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When the winter season returns, you may be worried about its effect on your garage. If you don’t have a very energy-efficient garage door, unwanted cold weather can seep in and keep the temperature inside chillingly cold. Here are some tips on enhancing your garage door’s energy efficiency this upcoming winter season.
Replace Weatherstripping
One of the most susceptible areas of your garage door to allow cold air to penetrate inside of your garage is its edges. Usually, thick weatherstripping material is installed around the entire exterior edge of the door to provide an airtight seal when the door shuts. It’s important to realize that this weatherstripping is only rated to last through one season. To provide your door with optimal efficiency, it’s typically best to have one of our garage door professionals install new weather stripping before the winter season hits.
Use Insulation
When optimizing the thermal efficiency of anything, adding garage door insulation tends to be a go-to measure. It helps to create a barrier between the temperature inside your garage and that outside. One of the easiest ways to add insulation is to purchase a garage door with insulation built inside it. These doors will come with a specific insulation rating so that you can determine what door will best meet the particular needs of your area of the country.
If you don’t have the money to invest in a new garage door with built-in insulation, you can simply add insulation to your current one. You can purchase insulation specially cut to fit the panels of your existing garage door. These sections will compress and fit in place, helping to provide a thicker barrier to keep the cold winter weather out of your indoor space.
Insulation has additional benefits. It can help soundproof a garage for band practice, woodworking, or other loud activities. It can also help keep traffic noise out of a converted office or other quiet space.
Invest in an Energy-Efficient Garage Door
Another great way to improve the efficiency of your garage doors is to upgrade to a more energy-efficient model. There are many different doors out there that are designed to be more energy-efficient than your typical garage door. These doors are given a U-factor thermal performance rating, which measures the rate of heat loss through the material. This rating tests the entire door assembly, with a lower rating translating to a higher efficiency.
Other Ways to Boost Garage Energy Efficiency
Apart from just making your garage door more energy efficient, you can do various other things to make your entire garage more efficient for the winter season. One of the most obvious is insulating the garage’s surrounding walls and ceiling. There’s no point in investing in a top-of-the-line, energy-efficient garage door if the rest of your garage merely allows the heat inside to dissipate. Ideally, you’ll want to choose insulation that matches or exceeds that of the insulation in your garage door.
When insulating your walls, pay special attention to light switches and outlets. Any of these on the exterior walls of your garage should receive adequate insulation to prevent cold air from seeping in. If you have any windows or doors in your garage, be sure that any air leaks around their frames are sealed properly with weatherstripping, caulking, or even spray foam insulation.
If your garage floor has cracking or other defects, cold air can seep in. Opt for sealing over or repairing these defects. If you have outdated windows in your garage, you may want to consider upgrading them to more energy-efficient models. Be sure not to cover these windows during the daytime. Instead, allow natural light to seep into the garage and warm its temperature.
Electricity in the garage can become more efficient if you use smart lights. These lights are often tied to a motion sensor, so they will turn on and off based on occupancy. Outdoor garage lights can be set to turn on at sunset and off at sunrise.
Helpful Garage Door Inspection Service
Above the Rest Garage Door Repair offers garage door inspection service to the Colorado Springs, CO community. We can also help with all your garage door repair, installation, parts replacement, and panel replacement needs. Call our office today to book your next service consultation.
