Garage Door Insulation
Are you in the market for a new garage door or looking to make your garage more comfortable? If so, you might have a few questions about garage door insulation. Read below for our thoughts on a handful of common insulating questions.
To start with, if you have a room above your garage door, insulation is a must. Look for a garage door that has an R-Value of at least 14. If your garage is temperature controlled, we suggest insulated garage doors that deliver an R-Value of 10 – 13.
Basic garage doors are 24 or 25 gauge steel and poor insulators but good conductors. Conduction is bad for energy bills and can be improved with insulation. At around 7/320″ thick, single layer garage doors can be hot or cool to the touch, depending on the weather. A garage door that faces South or West amplifies this problem because of direct sun exposure.
To summarize, garage door insulation improves the efficiency and comfort of your garage. Whether it’s a need or a want depends on how you use your garage.
Do wood garage doors need insulation?
Wood garage doors aren’t very good conductors, so they don’t get hot/cold to the touch like steel. The wood used to build garage doors is thicker than even the thickest steel. This means most wood garage doors deliver decent R-Value with no insulation. Yet, Amarr and Clopay wood garage doors include insulation and can deliver R-Values of 14+.
What R-Value should my garage insulation have?
- Detached Garages: 0 – 6
- Attached Garages: 7 – 9
- HVAC Controlled Garages: 10 – 13
- Garages with Rooms Above: 14 +
Why not insulate my garage door?
Buying an insulated garage door doesn’t make sense for a detached garage used for storage. The same goes for an attached garage without insulation between the studs or attic. Insulated garage doors work best when the rest of the garage is well insulated.
What does R-Value mean?
R-Value measures insulation’s ability to slow the transfer of heat. Residential garage doors have R-Values between R-0 and R-19+. The higher the R-Value, the better it insulates. Amarr provides a helpful chart detailing R-Values and how to interpret them.
What are the types of garage door insulation?
Polystyrene and polyurethane are the most common insulation used in new garage doors. Garage door builders cut and place Polystyrene into the voids between layers of the doors. Polyurethane insulation, a liquid injected between layers, finds voids and fills them which eliminates pockets of air and inefficiency. Polyurethane performs better and insulates twice as well as polystyrene.
Please contact us with questions. Our team of experts is standing by to help with your garage door needs across Southern California.
