While many of us strive to make our homes more energy-efficient, few of us give much thought to energy-efficient garage doors. A good eco-friendly garage door, however, can make our lives as homeowners easier: It will help maintain a comfortable temperature and lower our energy bills. That is because — assuming your garage is part of your house — a poorly insulated garage door can cause your heated or cooled air to escape. For this reason, it is essential to invest in an energy-efficient garage door with proper insulation.
If your garage doubles as a workshop, and you regularly use a heater or air conditioner, insulating this area is even more critical. If your regional climate features extreme hot and cold temperatures, a garage with good insulation will keep your car cool during hot months and warm during cold months, cutting down the energy needed to keep the space a comfortable temperature.
What Is an Energy-Efficient Garage Door?
Eco-friendly garage doors minimize their impact on the environment, both during their construction and throughout their lifetimes. Below are some factors that can determine whether a garage door is energy-efficient:
What materials are used to construct it
How well the door can withstand strong winds, which helps protect the envelope of the house
The efficiency of garage door construction, including the use of recycled materials
How energy-efficient the garage door is after installation
How long the door lasts
Efficient garage doors with these features are sustainable and have a smaller impact on our environment. Eco-friendly garage doors help protect the environment in several ways.
1. They use recycled or sustainable building materials. Some environmentally friendly garage doors use recycled materials such as steel.
Wood garage doors can also be environmentally friendly, but you must verify that it came from a supplier that obeys the environmental rules regarding wood harvesting. Eco-friendly wood suppliers adhere to various techniques and practices to ensure sustainability in the long term, which includes replanting trees in place of the harvested timber.
2. They have high-quality parts to improve the lifespan of the door. Eco-friendly garage doors should not only use environmentally sound materials — these materials should also be sturdy and durable. Regardless of whether the door is wood or metal, it should be able to survive exposure to the elements, such as rain, wind and snow, for long periods. It should also continue to function after considerable wear and tear.
Durable doors are more environmentally friendly because, if they don’t need replacement as often, fewer will get thrown away and take up space in a landfill. With more durable doors, we conserve more natural resources.
3. They featureweatherproofing and insulation as ways to improve the garage’s energy efficiency. Garage doors are the largest opening in homes, which means they can potentially allow in lots of unwanted cold or hot air, driving up your energy bills as a result. Installing a door that is well-insulated and weatherproofed will not only decrease your environmental footprint — it’ll lower your utility costs.
If you would like a garage door with windows, make sure these windows are also energy-efficient. To make sure your garage door is green, you’ll also need to do some perimeter weather-stripping.
4. Their manufacturer was efficient. With eco-friendly, sustainable garage doors, it’s not just the final product that should be environmentally friendly, but also every step of the manufacturing process, including the sourcing, manufacturing and delivery of the materials. Eco-friendly manufacturers are always aware of how much of each material they consume during the production process. They also follow certain procedures to make sure they are recycling any woods, plastics or scrap metals.
The process should also be efficient in the following ways.
The product packaging uses a few choice resources carefully. Packaging, which takes many resources and much energy to produce, can be very environmentally unfriendly. Although it is possible to recycle some of the packaging, it’s best to use as little packaging as possible.
The product is well-protected. It is also essential to package products properly to avoid damage during transportation. If a product does get damaged, sometimes the product has to be disposed of — which creates waste — or may require other resources to repair it.
The product gets transported efficiently. Transporting the product by a fuel-efficient means of transport is another excellent way to be eco-friendly.
Benefits of Insulated, Energy-Efficient Garage Doors
Green garage doors provide many benefits for your home. Here are some of the essential ones.
1. Energy savings: If your garage can prevent heated and cooled air from escaping, your heater and A/C won’t have to work as hard to maintain your desired temperature. These savings in energy also mean lower energy bills — so you’ll be saving money.
2. Less costly replacement, repair and maintenance expenses: Eco-friendly garage doors use sturdy building materials, which means they will have a longer lifespan than non-eco-friendly doors. Over time, an owner of an eco-friendly door will end up saving a lot in money and resources.
3. They have more curb appeal: Environmentally friendly doors come in a wide variety of styles. Also, a home with an eco-friendly garage may boost the resale value of your home and might be a particular draw for eco-friendly buyers who care for energy-efficient garage doors.
4. Good soundproofing: An insulated, energy-efficient garage door may help keep outside sounds from flooding in and vice versa.
Our Eco-Friendly Garage Door Materials
Our garages include the following environmentally friendly materials.
Steel: This is the most popular material for garage doors. It’s durable, and although steel by itself is not a great insulator, a thicker low-gauge steel is better at insulating than thin, high-gauge steel. Multi-layer steel doors that have insulation between the layers can also be dent-resistant, energy-efficient and even more durable.
Composite wood:Composite wood is a material that has recently been gaining popularity. It’s durable, requires little maintenance and is a great alternative to real wood. It is commonly found together with a steel interior and a fake wood composite overlay, giving the door the look of wood and the insulation properties of steel.
Polystyrene: If you want more garage door insulation, polystyrene is an excellent option. The thicker the foam, the higher the R-value, which is the measure of a material’s ability to prevent the transfer of heat. For example, polystyrene foam 1 and 3/8 inches thick has an R-value of 6.5, and foam with a thickness of 1 and 5/16 inches has a 6.3 R-value.
