With all the emphasis by garage door makers and even the Environmental Protection Agency on R ratings and insulation, the tendency might be for a homeowner to want to heavily insulate not just the garage door, but the entire garage, especially if the garage is being used for purposes other than storing an automobile, such as a workshop.
But while insulating can save you a few dollars on your energy bills, over-insulating or insulating your garage without proper ventilation, however, is a disaster waiting to happen. Just read your local newspaper. There are numerous stories every year of explosions caused by storing combustible materials or running generators in the garage without proper ventilation. In many cases, the damage to property and the injuries could have been avoided had the property owner taken a few simple precautions.
1. Don’t treat your garage like a room. Garages are meant for storing automobiles. Many people have gotten into trouble by using half their garage for car storage and half for a workshop.
2. Don’t store combustible materials in your garage and if you ever do work with the chemicals in the garage, do so with the garage door and all doors and windows fully open. Fires have been known to ignite even with garage doors partially open. Also, unless you absolutely need to store hazardous chemicals for use, consider getting rid of them safely through your local authorities. Why keep something around if it’s a danger to your family and property?
3. Don’t over insulate. Sure, adding an insulated garage door may improve energy efficiency, but does the entire garage need insulation? Consult an expert about this because, depending on your home’s structure and design, you may not need an abundance of insulation in order to benefit from energy savings.
4. If you do add insulation, make sure that you add ventilation at the same time. This is most important of all. There are many ways you can add ventilation, including adding vents to the garage door. Talk to a garage door specialist about your options.
