Keeping Your Garage Warm For Winter is one of the easiest things you can do to protect your valuable garage items, build garage storage capacity, extend the life of your garage door, and reduce your utility bills for winter months. When you add up all the ways you can use garage space for storage, including storage of tools, winter storage, vehicle storage and so much more, garage space is like a never-ending supply line. And winter is the most unplanned time to tap into this supply line because of the lack of available storage space due to snow and ice. As a result, there is a need to hire a professional garage door repair company to come and make the necessary repairs before winter really gets started.
In general, your garage should be well insulated between fifteen and seventeen inches, depending on the climate you live in (nearly north-facing climates or south-facing climates). If you live somewhere that has consistently cold weather, you might consider getting a stronger garage door insulation. If you don’t already have one, now is the time to invest in it. It will help to cut down on your heating expenses over the course of the winter. The good news is that a strong garage insulation will not increase your heating bill by a significant amount, but it will cut down on the amount of cold air entering your garage as well as significantly raising your garage walls’ R-value. R-value is the measure of a garage’s thermal resistance and higher means more insulating capability.
Most people have a garage heater installed in their garage and use their garage as a work space. Unfortunately, without a good garage heater, the garage door won’t close sufficiently to allow you to get in and out as you need to. Most garage door openers are motorized, but if they’re not working properly, then you’re not going to get very much use out of them. Check the control box (if you have a garage door that rolls up) and make sure the motor isn’t blocked. Also, make sure you don’t have any objects or clutter on top of the box that could catch fire or get stuck in the motor. It’s very easy for fires to start in things like carpeting, curtains, and other things that catch fire easily.
Your garage door seal is another area where it pays to pay attention. If your garage door seal is not operating properly, the cold air that is supposed to enter your garage will instead enter your room and circulate around the floorboards. This cold air is trapped inside and makes your air conditioner work harder, leading to a higher heating bill. Make sure you clean your seal regularly.
Another way to keep your garage warmer than normal is to add some ceiling insulation. A professional can install this type of insulation right over your ceiling, with no holes required. This type of ceiling insulation works great for winterization. Not only does it keep the cold out, but it also adds a little bit of insulation to your room as well. These types of insulated ceilings can be installed professionally without a lot of hassle and are typically more affordable than other alternatives, such as garage door winterization.
Finally, another option you have when it comes to garage door winterization is to utilize garage door weather stripping. Weather stripping is just what its name implies: it’s a piece of weatherproof material (usually polystyrene) that you cover your garage door with during the year so that it stays warm and can function properly. Weather stripping is most often used during the summer months, because it can prevent the heat from getting in when the garage door is up. The strips are normally secured with screws, and you can apply them year round so that they don’t lose their adhesive. This type of garage door weather stripping is most commonly used on residential garage doors, but can be used on your business garage door as well
