Garage Door Question, Informal Poll (house, install, deal)

[Dawagonbus]

I will soon have a house with a south facing garage. The door is the original (30 years) and I want to upgrade to a new garage door with new hardware next fall or winter but i'm curious to know if an insulated door would help as much as I would hope to keep the heat out during the summer.

There isn't any AC in the garage and as far as I know the attic space above the garage is uninsulated. I guess it could be but we just bought the house and won't close until mid May. I'm willing to blow in some insulation over the garage if needed but I won't put an AC vent there.

So, will an insulated G door make an added difference?

Who has insulated garage doors and why did you choose them? Do they help?

Thank you in advance!

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Dawagonbus

I will soon have a house with a south facing garage. The door is the original (30 years) and I want to upgrade to a new garage door with new hardware next fall or winter but i'm curious to know if an insulated door would help as much as I would hope to keep the heat out during the summer.

There isn't any AC in the garage and as far as I know the attic space above the garage is uninsulated. I guess it could be but we just bought the house and won't close until mid May. I'm willing to blow in some insulation over the garage if needed but I won't put an AC vent there.

So, will an insulated G door make an added difference?

Who has insulated garage doors and why did you choose them? Do they help?

Thank you in advance!

Unless it is heated or cooled there is no point. If you don't cool it, the garage is eventually going to equilibrate somewhere near the mean daily temperature. Insulation won't matter. It is like a picnic cooler sitting in the house. It is going to reach the same temperature as the air in the house regardless of the insulating properties.

On the other hand, a hot metal door can radiate a lot of heat so you toast standing near it. To deal with that, put a radiant barrier like that foil faced bubble wrap on the inside of the panels for best results.

[El_Waiboi]

What he said^^

Personally, I don't care if my garage gets hot. But maybe you are a mechanic or something and plan to be working in the garage?

Anywayz, the easy answer is to put a big portable evaporative cooler in the garage. Turn it on when you are working, problem solved and no insulation or fancy doors required.

[Dawagonbus]

I will do some mechanic work but the biggie is that the laundry is out there. If I can't figure something out my wife will be making me do most of the laundry.

[El_Waiboi]

Originally Posted by Dawagonbus

I will do some mechanic work but the biggie is that the laundry is out there. If I can't figure something out my wife will be making me do most of the laundry.

LOL! Now you got my sympathy!!

Hmmmm... Wife sized air-conditioned astronaut suit?

[rgscpat]

Does the size and shape of the garage let you partition off the laundry corner and put a window a/c unit in the wall?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Dawagonbus

I will do some mechanic work but the biggie is that the laundry is out there. If I can't figure something out my wife will be making me do most of the laundry.

Just tell her sweating in the heat out there will help her lose weight.

[Bummer]

Go for the insulated door, Dawagonbus.

Not only will it help reduce the ambient temperature inside the garage during the Dog Days of Summer but it will also help keep your garage more bearable during the Winter months, even more so once you install some type of Heating / Cooling System in the future.

Another plus is the reduction in noise, especially when in operation.

I switched to the "top-of-the-line" Wayne Dalton Insulated Door a few years ago and the premium was less than 200 bucks. Definitely worth every penny.

Good Luck

[S. Chris Webb]

"Just tell her sweating in the heat out there will help her lose weight."

You will definitely be doing your own laundry if you say that.

[ReconJohn]

Bummer got it right! This discussion leads one to believe the difference in $ to be v. large. I have insulated doors to do just what Bummer states--minimize the radiant heat. I have a window fan on one side of my gagage and a window a/c unit at the top of a window on the opposite. I can clear the air in minutes with the fan and an open window opposite and when that succeeds, turn on the a/c to cool enough to get some work done...work bench, not laundry.