining the garage door weather stripping in good shape is the key to a cleaner air inside your garage and to lower electricity bills. This is even more visible in case you don’t use your garage only for keeping your car inside, but also for your DIY projects or hobbies.

Of course, not all steel doors and not all garage doors are alike. Better quality ones come with special insulation layer already built-in, so if you want to save time and money on long term, you’d better choose one the these, even if you’ll have to pay more upfront. Design options are also multiple. You can have a steel door that matches with your house exterior. A good example of an excellent steel garage door is the Clopay Value Plus Series. These are double-layer doors, made of an exterior steel layer, doubled by an insulation layer made of environmentally safe polystyrene. The bottom weather seal retaining system is made of durable aluminum, very effective and rust-free. The hinges are galvanized, so they are also protected against bad weather conditions.

The door features a neat 3 panel design with the option of including also windows, if you want to. However, you need to be aware that only the variants without windows qualify for energy tax credit.

The total door thickness is of 2″ only, and it’s very quiet in operation. This was possible thanks to the top quality nylon rollers which are silent and durable.

Clopay offers five color choices for this type of doors: white, almond, sandtone, desert tan and brown, on three detailed panel styles: short Traditional, long Traditional and Flush. These being given, multiple combination variants are possible. Depending on your door width, you’ll have to choose the number of panels across the door. Moreover, the decorative windows and inserts are so beautiful that it’s hard to see them and not wish to have them for your door.

As you can see, insulation and style can meet in a simple garage door.

Felt

Cheap and easy to find, good insulator, felt became quickly very popular. It’s cut in long strips which are then glued to the door frame, thus eliminating the gaps, if any. The main drawbacks of this solution are that it’s ugly and it’s not durable, so it needs to be done again each year or every couple of years.

Adhesive backing foam tapes

Soon, manufacturers realized the opportunity and made people’s insulating job even easier, by producing those foam tapes with adhesive backing all of us probably know from our childhood. This time, even a child could have insulated his door and windows with no hassle, just by cutting the tape to the desired length and press it against the door frame. However, this type of sealant is also fragile and needs replacement every two years or so. In the case of garage doors, which are frequently operated, such foam stripes may not work at all, because they’d need replacement several times per winter, which makes them a less ideal solution.

Special Garage Door Insulation Kits

When it comes to garage doors, heat losses occur not only through the door bottom, but through the entire door surface, because it’s made of metal and not properly insulated. This is valid for older door models. Modern ones are excellent from the start and don’t need such additional kits. However, this is a discussion about insulating older doors, so this is what we have:

• Reflective foil garage door insulation kits: the reflected foils are already cut to the door standard sizes: 8′, 9′, 16′ and 18′ width by 7′ height. Reflective kits can provide an R-value of up to 6, which is a good protection factor.
• Threshold and door bottom seals: these can be installed as they come or as an addition to reflective foils or fiberglass panels. Very energy-efficient, these seals are used to offer good protection to strong winds.
• Foam panels: made of expanded polystyrene, these panels provide an excellent thermal insulation and an efficient sound barrier, which makes them a great choice if you live in a very noisy area.
• Fiberglass insulation: thin and featuring outstanding thermal insulating properties, fiberglass is perhaps one of the most modern materials used to preserve the temperature inside the garage at a constant level with as little energy costs as possible.

Insulation kits are usually delivered with detailed installation instruction, but most manufacturers and stores offer the installation service at affordable prices, so if you don’t feel like doing it yourself, you can have professionals do it for you.

Are you worried already? Well, if you’ve got one of the latest models of garage doors, you don’t need to worry, as they are very well insulated from the factory already. If your rough opening was properly done and the door properly installed, it’s not going to affect the R-value at all. The real problem is with older doors, which aren’t that energy-efficient, therefore they need adjustments in order to match the current needs of decreasing the energy consumption. This is where the garage door insulation kit plays a major role. Such kits are available in home and garden stores and they can be installed easily, thus allowing you to still keep your old garage door you like so much.

What Is The R-Value?

The R-value is a parameter that indicates the thermal insulation level of a door or window. The bigger it is, the better. It shows how well your garage door is capable of facing the cold season, the strong winds, heavy snow or very low temperatures. The r-values of garage doors are within the R3 – R18 range, a typical door having an r-value between 4 and 7. This is obtained with the help of an insulating material, some polyurethane or foam that is injected within the structure of the door, giving it thermal insulating qualities. Over the past few years, consumers started to become more aware of this index, therefore they are trying to improve it by choosing materials with better insulating properties, by replacing their old windows and doors with new ones, which feature double glazed glass panes, or by making their own thermal curtains and draperies.

Quality Insulation For Old Garage Doors: Is It Possible?

If you don’t know what the r-value of your garage door is, chances are that it’s too old, so you could use a special insulation kit to improve it rather than to throw it away and buy a new one. Such kits offer a high-quality insulation, and they are available in two variants: the 8 foot single car garage door and the 16 foot two-car garage door. Most garages are built for either one or two vehicles, so you have the most chances to find a suitable one for your garage door. The material used for manufacturing these kits is polystyrene, a very good insulator, which would allow you obtain an R-value of 5 for your old door. Taking into consideration that this is a fast and easy method of preventing thermal exchanges at your garage door level, which you can buy and install by yourself, it’s no wonder that so many people are using these kits for avoiding heat loss. The other solution is to pay a professional to insulate your garage door. In case you are a single lady with no technical aptitudes, you may want to have this job done by somebody else. Otherwise, there’s no reason why to pay more money, when you can do this job by yourself with maximum efficiency and safety and with lower costs.