Is an Insulated Garage Door Really Necessary?

Whether you’re replacing an old garage door or considering swapping your current one out for a nicer model, installing a new garage door is without a doubt one of the most cost-effective renovations any homeowner can opt for.  Updating your garage door can have a significant effect on your home’s overall value and style while giving you the opportunity to revamp your garage and increase its utility.  In fact, replacing a garage door is often listed in the top two home improvement projects with the highest return on investment since they make up a large portion of your homes exterior and are relatively inexpensive.

One of the more recent garage door trends has been the use of insulated garage doors, which come with a whole host of benefits for homeowners. A few of the benefits of garage door insulation, in a nutshell, include reduced energy costs, a tougher door, and quieter operation. Let’s now take a closer look at each of these benefits.

Garage Door Insulation Reduces Energy Costs

The majority of domestic energy-saving features nowadays focus primarily on our home’s interior – which makes sense since that’s where we spend the bulk of our time! However, you might find it interesting to learn that while often overlooked, garage door insulation can actually play a major role in our home’s overall energy efficiency. Regardless of whether your garage is heated or not, most garages are either attached or have doors connecting to heated parts of your house. Conventional, non-insulated garage doors typically have wider gaps and allow more air to flow through them; affecting the rooms around or above them thus increasing your energy costs. Just like it pays to insulate your house, having an insulated garage door can help you save energy and lower your energy costs, and make your home more comfortable.

Insulated Garage Doors Are Tougher

Apart from daily use, garage doors also need to stand up to potential damage from things such as kids playing, weather damage, and the odd bump or two! The second benefit of an insulated garage door is the added strength it provides. Traditional non-insulated garage doors tend to fare worse than modern insulated garage doors simply because they’re only built out of a single thin sheet of metal bent to form a door section.  Because of this non-insulated garage doors are usually quite flimsy and have little structural strength. We recommend looking for insulated garage doors utilizing what the industry calls triple layer construction.  Triple layer construction means that instead of just one steel skin on the outside of the door (non insulated single layer), or one steel outside skin with minimal insulation glued to the back of it (semi-insulated double layer construction),  the door will have an outside steel skin AND an inside steel skin interlocked together, with insulation inside the cavity between the steel skins.  This triple layer method provides door sections with much more structural strength than single or double layer door sections resulting in a much stronger, longer lasting door.  Beware of doors marketed as triple layer construction where the inside skin is a vinyl back (think wallpaper covering the inside of the insulation).  This is really a double layer construction door because vinyl does nothing to add structural strength and the door will still be a flimsy door as weak as a single layer non-insulated door.

Insulated Garage Doors Are Less Noisy

Garage doors being noisy is often considered a given, something that all homeowners have become accustomed too. While quieter operation might not necessarily the main reason people opt for insulated garages doors, it is definitely a benefit – especially if your garage is directly connected to or below your main living space. Thankfully, just like it works in your walls, garage door insulation is able to dampen a surprising amount of noise and absorb most of the vibration caused by the door opening or closing. Speaking of which, because triple layer insulated garage doors are heavier and more tightly constructed than single or double layer doors, triple layer insulated garage doors come with the added bonus of being far less likely to jolt or vibrate on their tracks during operation. Flimsy door sections produce far more rattling and vibration during use.

 

If you’ve made the decision to replace your old single-layer garage door with an insulated model, why not give us a call?  At the Door House, we offer one of Calgary’s largest selections of garage doors to suit any budget and style. Get in touch with us today to learn more about the benefits insulated garage doors have to offer.