If you want to use your garage throughout the year for DIY projects, wood working, auto work, or any other task, keeping your garage door warm during the winter is a top priority. There are several different methods to keep your garage door warm during colder months of the year.
Before starting the process of properly winterizing your garage, give it a thorough cleaning to prepare your space. Using a stiff broom to thoroughly sweep the floor, remove dirt, debris, mulch, leaves, and insects that have found their way into your garage during the warm months of the year. Clear walls of any cobwebs and dirt or dust.
Insulating Your Garage Door and Garage
In areas where temperatures are milder, simply adding insulation to your garage door can help keep the garage more temperate. Adding weather-stripping to your garage door will help keep out cold air in any areas of your garage door that lets air drafts from outside through to your garage. Garage doors do not fit tightly in the framing around them–small gaps run all the way around the door. You can easily address these spots with an integrated weather-strip seal. The self-adhesive strips will help close the gaps in the door so that cold drafts don’t enter.
Before investing in a garage heating system, make sure your garage has plenty of insulation. Insulate garage doors where possible, as well as walls and ceilings. You can easily add clear plastic shrink over windows for added protection against the cold. Once you get a heating system, you don’t want all of your warm air seeping out through cracks.
Many garage doors are thin metal, which does nothing to keep the warm air inside the garage and the cold air out of it. If your garage door is not well-insulated, it will defeat the purpose of other heating efforts. To keep your garage toasty during the winter, you’ll want to insulate the garage door well. There are a variety of specialized kits on the market you can purchase, with options such as foam boards, fiberglass, and reflective barriers.
A lot of garages have uninsulated walls. Although insulation itself won’t warm the garage, it does slow the transfer of heat to keep the warmth from escaping. Be sure to choose insulation that’s the proper thickness for your garage walls, and read the instructions to ensure it is a secure fit.
Add a Heating Source to Your Garage
There are several different ways to heat your garage, as stated before you will want to clean and insulate your garage and garage door before adding any heat sources to your garage. Electric space heaters are great for supplemental heating during cold weather, if a space heater is the only source of heat in a garage, it should be a robust model. Radiant heaters emit heat via infrared energy without the risk of actual flames. Instead of blowing air like a forced-air unit, a tube heater radiates heat throughout your space.
Wood-burning stoves are an economical way to heat your garage space in the winter. Just like you take steps to make your indoor wood-burning fireplace safe, you’ll want to do the same with your garage stove. Check for permits that may be required, and if they are allowed in your area. Check with your insurance company to make sure installation of a wood stove in the garage for cheap heat will not void your homeowner’s policy.
A propane heater is a great option for heating a garage because it offers a lot of warmth, it is mobile, and it is an affordable way to add heat. Make sure, however, to set the heater on a flat surface, far away from flammable materials, and that the exhaust is properly vented.
Best Overall Steps for Keeping Your Garage Warm
Depending on the condition of your garage door overall, your best option may be to replace it with a new, insulated one. Replacing an old, uninsulated garage door with a new door is a good investment. It will help keep heat in your garage all winter long, and it will help reduce cooling costs in the summer. High-quality insulated garage doors will save you money in the long run.
Adding weather-stripping to your garage door helps keep out cold air, other forms of weather, and even dirt. You can install weather-stripping yourself, or you can hire a professional.
If you are interested in getting a new insulated garage door or adding insulation or weather-stripping to your garage door, message us for a free estimate.
