Adding foam insulation to non-insul. door

[Tyson]

This winter I plan on adding pink construction foam insulation to my non-insulated steel garage door (standard sectional garage door).

The space that I have to work with is 2" wide.


I went to home depot and priced out everything from R10 to R3 insulation.

2" R10 for both garage doors will run me about $120
1 1/2" R6 = $60
1" R4 = $45
1/2" R3 = $36

I'm in Minnesota, so we have temperatures that get down to -60, but usually around -10 in winter time.

I of course know that R10 is much superior to R3, but how much does it matter in a garage door?

 

[OctaneMotorsports]

I'm in Minnesota, so we have temperatures that get down to -60, but usually around -10 in winter time

Are you crazy?

 

[Brad54]

This winter I plan on adding pink construction foam insulation to my non-insulated steel garage door (standard sectional garage door).

The space that I have to work with is 2" wide.


I went to home depot and priced out everything from R10 to R3 insulation.

2" R10 for both garage doors will run me about $120
1 1/2" R6 = $60
1" R4 = $45
1/2" R3 = $36

I'm in Minnesota, so we have temperatures that get down to -60, but usually around -10 in winter time.

I of course know that R10 is much superior to R3, but how much does it matter in a garage door?

I don't know what the R-value is, but I've got a pair of uninsulated metal garage doors too. I live in Georgia. From about 12:15 until the sun goes down, the sun hits 100-percent directly on these doors, and they radiated heat to the point where you could feel it if you were 4 feet from the door inside, and you couldn't touch the doors. Though it's nowhere near -60 here, it does get into the 30s and 20 regularly, which is still cold enough in an unheated garage.

I used the 4x8 insulated boards they're using for home heating units now. They're white on one side, and silver on the other. They make ducting out of them I think. Common on HVAC systems.

It was VERY affordable, and really knocked the heat down in the shop, and does a decent job with holding heat in, too.

I cut the panels to fit and used Liquid Nails to attach it to the metal door. I put the silver side facing the shop, because I liked the look of it better than the white with blue writing. Any seams (each panel had a seam, so I could get the insulation all the way to the edges of panels, under the folded ends) were covered with bright silver metal tape (I hesitate to call it "duct tape" but that's what it is).

I looks good, reflects the light back into the shop (important), and was innexpensive. I got the idea from guys over on the HAMB, with guys from up north saying they'd had great results with it.

Home Depot carries it.

One thing you'll need to consider is that after you get the insulation in, you'll need to have the spring on your garage door wound a little tighter. It didn't add much weight to my doors, but it was enough that if the door isn't all the way up, it comes back down on its own.

Brad

 

[PAToyota]

R-value is resistance to thermal transmission. Taken by itself, the R-10 will give you 3x the insulation value of the R-3. So you reach a point of diminishing returns. Going seven points from R-3 to R-10 is a significant increase in insulation value because it is three times as much. Going seven points from R-23 to R-30 isn't as significant because you're only increasing your insulation value by less than half the base number.

However, the first thing I'd check would be how much of a draft you get around your garage doors. Insulating the door itself isn't going to help much if you have cold air leaking in all around it.

 

[Randall Edge]

That's good to know Brad. What part of Ga?

 

[Rrumbler]

HD and Lowes actually sell kits for garage door insulation; already put together and no guesswork. Or, is that what you are going to use?

 

[Tyson]

I'm not using a kit to insulate the door, they cost more and I don't think the fit could be as tight as me doing it to fit my exact door. and I have already tightened up the door to the frame and installed new seals so there are no drafts around the door.

Really though, what I'm asking is how much heat transfer is that through the door....am I going to notice much of a difference if I use R10 over R6? I know ceiling insulation is more important when it comes to R value as heat rises.

Thanks

 

[Tyson]

Anyone else?

 

[thammel]

I'm in the same situation and am planning on doing the same. The heat loss through our uninsulated steel doors is really high. Even adding R3 will make a huge difference. I would guess this will cut down the heat loss by 1/10 or more. I haven't looked up the thermal conductivity (I do this sort of thing for a living!) but the k of steel is 10 and for insulation it's about .1 or less. So you see the hige reduction. Whether we use R3 or R10 is up to us - cost and a fit issue. Of course, be sure that your walls and ceiling are also insulated. I've got a 20 x 20 attached garage and 2/3 of the ceiling is uninsulated and the front wall with the doors, one side wall and 1/3 of the back wall are uninsulated. Of course, the whole thing is drywalled, so I've been thinking of paying someone to blow insulation into the walls and the attic. I hate working with fiberglass!
Good luck!
Tom

 

[wrigh003]

I have a wooden non-insulated door (nothing fancy, just a paint-grade wooden 1970s garage door), I have been considering trying to insulate it rather than going through the expense of replacing it with a newer, insulated metal door. I take it you guys are installing this insulation on your doors into the recess on the rear? Anybody done this on a wooden door?

 

[blue77]

Frankly for the difference in cost (not that much), I would go with the R-10 with no discussion needed.

The doors will likely be the biggest thermal loss area, and where you live it MATTERS. If you heat the the garage during the winter, the cost you spend for the R-10 will be a drop in the bucket compared to what you will save if you have a well sealed and max insulated door