Insulate my attached garage?

[gtivr4]

So I just bought a house with an attached 24x24 garage. This means I FINALLY have some space for my projects, and next spring I will be building a proper detached workshop. Now the garage is uninsulated except on the parts that are attached to the house, which are insulated with OSB over that.

Ideally I would insulate the rest of it, put up OSB and a ceiling, but I'm not sure if its a wise investment or not in the long run. Of course living in Vermont, the garage is going to get quite cold, and some of that will leak into the house. But is it worth the time and money to insulate and more important put up a basic ceiling?

The garage will not be heated (beyond maybe leaving a door open from the house), but will see some work done in it this winter and of course parking.

 

[Gary S]

I feel insulation is always worth the cost whether you heat the area or not. In winter, the garage will get cold and in summer it will get hot. Either way, a well insulated garage will protect that side of the house and make heating and cooling the house cheaper.
My detatched garage is insulated. In the coldest part of winter, with no heat added, the garage stays 40-50 degrees above the overnight low temperatures. Even without spending money on heat, it is nicer working inside.
In the summer heat, the garage stays 20-30 degrees below the outside high temps. On a 100 degree day, my garage is at about 80 inside without having to fire up the AC.

 

[Teken]

+1

 

[KENLUDE97]

Yes you should insulate the garage!

When i bought my house the small garage had a single light bulb/outlet in the center of the celing. Since then i have rewired the garage, added joists in the celing so that i could insulate. I insulated the garage and added OSB overtop of that. On a cold winters day less than 20° The garage will be up to temp (50°+) in less than 15 min. The garage is only 14x20. The door is not even sealed and i have to turn off the heater sometimes! Good luck!

 

[bczygan]

ABSOLUTELY!!! With little additional heat it will be a very usable space for all purposes, (projects, auto repair, overflow for parties, place for the kid to practice drums etc.). If zoning allows, I would also put up a storage shed for all those things that don't require such good storage conditions and get them out of the garage. If they don't allow that many structures I would make the shed type storage an enclosed lean to on the shop building. insulation not only makes a space a lot cheaper to heat, but provides sound protection to the house and neighbors.

 

[csp]

Not only will it help with heating/cooling, but it will make it quieter both inside and outside of the garage.

Insulation is relatively cheap. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't consider it.