Garage door insulation value?

[Bill Carey]

I put 2" owens corning foamular - painted white - over my 2 garage doors, which are insulated, and cut my electric heating bill in the shop by 50%. And it's kind of permanent cuz I don't use the garage doors, but can be removed if needs be.

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[Jerome Stanek]

How tall is your shop going to be. You can have them order high clearance track to get the head room higher.

[Jim Becker]

Air infiltration is always the number one thing that has to be addressed...if the leaks are meaningful, the insulation isn't going to matter as much. Lower R value, but very well sealed can be a good choice. Of course, higher R value plus very well seals is also very nice, albeit with more up front cost. Don't make it entirely a math problem...comfort is the larger goal.

[Andrew More]

While I think insulation is important, there are other issues with a garage door the usually make it a compromise. Most that I've seen have metal frames, which means that you've got a very good thermal bridge from the inside to the outside, partially negating any insulation in the door. Second, that metal door also usually doesn't have an sealing between the panels, so that tends to leak as well.

Some insulation is good, but I wouldn't get excited about it. The truth is that most garage doors have a number of compromises to make sure they meet the requirements most people put on them: cheap, good looking, low maintenance. Insulating factor is very low on the priority list, or the door seals and door design would be much better.

[sean meltvedt]

Bert, while the insulation value has been discussed pretty well, another consideration for me is the construction. Typically the better insulated doors are thicker. Being thicker, places the metal skins further apart making the door a ton more rigid. Just like a torsion box.
Cheers
Sean

[Alex Zeller]

One thing you didn't ask about but is worth saying is I would go with a jack shaft with a torsion spring vs coil springs to counter balance the doors. It'll give you more headroom and if you go with a jack shaft style opener (if you are going have an opener) it's not going to pull on the center of the door when trying to open it. Everyone else has hit on the key points when it comes to insulating a door.

Of course you could always build your own doors if you have the option for a sliding door like on a barn. A sliding barn style door is easier to seal as you can have a 6" overlap when closed and smooth surfaces to seal against.

[Jim Becker]

Carriage doors are also an option. Like this...

[Bob Riefer]

Outswing exterior doors can really be wind sails (in my old constructions sales days, one customer had a normal "man door" pulled completely off the hinges by a sudden gust). Not saying it's impossible, but it's something to be very aware of (and that particular vid, he only had a latch for once the door was open... if wind hit during the opening, but before the latching, he has no chance of stopping it)

[Doug Dawson]

Outswing exterior doors can really be wind sails (in my old constructions sales days, one customer had a normal "man door" pulled completely off the hinges by a sudden gust). Not saying it's impossible, but it's something to be very aware of (and that particular vid, he only had a latch for once the door was open... if wind hit during the opening, but before the latching, he has no chance of stopping it)

If you’re actually driving cars in or out of the garage, one gust of wind can spoil your whole day. IOW. :^)

[Ryan Lee]

Matt Risinger just did a video on youtube about a different track and seal that is supposed to help with air leakage on the sides and the bottom seal was some type of rubber that compressed when closed to make a better seal than the standard garage door.

https://youtu.be/h7pEGEyVBLI

[Jim Becker]

For a slider, it would be kewel to have the type that slides out from flush with the wall when opening and then slides into the wall completely allowing for a full seal when closed. The tracks, top and bottom, would have a curve that makes that work. Basically, a movable section of wall.

[Dan Rude]

There are several products out there to push the door against the front weather stripping and cause the space between the panels to seal. One is https://www.greenhingesystem.com/ the other I just found out about is https://thermotraks.com/. Both do the same thing but with different methods. Now if they seal it so the mice do not get into the garage. Dan

[Scott Winners]

On a related note I remembered "whisper air." No affiliation and I didn't search for a link since I couldn't share it anyway. They are popular up here -might be a nickname- in tight homes with wood stoves. Stove running, open the whisper air to let fresh outside air in near the woodstove. Not running the stove, close the whisper air. They have a much higher R value than a window when closed. Two sizes IIRC, depending how big your wood stove is.

Might be a handy option if you have a tightly sealed garage door and want to run a dust collector.

[Bob Riefer]

There are several products out there to push the door against the front weather stripping and cause the space between the panels to seal. One is https://www.greenhingesystem.com/ the other I just found out about is https://thermotraks.com/. Both do the same thing but with different methods. Now if they seal it so the mice do not get into the garage. Dan

I've heard positive reviews around the green hinge system but haven't tried it myself.

As for mice... Here's how I have eradicated in my barn...

Step 1: Use the garage door "easy access" (before improving the seal a ton is even better) by putting traps right next to the left and right of the opening, facing the wall. Those little buggers will just squeeze in, and then they stay along the wall as they begin their exploration. The first year I did this, I caught two per night for a couple days, and then about one per week for some time after.

Step 2: Reduce or remove "hiding places" around the building. I used to have grass coming right up to the barn. Basically field mouse heaven (field + my warm barn). Since then, I paved parking spaces on two sides, a dog pen with gravel on the third, and a basketball court on the fourth side. Once we did this work, my mouse catching dropped to about one every 6 months at most.

edit: I don't even bait my traps... if placed where they naturally walk anyways, it works just fine.


Step 3: Some disapprove of the use of decon (and similar) but decide for yourself where you are on this topic and consider if some smartly placed "last dinners" make sense for your setup.



I went from mice running between my feet while working to present day where I catch maybe one per year.

(PS - if chipmunks come after you, let me know... been there too)

[Lee Schierer]

My detached garage door is not insulated, but the space isn't heated either. When the installed the door, I noted something different in how they mounted it. The vertical tracks are mounted on an angle so the door never touches the rubber weather stripping until just before the door is one panel from closed. This provides a wedging action that seals the door very tightly.

The two insulated doors on my regular attached garage are insulated. The replaced some older non-insulated doors and what a difference they made after they were installed. Even though the garage is not intenionally heated some of the duct work runs through the garage. The garage is also partially below grade so it stays warm enough to melt the snow off the cars and snow blower.