How to Warm Up a Freezing Cold Garage
We all need to enter our garages for one thing or another, but given how cold they can get in winter, we wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to. It doesn’t have to be this way though. In fact, with just a few minor tweaks, you can make your garage a bearable – even pleasant – place to be in the dead of winter. Let’s take a look.
Get a heater
This is such an obvious suggestion that we won’t dwell on it for too long, and besides, a heater will become much more useful once you’ve started working on some of the suggested modifications listed below.
Insulate your garage door
The best and most cost-effective way to achieve a warmer garage is to insulate your garage door. If you want to take on this job yourself, here’s what you need to do:
- Choose the right insulation: we would recommend opting for foil insulation, specifically multifoil, if you can budget for it. If you would rather not spend the extra cash, single foil will do just fine.
- Installing the insulation: to install the insulation, you first need to cut it to the right length, ensuring that it maps on to the internal section of your garage door. To secure it to the door, we would recommend getting yourself some foil tape, you can find this at most hardware shops.
It’s worth noting that, before you actually secure the installation, you need to account for any cavities in the door itself. You can use glass wool insulation to pad out these areas, and use your multifoil insulation after that.
Buying a new garage door
If you’re not much of a DIYer, or your current garage door has seen better days, you might want to consider buying a new, well-insulated garage door to replace it. But what should you choose?
Well, the material with the best insulation value has to be wood, it’s also the best looking; however, wooden garage doors tend to fetch a high price, so you will have to weigh up the pros and cons for yourself.
When it comes to styles, sectional garage doors have a fantastic insulation value. This is because they have the Goldilocks number of panels: enough to ensure that heat loss is kept to a minimum upon opening – not too many so that heat is lost through the gaps between them. It’s also worth mentioning that sectional garage doors come with insulated panels of 42 or 67mm thick, further improving their insulation value.
Finally, you can also find garage doors which are purpose-built to be good insulators. Insulated roller garage doors are a popular choice for those who regularly use their garage space, or who have a garage attached to their home.
Replace your weatherstripping
With your garage door insulated, you want to make sure that no air can get in through the gaps between the door and the wall. This is where your weatherstripping comes in. If your garage is particularly cold, there’s a good chance that your weatherstripping is damaged, so we would recommend replacing it as soon as possible.
Looking for a new garage door this winter? Associated Garage Doors are a family-run business, providing a personal and tailored service to each of our clients throughout Kent, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Ashford, Battle and beyond. Whether you’re looking for a new garage door or a new front door, Associated Garage Doors offer a free, no obligation survey and quotation, so you can be secure in the knowledge that you’re getting a fair price from us. For more information, simply get in touch.