Insulated garage doors help maintain your garage’s indoor temperature, which can also help control your home’s overall temperature and reduce your energy consumption. A door’s insulative material and R-value indicate how well it can insulate your indoor space, and the right choice for your home depends on your area’s weather conditions. Frigid winters and scorching summers require a well-insulated door for the greatest comfort and energy savings, so it’s important to understand how to choose the best option for your garage.

Importance of Garage Door Insulation

Your garage door is one of the most important factors that can significantly enhance your property. Upgrading your garage door to a more insulated option offers the following benefits:

Comfort

A well-insulated garage maintains an indoor space’s temperature, making it more comfortable. It allows you to step into a warm space in the winter or a cool space in the summer as you get in your car and start your commute. It can also help maintain your home’s temperature if it’s connected to your garage.

Reduced Energy Bills

Since a well-insulated door helps maintain your garage and home’s indoor temperature, it can help decrease your energy bills. An energy-efficient garage door reduces the heat transfer that takes place between ambient temperatures and internal garage space. Reducing heat transfer at this location is essential to stabilizing the temperature in the garage, no matter what the elements are like outside. Garages typically have more gaps and air leaks than any other part of a home, but you can eliminate air leaks with a quality garage door.

Durability and Longer Door Life Span

Insulative materials increase a door’s durability, helping extend its life span. Garage doors with insulation are denser and more dent-resistant than non-insulated doors, and the most effective insulative materials help doors resist vibration during operation.

Protection for Your Vehicle and Garage’s Contents

Choosing a well-insulated door helps protect your vehicle and other belongings you store in your garage. Keeping your car in a warm garage helps preserve its battery life and tire pressure so it functions properly, giving you peace of mind that your car will start even on the coldest days.

Insulation is especially important if your garage doubles as an extra room, such as a workshop or gathering space. Keeping the space warm helps protect items such as power tools or appliances from extreme temperatures.

Reduced Noise

Insulated doors are typically quieter than non-insulated doors. Since insulation dampens vibrations during a door’s operation, the track system can raise and lower the door without the grinding noise that garage doors typically make. The insulation also quiets outside sounds, making your garage’s indoor space more pleasant.

How to Choose an Insulated Garage Door

Choosing an insulated garage door depends primarily on a door’s insulating material and R-value, but it’s also important to consider style and brand. When you install a garage door that insulates well and looks great, you can enjoy a more comfortable and cost-efficient home.

Considering the Insulation Rating for a Garage Door

The R-value is the most essential factor when choosing a garage door because it indicates how effectively it insulates an indoor space. An insulating material’s R-value measures its thermal resistance, which reveals how well it resists conductive heat flow to prevent temperature fluctuations.

A garage door’s R-value depends on its material, density and thickness. Most doors have an R-value of 10 or above, and doors with higher R-values are ideal because they offer greater insulation. High-quality doors have R-values up to 20.4, offering the best protection.

Before you make a decision, it’s important to consider your home’s construction and your state’s climate. A higher R-value can help your home stay warmer if you have an attached garage, and choosing the highest R-value protects your home from frigid temperatures if you live in a particularly cold area.

Selecting a Garage Door’s Insulation Material

A garage door’s material is one of the main factors determining its R-value. Most manufacturers insulate their garage doors with one of the following materials:

• Polystyrene: Polystyrene is also known as styrofoam and comes in the form of rigid panels that fit between a garage door’s steel panels or inside a single-layer door. Polystyrene-insulated doors offer greater energy efficiency and quieter operation than non-insulated doors, but they have lower R-values than polyurethane-insulated doors.
• Polyurethane: Polyurethane is an insulating foam that offers the greatest insulation and energy efficiency. Manufacturers inject polyurethane foam between a garage door’s steel layers, and the foam expands to fill all of the door’s crevices and bond to its frame. This bonding further strengthens the door, preventing dents and making it more vibration-resistant. Polyurethane-insulated doors offer the highest R-values.

Both polystyrene and polyurethane are moisture-resistant and versatile, but choosing the right one depends on how much insulation you need. Polyurethane is the best option if you live in an area with harsh winters.

The Importance of Thermal Breaks

Thermal breaks sit between garage door panes to prevent heat transfer between the door’s internal and external panes. They prevent the external and internal panes from touching, so the colder ones transfer less heat from the warmer ones. Choosing a door with thermal breaks increases its ability to resist heat transfer.

Choosing the Right Style and Brand

While a garage door’s insulation is essential for temperature control and longevity, it’s also important to choose a door that matches your home’s style and comes from a reputable company. Purchasing a garage door from a company that offers various colors and design options enables you to choose the option that best complements your home’s style.

Clopay® Intellicore® Insulation Technology

Clopay offers garage doors enhanced with Intellicore insulation technology, providing you with quality insulation that can withstand the most frigid climates. Intellicore doors use polyurethane foam insulation for greater strength, quieter operation and the highest R-values. Clopay Intellicore garage door R-values reach up to 20.4, helping you keep your garage and adjacent rooms comfortable all year.

Upgrade to a Clopay Insulated Garage Door

Your garage door’s insulation is incredibly important for your home’s comfort, energy savings and protection. Clopay offers a wide variety of insulated garage doors to maintain your garage’s temperature and protect your belongings from harsh weather. Whether you need a polystyrene-insulated door or an advanced polyurethane-insulated door with a high R-value, you can trust Clopay to deliver the highest quality.

Our garage doors have R-values between 6.3 and above, and our Intellicore doors offer industry-leading R-values up to 20.4. Browse our residential insulated garage doors and locate a Clopay dealer near you to find the perfect option for your home.