How Insulated Garage Doors Can Help Reduce Your Energy Bills

If your garage is connected to your home and your garage door isn’t insulated, you could be losing energy through it. As much as 20-30% of your heat could be lost through your garage, and with energy prices on everyone’s minds right now, it’s worth thinking about investing in an insulated garage door.

This month at Garage Door People, we’re going to take you through everything you need to know about insulated garage doors and how they can help you lower your energy bills.

What are the benefits of an insulated garage door?

Clearly, the number one benefit of an insulated garage door is the reduction you will see in your energy bills. But there are other potential benefits too, including:

• Improved strength – due to their construction, an insulated door will likely be thicker and stronger than a standard garage door.
• Quieter operation – as you lift and lower your insulated garage door, you’ll have fewer creaks and rattling because the materials used will help to prevent and absorb sound.
• Comfortable space – if you use your garage as a workshop, crafting space or home office, you’ll find it’s a lot more comfortable in the colder months with an insulated door fitted.

Which types of garage doors are best for insulation?

To understand which garage door types are best for insulation, you first need to understand how garage door insulation works. All insulating materials should come with a U-value to indicate how good they are. The U-value of any building material is a value for how much thermal transmittance it allows. The lower the U-value, the less heat the material allows through it, and therefore the better its thermal efficiency for your home.

Ordinarily, your simple garage door is just a single panel or connection of panels made of one sheet of metal, fibreglass or wood, offering just a single layer between your garage and the outside elements. But with an insulated garage door, you have a thicker material or a special filling material within any voids.

With this in mind, the garage door types with the best U-value are usually thicker or with better insulating materials built into said voids. Sectional, roller and up-and-over garage doors often all have insulated versions available, whereas a thick timber garage door will come with naturally insulating properties.

How to add insulation to your garage door

If your garage door is already an insulated model, that’s great, but there are a few other tips and tricks you can use to improve your thermal efficiency even further to keep those bills down as much as possible.

• Add seals where you can – This includes around the frame of your garage door, as well as a weather strip along the floor where the bottom of your garage door leaves a gap.
• Get double-glazed windows – If your garage features windows, make sure you don’t cut corners or you’ll still lose heat. Opt for double glazing or better if you can.
• Get proper garage flooring – Your garage floor is likely to be concrete, which isn’t very comfortable to walk on. Add proper flooring with rugs or carpeting to help trap heat in the room — especially if you have to use it as office space!
• Use a heater – While not technically a form of insulation, you can make your garage a warmer space to work or carry out tasks in with a small heater. And if you’ve got an insulated garage door, you won’t have to worry about losing as much heat as you would with a normal door.

Why you should consider a new insulated garage door

Considering a new garage door? Here are just a few reasons you should consider getting an insulated garage door over a standard door:

• Save money now – As soon as your insulated door is fitted, you should start seeing the benefit to your comfort and your heating bills if the garage is attached to the house.
• Save money in the future – Over time, you’ll save more money by investing a little extra in your garage door if you plan to stay in the property long term.
• Better resale value – If you plan to move in the near future, an insulated garage door is still a good investment as you can list it as a benefit for potential buyers, giving you the edge over other homes and allowing you to ask for a higher price for your property.
• Work from home – While some have returned to the office, many people are now choosing to remain working from home or make use of hybrid, flexible arrangements. Free up the kitchen or living room by making your garage more comfortable to work in.

Why choose Garage Door People

At Garage Door People, we know just how difficult it can be to keep a home warm and the energy bills down. That’s why we’re always happy to listen to you and provide honest, professional advice when it comes to your garage door. We’ll help you find the best door to suit your home and your budget, whether that’s a standard up-and-over door to help keep costs down right now or a side-hinged insulated garage door to help you reduce heat loss through your garage.

We have over 15 years of experience and hundreds of garage doors for you to choose from, so you can count on us to bring you the best options for unbeatable prices wherever you are in Spalding, Horncastle, Boston, Skegness, Lincoln and Grimsby.

Call today to find out more about insulated garage doors or to get a free quote for a new garage door.