Your garage is just as important as any of the other rooms in your house. Typically, it is the main storage area not just for your car, but for your tools and seasonal decorations as well. It is also one of the most frequently exposed parts of your house as you open and shut your garage doors multiple times a day. Thus, the warmth of hot summer days and the chilly drafts of winter can easily enter. Keep your garage at a comfortable temperature, year round, with these tips.
Use Proper Insulation
Aside from housing your vehicles and other items, a garage can also be a hobby area or living space. Some homeowners use it as their workshop, gardening shed, or band practice space. On hot summer days, though, it can easily get uncomfortable to do things in the garage. Plus, your items in storage may not do well in the extreme heat. And in the winter, the opposite holds true. Not to mention, your car may take a while to start because of how cold the engine gets, which, in turn, makes gas harder to burn.
Make sure to include your garage when you’re having your entire house insulated. Insulation contractors from Kansas City say that by insulating the walls between your home and your garage, you can save money by reducing the load on your furnace or air conditioner. This is because insulation prevents heat loss in the winter and stops heat from entering in the summer, keeping temperature fluxes at bay.
Pick a Pre-Insulated Garage Door
In most houses, a garage door opens several times a day, exposing the inside to outdoor temperatures. If you are planning on insulating an ordinary garage door, the frequency of its use may affect the integrity of the insulation. The constant folding and hinging may cause it to flake, break, or fall apart.
The ideal solution to this is to invest in a garage door that is already insulated. This way, you will have a more energy efficient and functional door that is intended to keep your garage warm or cool.
Seal Cracks and Gaps
For optimal effects, it’s ideal to weather-seal gaps where outside air or other factors such as rain can easily enter your garage. This also prevents air infiltration and keeps warm or cool air from escaping. Use insulating strips or weather strips around the garage door and seal off any cracks and gaps. It’s a fairly easy task that you can do yourself, or you can get your insulation installers to do it for you when they come around.
A garage may not be a part of your house that you constantly use or live in. But it is a space you can maximize and can actually save you money and energy when insulated properly. An insulated garage reduces your air conditioning unit or heating system’s energy consumption, affecting its cost and efficiency. Properly installed, high-quality insulation can also last for a long time, with suffice maintenance, so you need not worry about replacements for some time to come.
