When it comes to cutting energy costs one key area often gets overlooked even though it provides a valuable opportunity for homeowners.
A house can lose a high percentage of its heat through the garage. Some say it can be as much as 30%. But can an insulated garage door help? Naturally, this does depend on lots of factors such as the weather, the size of the garage, how often the door is opened and of course good insulation.
As the ideal home of the future evolves into being ‘zero carbon ready’ (a term adopted by the government), it’s fair to say that these types of doors are increasing in popularity, and as such are being designed specifically for this purpose to be effective in particular circumstances – to provide a useful barrier to much of the heat lost into the garage through the walls and floor (where rooms are directly above).
Of course, as a property’s largest opening it makes sense that a garage is a potential cold spot that needs to be plugged. But it’s also important to question how effective this can be, as some doors are better at doing so than others.
Sectional v roller …which offers the best insulation?
Insulated garage doors come in all shapes and sizes. For two popular types in particular, there is confusion over what constitutes an insulated garage door. So, let’s clear it up! A roller garage door is made up of individual slats, and there are about 20 in the average height door. They offer some insulation when foam-filled but are untested as a fitted door because the interlocks are not sealed. The small gaps in between each slat simply don’t prevent heat from escaping.
On the other hand, a sectional garage door offers a further step up with thick insulation filled double skin panels intentionally made to reduce heat loss and are tested for this purpose. Future trends and improvements in their design are advancing. Double lip seals close of spaces between panel sections creating a thermal break to enhance heat insulation, whilst bottom seals can close off uneven driveway floors.
What should I look out for?
If you want to maximise the fact that a garage door can reduce the loss of heat from your home, you should aim to keep it as contained as possible. So, look for a door with the lowest U-value! It is a measure of how good a material is as an insulator. High performing insulated options can be below 1 W/m²K.
As a guide, here’s a relatable way to think about the heat saving for an insulated door with a U-value of 0.5 W/m²K against another say at 1.5 W/m²K. Of course, doors with no insulation would have a much higher value.
If your garage opening is 5 square meters, typically the size of a single width, the degree of difference is 5 watts. So, if the temperature variation between the inside and outside of your home is 10°C (on a cold winter’s day), the discrepancy between the two types of doors relates roughly to a 50-watt continuous saving. This is about the same as running a laptop for an hour.
You can also use integrated smart home technologies to control single or multiple garage doors via an APP. You can regulate the ventilation position to keep your garage aired perhaps on a warm day, to reduce humidity, and make working in the garage more comfortable. It does this securely via your phone, either by touch or voice activation. This feature can also be used to check whether a garage door is open or closed without having to venture out into the cold or rain – particularly useful when it isn’t visible from the house and has inadvertently been left ajar – allowing cold air into the home.
Overall, if you have a cold, attached garage, investing in an insulated garage door makes good sense and a way to save on your energy bills.
