Winter is Coming… Prepare Your Garage

What’s the deal? What Does Insulating My Garage Really Do?

A warm, well insulated garage is a very nice thing to have.

For starters, if you’re a tinkerer, a well-insulated and/or heated garage can make sure you can continue to work in peace and comfort, in a suitable space. Even when the temperatures drop, you may have a hobby or personal home upkeep that may need a work space to make use of during the long, cold winter.
Keeping A Relatively Warm Garage is Good for Your Car and Other Equipment as Well…
It’s not all about your comfort. Being responsible with your garage space will also help ensure that cars and other expensive equipment, as well as stored chemicals are not damaged or ruined by freezing temperatures. Very low temperatures can cause freezing of water in lines or even fuel gels, which can affect engine performance, not to mention adding extra wear to hoses and other pieces of equipment.

What Can I Do to Help With This?

As a homeowner, there are several things you can do to help protect your valuable equipment and your home’s heating bills. Not all of these may need done, but each one is a contributing factor to the warmth and efficiency of your garage:

• Check all Weatherstripping on your garage doors
• Purchase an insulated garage door, or insulate the one you have
• Insulate the walls of your garage, if they are not already insulated
• Consider adding a separate gas or electric heater unit

Garage Weatherstripping

Garage weatherstripping can get tired and wear out or become brittle due to weathering and other factors. When there is not sufficient weatherstripping, most commonly on the bottom of the garage door, drafts and cold air penetrate your garage space more easily. This causes reduced temperatures and a constant battle for any heating unit to combat.

Additionally, certain garage doors, such as the Overhead Door Thermacore® line may provide additional protection, by adding thermal breaks in-between door sections, in order to further reduce air leaks.

Insulated Garage Doors

Traditional steel garage doors are great and very durable, however, they are not very thick and provide very little insulation value. By either adding insulation to your doors themselves or by purchasing specially manufactured, pre-insulated doors, your garage doors’ insulation value can be increased dramatically.
Some older doors are easier to insulate than others, depending on the space or pockets provided by the door itself. Manufactured insulated doors such as the Overhead Door Thermacore® line most often are made from a steel-polyurethane-steel sandwich style construction that is both energy efficient and durable, while also maintaining a high aesthetic value.

Insulating Garage Walls

Attached garage walls are a part of your house, though they are often not treated that way. It is very common in traditional construction practices not to insulate the garage space. However, by doing so you may gain additional efficiency for the heating of your home, as well as a more comfortable indoor working space.

Insulating garage walls is typically an easy task. It is highly recommended that you read the installation guide carefully and ensure a proper thickness is selected. Other common mistakes to look out for may include insuring proper supports for the batting or cutting it either too short or too long for the space.

Installing a Gas or Electric Heater

The garage is typically a space that you would not want to run your regular central heating and air into. However, additional comfort and efficiency can be added by installing either a gas or electric heater unit.
Gas units will be more efficient and less costly to run, but they do have a higher up-front cost typically because of the need to run gas lines and add exhaust venting. Electric units will typically require no construction to install, but may be more costly to operate than gas units. So when making the choice for gas vs. electric, it makes sense to consider how often you will use the space. If only very infrequently, you may want to consider electric over gas.

About Overhead Door Corporation

Overhead Door Corporation is a pioneer in the garage door and opener industry, innovating the first upward-lifting garage door in 1921 and the first electric door opener in 1926. It remains the leading expert in the garage door industry through superior craftsmanship and cutting edge innovation. Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value Report found that upgrading a garage door is one of the best investments a homeowner can make, and Overhead Door is the go-to company for quality garage door upgrades with a commitment to professional service.

About Overhead Door of Knoxville

Overhead Door of Knoxville is locally owned and operated by William S. Trimble, Co., Inc., a full service, family owned supplier of building specialties, in business since 1936. It supplies, installs, and services Overhead Door's range of overhead garage doors, access controls, and other traffic related opening products for the Knoxville area. Its expertise is unmatched in the industry, and it has a staff of Door and Hardware Institute (DHI) certified Architectural Hardware Consultants (AHCs) ready to provide technical expertise for all of its customers' consulting needs.