Best Options for Garage Door Insulation?

[geteh]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to insulate my garage door to keep it cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

I've seen options like foam boards, reflective insulation, and fiberglass batts, but I’m not sure which one works best for a garage.

The door is standard aluminum, and I’m wondering if anyone has experience with these methods or another recommendation?

I also want to know if insulation really makes a noticeable difference with energy efficiency and temperature control.

Any tips on installation would be great, too!

 

[geteh]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to insulate my garage door to keep it cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

I've seen options like foam boards, reflective insulation, and fiberglass batts, but I’m not sure which one works best for a garage.

The door is standard aluminum, and I’m wondering if anyone has experience with these methods or another recommendation?

I also want to know if insulation really makes a noticeable difference with energy efficiency and temperature control with the help of tlsenergysavers.com.

Any tips on installation would be great, too!

thanks in advance for any help

 

[mrmikey]

I'd say foam Your best bet would have been getting the door as insulated when you bought it (hindsight's 20/20) as it's foamed in place and adds considerable strength to the door. I don't know what it would be like without insulation but I can imagine an 8' x 7' uninsulated piece of aluminum would not be warm in the winter.

 

[SARG]

"Best option" = replace the door with one that's insulated.

 

[KennyG]

The easiest thing is to get a roll of reflective foam insulation and cut to fit the panels in the door. Get closed cell foam, not the bubble wrap stuff. It won't be perfect but it will help. You could get more elaborate with rigid foam but you will still have the ribs that bypass the insulation so it's not possible to get great insulation on a garage door, even a factory insulated one.

 

[319Quahog]

Yes, it makes a HUGE difference in the garage temp. Don't believe me, start shooting things with an IR thermometer in the garage and see where the heat loss/gain is. Of course if you're like me and leave the door open much of the summer, it won't do much good to keep heat out.

Put me in the camp of replacing the door. Note that if you get an insulated door with windows, ensure those windows are insulated as well. I made that mistake with an R12 door that came with single pane windows. Will eventually get window film for them.

Also, insulated doors are heavier, you might have to upgrade your opener.

 

[EddieWalker]

When building my parents house, we went full insulation in the attic with R60, then R13 fiberglass bats in the walls and insulated garage doors.

In the heat of summer here in East Texas, it can be hard to breath in the afternoon when outside. In their garage, it's noticeable cooler and comfortable.

I'm adding on a garage to my house and I'm using insulated garage doors.

I've been in several houses with insulated garage doors, and I've seen where people have added foam to their doors to insulate them. In some of the older homes, there isn't much difference in appearance between the foam that came from the factory, and the foam people added to the doors.

If I had an uninsulated garage door, I would buy the thickest sheet of foam that fits inside the door panels and cut it to fit. Then I would glue it in with something like Lexel caulking. I might even run a can of expanding foam around the edges just to make it as tight as possible.

In my experience, almost all the benefit from insulation is from the attic. Max that out, and then you can improve on it by making the walls air tight. Insulation on the walls helps, but it's not as important as keeping the outside air from getting into the space. Wind is your biggest enemy.

 

[ponytug]

I'm with @EddieWalker small air leaks make a big difference. I would add my vote to reflective panel foam at least as thick as thick as the ribs, glued on with a compatible panel glue. (If you make it thicker, you have to bevel the foam to allow the door to roll up. I think it is not worth the effort.)

But, I would make sure that the door seals are all good, and the door is aligned in the frame to seal well. As @EddieWalker wrote, don't forget to max out the attic or ceiling insulation.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I've had both insulated and one that we insulated with that foam board. Foam board is almost useless. The door gaps still don't seal, there are so many thermal breaks... When we built this last time we went insulated on all of our overhead doors. Anything else is lipstick on a pig

 

[bigtiller]

I had some insulated doors on my garage that I thought were pretty good, until they started falling apart after 20 years.

I replaced them with doors that are 2" thick with sprayed on, closed cell foam.

There is a big difference between the old big-box-store door and the new ones.