Garage Door Radiant Barrier

[Maveriks]

First, many thanks to this forum & other online sources for the knowledge that I have today on this topic. This is an attempt to consolidate my research and findings from my perspective. [Disclaimer - my perspective is limited to my findings, experience & comprehension. YMMV]

Background: I live in north-Dallas and have a garage (facing East), uninsulated - garage attic, garage door & side walls (Brick on one side & siding on the other)

Objective: reduce temperatures in attics (main & garage) and inside the garage itself. For now - summer heat is my problem; winter for later .

Findings : Ventilation (intake & venting), Radiant barrier (radiation), insulation (conduction), cooling/heating are all different items to consider for above objective. How much of each varies by objective intensity - ex: for Garage context you could go from scotching hot & humid to warm & humid w radiant barrier, add insulation and then beat the edge w portable a/c or nice & cozy w regular a/c unit.

Bought 2000 sft of foil from Atticfoil for my radiant barrier project. Wanted to test effectiveness of 'radiant barrier' on garage door first before crawling in the attic.

Garage Door Radiant Barrier:
I could have used boards with foil, cut them to size and squeeze into the garage panels. Instead, I chose to cut foil to size, glue to garage panel edges using liquid nails and still have the perfect air gap for radiant barrier to work (my door has about 2"). Btw: I put 3"x15" fiberglass insulation onto the sides of the door to seal the holes in metal brackets that attach to panels (donno if good or bad).

This way I have the flexibility to tap screw tap insulation boards over the foil (into the panel and brackets) in future if I want to add R-factor by "conduction" insulation and probably adjust spring tension etc if needed.

Spent about 4 hours yesterday evening into the night and was half-way before I was low on liquid nails & called it a day. Half-done gave me a comparison opportunity; took few readings today morning of the Sun beating my garage door.

Readings: Noticed a 20 deg difference in my readings: [w & w/o Radiant Barrier]; Forecast is 103

1. 0930 Hrs: 94 & 114
2. 1130 Hrs: 97 & 118

Summary:
Radiant Barrier works and now on to the garage attic w radiant barrier .

Reference Pics:

 

[pattenp]

How strong is the Atticfoil to resist punctures?

Edit: I just checked out Atticfoil.com and they don't recommend using the Atticfoil on garage doors. They suggest using the foil covered foam board.

 

[Maveriks]

How strong is the Atticfoil to resist punctures?

The material is very strong, made of metal fibers; even with a knife - I have had to press very hard to cut it all the way through. It's not like the paper thin aluminum foil we typically come across.

Edit: I just checked out Atticfoil.com and they don't recommend using the Atticfoil on garage doors. They suggest using the foil covered foam board.

I agree with you - Yes, I went against the recommendation of using a '1/2" thin board with foil' for below reasons:

1. 2000 sft of foil: I believe, it's more than what I need for my two attics. Thought of using what I have versus getting additional.
2. Wanted air tight enclosure to the panels to provide future flexibility to add insulation (if I needed to). I realize with a garage door it's never going to be perfectly air tight.
3. Flexibility to add later an insulation board of my choice for the R effect I need. Coz, 1/2" foam board @ L or HD are IMHO too thin and the 'squeeze into panels' will not provide insulation effect due to air leak from door into garage.
4. I don't know much about garage springs and weight balance; though there were thicker boards w foil @ L or HD - didn't want to deal with door balancing for now (just in case if I ran into)

 

[BadgerBoilerMN]

"They suggest using the foil covered foam board."

But what do they know, right?

 

[yankeze1]

"They suggest using the foil covered foam board."

But what do they know, right?

says he who knows all............

Apparently you should not be trying something different and posting results here where others may be interested!

Thanks, and good job!