Insulate Garage

[orion25]

I was putting the PFD's and snap in carpet in the atic this weekend and noticed I do not have any insulation over the garage. I have abundant blow in insulation all over the rest of the house.

I was wondering, would I see any energy gains from putting some blow in insulation over the garage? My boat is not stored in the garage in case anyone was wondering.................. Heating and cooling is via an electric powered system (non heat pump).

 

[passingwindII]

Re: Insulate Garage

reason for no insulation: garage is not in the heated square footage of your home. Yes you would probably make a savings,and your electric hvac wouldnt have to work as hard. you can also get those fiberglass 1 1/4 panels to insulate your garage door. (home depot)

 

[Windykid]

Re: Insulate Garage

I'm sure the exterior garage walls are not insulated either.

 

[orion25]

Re: Insulate Garage

reason for no insulation: garage is not in the heated square footage of your home. Yes you would probably make a savings,and your electric hvac wouldnt have to work as hard. you can also get those fiberglass 1 1/4 panels to insulate your garage door. (home depot)

I have an insulated garage door. I am not sure about the walls but I do not think they are insulated.

 

[DJ]

Re: Insulate Garage

Attached garage? If so, yes, you will see gains on heating costs by insulating.

Attached garages are supposed to be sealed from the living environment, yet they rarely are; "sealed".

Insulation is cheap and easy. Do it. If nothing else, it will make the garage a bit more tolerable in the winter months.

Of all the homes I've built, I always had the garage insulated. Cheap and effective, in my book.

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Insulate Garage

Do it. If nothing else, it will make the garage a bit more tolerable in the winter months.

It can also help in keeping garage temps a bit lower in the Summer too. If you do add insulation, be sure not to block the soffit vents.

 

[burroak]

Re: Insulate Garage

Keeping a garage warm is nearly impossible because of air leakage around the garage door and the heat sink created by the concrete slab and the foundation.

Since insulating the former is impossible and insulating the latter is prohibitively costly, what ever insulating you do will be a “feel good” exercise.
A better use of insulation is to maximize R values around the heated envelope.

A heated house loses heat in several ways:

25% - Attic
35% - Walls
15% - Floors
15% - Drafts
10% - Windows

Attack those areas with the greatest payback first. I would be careful about making the home to tight. Some air exchange is good.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Insulate Garage

You want to insulate the ceiling, not the roof.
Ideally the air space between your ceiling insulation and the roof should be the same as it is outside.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Insulate Garage

what is your book called?

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Insulate Garage

im trying to figure out the quote thing lol cant quite get it.lol

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Insulate Garage

I would listen to dj. He wrote a book about it. But seriously im about to add those pannels to a garage door in an attempt to keep some heat in the garage im working on for the winter. Hope it helps a little but i know that i loose a lot of heat from the cold slab after a couple hours when that concrete warms up a little it is way better.

 

[burroak]

Re: Insulate Garage

Drew,

For guys that work in uninsulated spaces, and infrared heater may be the way to go.

Most heaters work by warming the air in the room. People in the room are warmed by the air. Not only does this waste energy on warming up the air, but also you don't feel the benefits of the heater as soon as it is switched on. It might take several minutes for a room to warm up. Infrared heaters work differently. They don't heat up the air it heats objects that are directly in its path. As a result people and objects in the area are warmed directly by the heater and not by the air.

 

[newbie4life]

Re: Insulate Garage

Keeping a garage warm is nearly impossible because of air leakage around the garage door and the heat sink created by the concrete slab and the foundation.

Since insulating the former is impossible and insulating the latter is prohibitively costly, what ever insulating you do will be a ?feel good? exercise.
A better use of insulation is to maximize R values around the heated envelope.

A heated house loses heat in several ways:

25% - Attic
35% - Walls
15% - Floors
15% - Drafts
10% - Windows

Attack those areas with the greatest payback first. I would be careful about making the home to tight. Some air exchange is good.

Not to hijack a thread here, but I disagree with the window percentage -- unless it's in view of the whole house vs. windows (you probably have a little more wall space than you do windows )

Windows come standard with a u-factor rating. Without getting too technical, they're the reciprocal of the R-value. For instance: a window with a u-factor of .34 = roughly a R-3. Some of the BEST windows I've ever seen are around a .25 rating which translates into an R-4.

Sidewall insulation for 6" walls are typically an R-19, or R-21. However, in real world practices (rather than laboratories), you're lucky if you get better than an R-15. Either way, an R-15 is better than an R-3.


I'm also thinking that the heat loss for the attic is dependent upon the amount of insulation (as is ALL of the numbers you posted) that is existing in the attic. I'm guessing that an attic with 6" of insulation is going to lose more heat, faster than an attic with 12 or 18".