Polyurethane: This material is an even better insulator than polystyrene and is not as thick. It typically gets sprayed as a foam on the inside of the door, which allows it to get into all the small spaces and insulate more effectively. To compare the two, consider 2-inch polyurethane has an R-value ranging from 18.4 to 20.4, whereas 1 and 3/8-inch polyurethane has an R-value of 12.9.
Insulation Options for Garage Doors
In addition to preventing the escape of cooled and heated air, insulation provides several other benefits: It makes the door stronger, it makes it more able to withstand accidental damage and helps soundproof the garage.
When looking around for an eco-friendly garage door, you will find three different options for insulation.
Single-layer doors: These doors offer no insulation. This option is best for garages that are detached from your house and have no climate control at all.
Double-layer doors: These doors feature polystyrene insulation in the middle.
Triple-layer doors: These doors include the thicker polyurethane insulation. They are the best at insulating.
Look out for Air Leakage
Even if your garage door has a high R-value, this will mean nothing if there are large gaps between your garage door and wall. To reduce energy loss through air escaping through gaps, it’s best to find hardware that is high-quality, well-fitting and includes weather-stripping and seals. Having your door installed by a professional is also a good idea.
Another aspect to be aware of is the windows on your garage door. Although they’re an attractive addition, they are also another potential source of air leakage. To avoid this transference of heat, choose windows with low-emissivity coatings that are double- or triple-glazed.
Contact Us for an Energy-Efficient Insulated Garage Door
Do you live in or near Winston-Salem, Wilkesboro, East Bend or Lake Norman, N.C., and are looking for an energy-efficient garage door to enhance your home? If so, you’re at the right place. At Marvin’s Garage Doors, we serve both residential and commercial clients with all things garage door-related.
Our family-owned business has been proudly serving North Carolina’s Piedmont region since 1970. We are an authorized dealer of Clopay garage doors, which have a reputation for their aesthetic appeal, sturdiness and energy efficiency.
Energy-Efficient Garage Doors We Offer
We sell a wide variety of base models for Clopay garage doors, each with a subset of design features. We are confident that you will be able to find a garage door that works well for your home. Below are some examples of what we offer.
Reserve Collection Custom Series: These insulated garage doors blend the traditional and modern, offer unlimited custom designs and have energy-efficient insulation.
Canyon Ridge Collection Ultra-Grain: The overlay material on this door is so ornate, you’d assume it’s real wood. This door features four layers in its construction: steel, insulation, ultra-grain steel and an overlay. It appears to have swing-out doors, but conveniently opens upward.
Coachman Collection: Combining the strength of modern materials with the classic look of a carriage-house door, this collection blends beauty and practicality. There are more than 100 style combinations, and four factory finish colors. Its R-values range from 6.5 to 18.4.
Gallery Collection: This door opens upward, but appears to swing out. It features the classic raised panel steel design, but also has some vintage elements like grooved panels and wrought-iron hardware with a variety of color options. Two insulation options are available for this door: polystyrene or Intellicore®, both of which have great R-values.
Classic Wood Collection: If your goal is to maintain a traditional look, this may be the collection for you. The doors are handcrafted, and the panels come in three options: traditional raised, recessed and flush. This collection includes options with and without windows.
Value Plus Series: These doors have a simple, no-frills appearance, but feature a strong energy-efficient barrier. You can choose between two insulation thickness options and five colors.
Avante Collection: This door combines glass paneling and a sturdy frame reinforced with steel. This collection will give your home a distinct look. You can enjoy the natural light of your garage during the day, and at night, you can return to a warm glow.
Reserve Wood Collection Semi-Custom Series: This door is made of cedar, redwood or hemlock and comes in six base designs. It is constructed in two layers. It’s a great way to give your home historical character and a unique look that will make your home stand out in your neighborhood.
Canyon Ridge Collection Limited Edition Series: This door has the appearance of wood and the strength of modern materials. The overlay and cladding are molded from genuine pieces of wood to imitate the texture and grains of certain wood species. It comes in composites of pecky cypress, mahogany and clear cypress. Its construction is in five layers: steel, insulation, steel, full cladding and overlay. This door has an R-value of 20.4.
Premium Series: This door has three layers and offers two insulation options. It’s particularly strong and is good at protecting your home and belongings — even during the most violent storms. Steel, which is galvanized and pre-painted, is molded and bonded to polyurethane foam or Intellicore, making it exceptionally strong, energy-efficient and quiet in operation. Its R-values range from 6.5 to 18.4.
Value Series: This door features one-layer construction and has a frame of steel. It also offers two-panel designs and an option of windows. If you live in a hurricane-prone area and would like your door to be resistant to hurricane-force winds, this door has a Windcode rating.
Classic Wood Collection: This door is available with and without windows and features natural handcrafted wood, which is a great way to give a traditional look to your home.
Get in Touch With the Pros at Marvin’s Garage Doors
In addition to installing garage doors, we also repair them. If your door becomes damaged or stops working, give us a call, and we’ll repair it quickly — at any hour of the day.
