How to Insulate Your Garage

While the garage is not the most glamorous location in most homes, it has a lot of potential.

While the garage is not the most glamorous location in most homes, it has a lot of potential.  A garage is often an oasis for home projects, work and all manners of tinkering.  Additionally, garages are often used for storage of a wide range of objects ranging from old paint cans to family photo albums.  However a garage is used, any garage can benefit from insulation that better weather-proofs it from outside elements and conditions.  Rather than being freezing to the bone or risking heat stroke to spend a few minutes in your garage, added insulation will not only better insulate your garage for improved energy efficiency and comfort but it will also pass on benefits to your home as well.

Adding insulation takes a relatively useless space and makes it a year-round usable space.  Before adding insulation one important energy efficiency effort every homeowner should make is to check any doors or windows in the garage to ensure that there is a proper seal in place.  If weather-stripping has worn down or become damaged over time, replace it now so that you can maximize your insulation benefits.  Insulation will not help much if air can flow freely in and out through leaks in windows and doorways.  Next, if your garage walls are not currently insulated, speak to a handyman about having insulation installed.  There are a variety of insulation materials and ways to install insulation and your handyman will be able to offer experienced advice to ensure you get the best installation for your specific home.  One important area that many people forget to insulate is their garage door.  Many standard garage doors do not come with insulation and by simply adding garage door insulation you can add a world of comfort and improved energy efficiency to your garage.  Additionally, not only will insulation provide protection against heat and cold but it will also provide insulation from street noise. HomeAdvisor describes the importance of garage door insulation and how it is typically installed, “For garages that are attached to your home, proper garage door insulation can be as much about insulating your home as it is insulating your garage. A metal garage door with too much space around the door can be a horrible conduit for heat loss. Garages, being as large as they are, will conduct more heat from your home than you probably think. Even if you can’t feel the loss in the garage entryway, the walls that are shared with the garage can increase the strain on your central heating and cooling. Attached garages are considerably closer in temperature to the main house than their stand-alone counterparts, but this means the difference between the garage and the outside air is greater. This difference is a leading factor in the formation of moisture in the garage. First, you should put weather-stripping on the bottom edge of the garage door. Then, you’ll want to install insulation on the door itself. Polystyrene and injected foam insulation are the most popular and appropriate forms of garage door insulation. They are cut into panels that allow for easy, inexpensive installation. The relatively small area of a garage door makes this one of the cheapest insulations projects you can do for your home and because heat gets lost so quickly through a metal door, it’s also one of the insulation projects that makes the most sense.”  If your garage door is not currently insulated speak to a handyman about having insulation installed as soon as possible so you can start reaping the seasonal energy efficiency benefits that insulation provides.