If you are looking to lower your carbon footprint (or just lower your monthly heating bill), you probably have realized that a lot of heat and energy escapes through your garage.  It is the most inefficient room in your house, allowing cold winter or hot summer air to penetrate into other areas of the home.  

Replace Your Old Door

Our number one tip to get a more energy-efficient garage is to replace your old garage with a new, energy efficient and insulated door.  Many garage doors, especially doors on older homes, were not built with proper insulation to make it energy efficient.  Your old garage door may also not have the safety features that come with new garage doors.

Insulate

Insulate the garage walls (especially the one connecting to the home), and the garage door itself.  You can either hire a professional to do this, or do it yourself.  To insulate the door, purchase an insulation kit and follow the instructions.  Make sure that you don’t add too much weight to your door, as it can cause the mechanics of the door to wear down faster.   Install insulation along the walls as well.  

Seal Cracks

Before you insulate the walls, air seal your walls with caulk.  Seal around electrical outlets and light switches, and along the bottom of the wall.   Also check the garage floor for cracks, as conditioned air can escape through there.  Seal any cracks with concrete sealant.  

Weatherstrip the Doors

Make sure that both the garage door and the door into your home have the proper weatherstripping.  If the weatherstripping on either of these doors starts to deteriorate, it can allow air as well as rain or snow to slip into your home.  Replace your weatherstripping if necessary.  You can always use a simple draft stopper on the inside of your home if you do not want to replace the entire threshold.

Switch Out Inefficient Light

To be more energy efficient in your garage, use CFL or LED lights in your garage.  An LED bulb uses almost ⅙ the energy of a normal bulb, while CFL lights use about ¼ the energy of a normal bulb.  Both types of bulbs will produce the same amount of light while using less energy.

Change Your Windows

If you have windows in your garage, chances are, they are allowing mass amounts of heat and energy to escape.  Replace your old windows for new, energy efficient, Energy Star certified windows.

 

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