Tips on Installing Garage Door Insulation

Garage doors can be a significant factor in your home's heat loss. This can affect attached garages, garages under living space and even detached garages that feature a workshop or workspace.To make your heating dollars go farther, consider adding garage door insulation. Although you can find aftermarket kits to add garage door insulation, you can also insulate your door with common materials found at your local home improvement center.

Foam Garage Door Insulation
Rigid polystyrene foam is a great way to help insulate your garage door. Available at most large home centers, polystyrene foam comes in 4' x 8' sheets and in various thicknesses. This type of foam is easily shaped with common tools such as utility knives and handsaws.

To insulate a hollow or thin garage door, measure the inside of the door panel and cut the foam to fit. Affix the foam to the garage door insulation panels with heavy-duty, two-sided tape or contact cement.

A Thin Alternative
Reflective foil insulation is designed to prevent heat transfer. Created by combining foil with a thin plastic backing, reflective foil insulation is a great way to insulate older, solid doors.

To insulate your garage door with reflective foil insulation, measure and cut sheets of the foil to fit the individual panels of your door. Insulating foil can be attached to garage door panels using two-sided tape-some manufacturers already provide this tape with the roll of foil.

Don't Forget The Edges
Even a well-insulated door can lose heat. Improper installation can leave gaps around the edges. Check the weather stripping along the bottom of the door to make sure it makes a proper seal with the door closed. The weather stripping along the edges should also leave no gaps. If you can feel a draft, or can see light between the garage door and frame, adjust or replace the weather stripping as required.