4 Reasons an Insulated Garage Door is Worth the Investment

4 Reasons an Insulated Garage Door is Worth the Investment

Many homeowners don’t think of their garage doors in the same way as they think of their regular front and back doors. Of course, they’re different, one lets people into and out of the house and the other is big enough for a car to drive through.

But the differences shouldn’t really go beyond that. There’s no reason to think your garage door should be any less secure than any other door in your home. In fact, the garage is one of the most popular places for burglars to get into a house and one of the most popular ‘rooms’ to steal from. From bicycles and sports equipment to tools and snow blowers, garages can be chock full of valuable stuff that’s very attractive to thieves.

So the argument can be made that the garage door protects your belongings almost as much as your entry doors. But you don’t install dead-bolt locks, chains and/or alarms on your garage door.

The same thing is true for another difference between your entry doors and garage door. Would you ever install a front door that wasn’t well insulated? Not likely, but lots of garage doors aren’t insulated.

However, like the security thing, it’s almost as important to insulate your garage door as it is to insulate your entry doors, or anywhere else in your home.

The Money-Saving Benefits of an Insulated Garage Door

Especially if your garage is attached to your house, an insulated door helps you save money in lots of ways.

1. Lower Energy Costs

Especially if your garage is underneath a room in your house, the temperature in the garage can affect the temperature of the house. And that can mean more electricity or fuel used to heat and cool your home. An insulated door can keep garages significantly warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

After being told that an insulated garage door would make a big difference to the temperatures inside his garage, a homeowner in Pennsylvania had one installed. To see just how much of a difference the insulated door made, the homeowner recorded some temperatures inside and outside the garage before and after the door was installed.

The differences in the inside temperatures before and after the installation are remarkable. After installing the insulated door, with an outside temp of -5 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature was 43 degrees inside the garage.

Before the installation, with an outside temperature of 10 degrees, the inside temp was 36 degrees

That means, the insulated doors kept the garage seven degrees warmer, even though the outside air was 15 degrees cooler.

2. Longer-Lasting HVAC Equipment

By keeping your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter, not only do you save on energy costs, but your heating and air conditioning equipment will not switch on and off as often, or have to operate for as long a time.

3. Reduce Stress on Your Car

While it might start faithfully in even the coldest temperatures, that doesn’t mean your car doesn’t go through more effort during cold-temperature starts. The insulated door in the example above maintained a 48-degree difference between the outside and inside air, versus just a 26-degree difference for the uninsulated door. That means, in the uninsulated garage, your car is starting in temperatures that are about 10 degrees colder.

4. Added Value for Your Home

If you ever sell your home, an insulated garage door can make a big difference in the price you get. As if it isn’t enough to show prospective home buyers that they can save energy costs, equipment costs and extend the life of their car, insulated garage doors also keep the garage quieter, they look better, last longer, keep out more pollution and give the option for using the garage for added living space in the home, like a playroom, home office or home gym.

When you really look at the advantages, not having an insulated garage door seems as odd as not having insulated entry doors. If you are interested in having a new insulated garage door installed at your home, contact Markham Garage Doors today! You can also visit our showroom in Markham to view our selection.