Insulated Garage door

[ryanp77]

I have been looking into slowly upgrading my garage and one of the things I am wanting to do is upgrade my doors. I have a 3 car garage a 2 and a 1, I talked to a guy at the home show here in Indy today about my options. First is a R9 value door the other is a R18, at this time I will not be heating the garage I am not 100% the walls are insulated. My question is how "worth" it is it to get insulated doors? In the summer the sun hits the doors most of the day and in the winter it gets super cold out there, with no heat source or potential insulation will there be a difference in temps?

thanks

 

[The Cobbler]

without a heat source there will be virtually no effect with a higher r value door

 

[ryanp77]

my question was and I now realize I didn't explain it right the first time, say I don't have insulation in the walls, no heat source, will I feel a difference in temp "cooler in the summer warmer in the winter" if I replace my uninsulated doors with the R9 value insulated door

 

[rburke65]

Do you ever plan on heating the garage?

 

[ryanp77]

I would like to heat it at some point but I doubt it will happen

 

[Jlbc212]

Get the better insulated doors. If you park vehicles (vehicles that you use frequently) in the garage, they are a source of heat. Add an electric wall or ceiling mounted space heater and you should be able to work comfortably in the garage on cold winter days.

 

[soj]

Is this garage attached to the house? If so, then it is heated. Even if the house wall is insulated, there is still some heat loss, so it will be slightly warmer in the garage than outside. Any insulation you add to the garage, whether in the walls, doors or ceiling, will slow that little bit of heat from leaving the garage.

If it is a freestanding garage, never mind...

 

[atty5420]

Get the better insulated doors. If you park vehicles (vehicles that you use frequently) in the garage, they are a source of heat. Add an electric wall or ceiling mounted space heater and you should be able to work comfortably in the garage on cold winter days.

+1

If there is one law in the world of garages, it is "You never accurately anticipate what you will do". When you suddenly decide to start a project in the middle of the winter, or perhaps one that was thrust upon you at an inopportune time, you will dearly bless the day that you invested in that extra insulation on the door. Don't scrimp on it. If you never have the need for it, "Oh well", but when the occasion arises that you are having to fight heat/cold, you will be damn glad you put it in.

 

[crab]

You can heat your garage for about 300 bucks if you can do the electrical work yourself. I'd rather have a heated garage and no insulated door than an insulated door and no heat if I had to make the choice. With just an insulated door I doubt you'll be able to tell the difference.

 

[mustangmike6996]

I dont know what most of you are basing your opinions of insulated doors/nonheated garages on.

Ill give my experience. I have a heated garage with an insulated door and insulated walls.... I used to have a single pane 1 piece "swing up" door and it would get hotter than hell in the summer and heat the garage. In the winter it would cool the garage. I replaced it with a sectional insulated door and notice a big difference. Its not warm by any means but its much better and I dont have to fire the heater up everytime I work in the garage. I live in lower Michigan and it hovers around low single digits in the winter and reaches mid 90s-100 in the summer months. If you are going to install a new garage door, get the insulated. It stops noise and adds value. Its not much more money to go insulated.

If you decide to insulate the walls and install a heater later, your garage door will be the next thing you upgrade and you will soon realize it is cheaper to do what you want and the right way the first time or you will pay for it twice.

 

[ryanp77]

The garage is attached on one side one side is brick I don't think the outside is done however, part of the reason I was thinking of doing it was during spring and summer with the sun beating on the garage doors most of the day it get extremely hot in there, I was hoping the insulated door will help with that

 

[NUTTSGT]

Before you spend the big bucks on the doors, you can buy some foil faced polyiso sheets and insulate the doors. Basically try before you buy.

Granted the insulated doors will be better than the home insulated door, but something is better than nothing.

 

[Kevin_b_c]

R9 is plenty for a garage door.
Even if you plan to heat in the future, it's better r value than most windows.

 

[kbs2244]

If you go with metal doors the insulating foam will stiffen it a lot.
They tend to shake and rattle in the wind otherwise.

 

[redmed]

Is this garage attached to the house? If so, then it is heated. Even if the house wall is insulated, there is still some heat loss, so it will be slightly warmer in the garage than outside. Any insulation you add to the garage, whether in the walls, doors or ceiling, will slow that little bit of heat from leaving the garage.

If it is a freestanding garage, never mind...

If your garage is attached the above is true. Some of the heat from the house does warm the garage about ten degrees warmer than the outside temp in winter. Maybe a degree or two difference (cooler) in summer. A warm car engine will add another 7-10 degrees warmth. When our house was built I had to choose between insulated or uninsulated doors. Uninsulated doors, from my manufacturer used a thicker gauge metal than was used on the insulated doors. The manufacturer skimped on the steel because the insulation added rigidity. This made the choice easy for me. I got the uninsulated doors and glued insulation to the door myself. The only problem I had was finding white insulation panels. It took months to find panels that were not pink, green or beige.

 

[Speed4Life]

My garage is attached. Walls are insulated and ceiling is not insulated. I have an insulated garage door and I really like it. My garage stays in the 50's in the winter even when the temp gets into the low 30's. Makes it bearable to work out there in the winter with warm clothes on. Only drawback is that with the insulated door it is a heck of a lot hotter in the summer. Especially when I pull a hot car in there. I will usually crack the door a bit to let heat out or if I'm out there working, the door is always fully open to keep it cooler.