When it comes to improving the energy efficiency of your home, your garage might not be the first place that you think of. If you have an attached garage, though, you may be leaking warm (or cool) air from your home without even realizing it. While there are a few different ways that you can combat this, one of the most effective is by installing new garage doors.
Of course, not all garage doors are created equal when it comes to
improving the energy efficiency of your home. To help ensure that you get the most
for your garage door dollars, let’s take a look at exactly how new garage doors
will help you save money on your heating and cooling costs.
Energy Efficiency and Your Garage
A lot of emphasis is usually put on the windows and doors facing the
outside when trying to optimize the energy efficiency of your home.
Garage-connecting doors (and even occasional windows, if you have an attached
garage that was added onto your home after construction) are often overlooked,
however, which can be problematic. Not nearly as much effort goes into
protecting these connections from drafts and leaks, even though a garage
without garage doors still has the same outdoor air as what you’ll find at any
other door or window. This can be even more problematic if your home has a
garage access near the intake for your home’s heating and cooling system;
instead of circulating air from within the home, your intake might be pulling
in outdoor air from that door and losing just a bit of that internal
temperature every time it kicks on.
This is where a garage door becomes useful. Even though it’s unlikely
that your garage will be connected to your home’s heating and cooling system,
having it as a mostly closed environment will still help to stabilize the
temperature and prevent at least some of the problems that can cause drafts and
temperature leaks. Once you install garage doors, you might see a small but
noticeable difference in your overall heating and cooling costs, especially if
your garage access is near your HVAC intake.
Choosing the Right Garage Door
You may notice that
some garage door manufacturers advertise the R values of their doors much like
insulation. While this can be useful information when choosing a garage door,
the segmented nature of the doors and the fact that such a large area opens and
closes when the garage door is used means that this isn’t going to be as useful
as you might think. A good R value is nice to have, but don’t base your garage
door choice simply on this one factor.
Instead, find a sturdy
garage door that goes well with the look of your home. Windowless garage doors
or doors that feature windows with low-emissivity coatings will perform better
with regard to energy efficiency. Wood doors are great for insulating your
garage, though vinyl doors and even steel also do decent jobs while offering
additional benefits as well. You’ll likely have several options to choose from,
so take the time to choose a door that not only insulates well but also fits
the overall feel of your house.
Garage Door Installation
While it’s possible to
DIY your garage door installation, it can be a pretty big task to get your
doors installed properly. Even being as little as an inch or two off with some
of your measurements can cause big problems, including gaps that will affect
the energy savings that the doors provide and tension points that will cause
undue wear and tear on your garage door system. This is why it’s often
recommended to bring in a pro to install the garage doors for you, since they
can help ensure that everything is installed just right to get the maximum life
and savings out of your entire garage door setup.
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