May 15, 2018

Reduce Your Energy Bill With a Better Garage Door

Reduce your energy bill with a better garage door

Have you noticed that your energy bill seems to keep going up and up even though you are trying to use less electricity? You might find that this increase in energy usage is coming from your garage door. It’s not the raising and lowering of the door that is causing the energy drain – that only uses a miniscule amount of energy. The real problem could be coming from heat and cool air being loss through the garage door.

Even those who have garage doors that are insulated might find that their door is not performing optimally. This is certainly true for those garage doors that are not equipped with thermal breaks and top‑performing weatherseals.

If you are getting ready to buy a new garage door, then you might want to consider some of the following factors to make sure you are getting a door that will help to keep your energy costs down.

Benefits of wood end blocks

The section end blocks in garage doors are useful for keeping the insulating material where it belongs. They will also help to ensure that the hinges are secured to the ends of the door. With glue joints and/or weatherstripping, a link will form with the exterior and interior sheets of metal, providing a seal. However, the type of end blocks used in the door can make a big difference in the energy efficiency of the door.

Many companies today utilize steel sheets cut to the length that’s required for the door, and they use steel end caps to close the ends. This causes something called thermal bridging, which is not what you want in a garage door. The thermal bridging means that the metal is going to transfer the heat into or out of the garage.

Using wood end blocks is a much better option. Garaga uses different injection and manufacturing methods with wood end blocks. The benefit of using the wood blocks is simple. Wood does not transfer heat. Instead, it causes a thermal break, which makes sure there is no heat lost in the winter, and that the heat doesn’t get into the garage in the summer.

Joints of the door sections

One of the methods that is commonly used when it comes to the joints of the door is attaching the sheets of steel covering the insulation with metal staples, sometimes using glue to support it. This is also going to case a transfer of heat that you do not want.

Instead, you want to have a thermal break for this part of the door, which is just what Garaga has developed. The doors have a triple‑contact PVC weatherseal that connects the sheets. This way, the outer and inner metal are not touching, so you do not have to worry about a thermal bridge.

Weatherstripping on the outside and bottom of the door

If the weatherstripping on the door is suboptimal, such s PVC weatherstripping, it is going to harden and become inflexible when the temperatures start to drop. This will not provide you with the protection you need.

Again, Garaga has the quality you need. For the outside of the door, we offer high-quality, double‑lipped weatherstripping that can remain flexible even when the temperatures drop to 15 ˚F (-25 °C). On the bottom of the door, we use TPE (Thermal Plastic Elastomer)-based weatherseal. It can remain flexible down to -52 °F (-62 °C).

Keep in mind

The energy efficiency of your door involves many different factors, not just the R-value. You need to consider all of the elements that we’ve discussed here when it comes to getting a truly efficient door that will keep your costs as low as possible. Now that you understand what you need to look for, you can choose a door that is much better for you.

You can always Contact us toll-free at 515-233-4210 (Ames) or 515-276-3700 (Des Moines) at any time. We look forward to helping you learn more about your options with garage doors and can explain all of the differences. We will help you find the door that is perfect for your needs, and we can even provide you with a quotation by email.

Consider checking out the showroom, too. You might also want to look at the image gallery for some inspiration, and experiment with the options in the Design Centre.

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