Insulation Options for your Garage Door

Insulating your garage door is important if you want to save energy and also, protect your garage. In fact, if your garage door shares a wall with your house, then the need for good insulation is much higher. However, there are many different options in terms of garage door insulation, which means you will have to do some research before you actually make a decision.

You can always buy a completely new garage door with built-in insulation, but that might work out to be much more expensive. If you already have a garage door in place, then it is cheaper and wiser to insulate it separately. All you need to do is buy the necessary insulating material kits and install the insulation yourself.

Luckily, the market has quite a bit to offer in terms of insulation kits for garage doors. They are available in various price ranges, but, the good ones tend to be more expensive. Nevertheless, good insulation kits can still save you money by cutting down on the utility expenses. Some of these insulation kits even come with the necessary tools to help with the installation, once again, saving effort, time, and money for you.

Here are some of the most common insulation kits you could consider.

Reflective foil

Reflective foils are installed as insulation by applying them as a lining for the garage door. These reflective foil kits come in multiple options which include single foil insulation and double foil insulation. With the former, you get a layer of aluminum foil which is pressed between two layers of polyethylene foam, while the latter comes with two polyethylene layers pressed between two aluminum foil layers.

Panels

Panel kits are sold with 8 pre-cut panels that are shaped to fit within the garage door frame’s channels. These panels can be either bought as foam panels or fiberglass panels. The fiberglass variety provides greater insulation and also, mold and water resistance.

The foam panels are composed of polystyrene and they enjoy a laminated plastic surface that offers plenty of resistance. The insulation provided is a little higher than what you would get from fiberglass panels and they work very well for steel garage doors. 

However, panel kits are not as effective as reflective foil. Nevertheless, they do look better when installed. Reflective foil insulation can look very unpleasant.

Considerations to be made

Choosing a type of insulation isn’t just limited to the materials. You also need to factor in other conditions. For instance, the weight of the insulation is an important factor to be considered. Will it affect the operational efficiency of your garage door?

You might have to adjust the garage door springs in order to make it handle the extra weight better.

Similarly, you will also have to consider the insulating material’s R-value. R-value here refers to the measurement used in determining the heat resistance of the insulating material. A higher R-value indicates better insulation. Double foil insulation has the highest R-value among these above mentioned options.

Finally, you will have to look at fireproofing. Your insulation must be fireproof. Fortunately, most of the