Home Depot has cellofoam available that makes it easier to bend and fit inside the door. It's available in 1 1/4". to get that extra 1/4", you could put up reflectix radiant barrier next to sheathing and hold it in place with foil tape, the type they use for HVAC systems. that should drop the temperature another 5 to 10 degrees. It may look ugly on the inside but it'll be cooler and you would need the adhesive. Did you insulate the rest of the garage? If you did, I hope you used rockwool in 3.5" and obd board to sheath it.
1in doesn't get very much R value. That's why I chose what I did. But, yes, you could put spacers in and use radiant barrier adhered to the back of the foam panel. That seemed to be more work than fiction fit panels in my opinion. I'm doing 3.5" foam board in the garage and sealing the inserts with foam. Gives high r value and air seals the space Then putting sheet rock over it.
This made me realize that the drywalled exterior wall in my garage is uninsulated. Relatively mild climate, though, and compared to the garage door probably not worth losing sleep over.
R value isn’t everything. Radiant is a separate factor. It’s like the difference from a fluffy warm blanket and one of those shiny space blankets. For hot days, a radiant barrier will reflect more heat back to the outside (it rebounds the heat). So if you do the experiment on one panel, you’ll see with your thermal camera that that on the *inside*, that panel will be less hot than the others. And if you look at the door from the *outside*, the panel with the radiant barrier will be *hotter* as it’s rebounding (reflecting) the heat out. The result of doing your entire garage door would be, like someone else posted in the comments, 5-10F less in the summer. In the winter the radiant will reflect the heat back *into* the garage, keeping your heat inside. From what I’ve seen with other videos, the effect isn’t very profound (1-5F), so unless you’ve got a heat source in the garage, a radiant barrier doesn’t help a lot with winterization. But it does help a lot for summer. Nice job on the garage. I’ll be working on my own garage door soon. I’m going to do as you did but with a foam board product that has a radiant barrier stuck to one side (available at Home Depot). I want R value and radiant protection, and since I’m putting a sound studio in one bay of my garage, sound deadening. I also be putting in new garage door weather striping and a radiant barrier in the garage attic. I’ll also need to add in an AC unit.
You've correct, r value isn't everything, but order to keep radiant energy out a foil faced insulation must be used. Secondly, if the heat from the summer is to be rejected, the foil surface can't be allowed to touch the door (aka it needs an air gap), which would mean some type of spacer system. I didn't want to go to that extreme. Insulation was good enough shgcsince it's not a living space. The other issue was finding foil backed insulation to fill the entire cavity and I didn't want to have multiple sheets in there. Best of luck on your build, you'll find similar results. Interested to know how it goes.
If it's on a door with 2" insulation you might have to glue it. Not sure of your depth of the door. Foil backed isolation needs an air gap...so if your trying to keep heat out of the garage it needs to face towards the door but not touch it. You'll need some type of spacers to do that.
Hey I just bought a new house in NC and looking to insulate garage door. My door is brand new I’m just concerned about the extra weight that gets added. It seems like you added 20lbs extra to your door ? Have you had any issues opening or closing the door?
"If being used in an interior construction application, painting the FOAMULAR is not recommended as FOAMULAR cannot be left exposed and will need to be covered by a 15-minute thermal barrier such as drywall", and for a foam board using different material, "Installations utilizing R-Matte® Plus-3 must be fully protected on the inhabited side of the building by a thermal barrier such as a minimum of 1/2” gypsum wallboard. Consult local building codes and insurance authorities regarding special applications or details required when using R-Matte® Plus-3 as an exposed product in uninhabited spaces." That said, these materials are sold in pre-cut panels for garage doors, so I think the uninhabited spaces thing comes into play. If I'm not mistaken, garages should already be separated from living spaces by a firewall, so anything used for garage door insulation can probably be lumped into the same category as stuff in your garage that can burn. Also, I am not a subject matter expert nor competent...well, in general, but specifically to comment on this subject.
Best analysis I've seen. Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks!
Wow one of the best reviews I’ve seen lol loved the graphs and thermal imagery. I’m sold! Thanks for sharing
Thanks!
Nice work and thank you for removing that panel and looking at the outside of the door with the thermal camera.
Your welcome, I try to make it as scientifically accurate as possible. So folks can see what's happening.
inspired ... i will be doing this hopefully this weekend...Chicago can get pretty cold
What kind of paint will you use to paint the foam to avoid damaging it ?
Acrylic or latex more than likely
Home Depot has cellofoam available that makes it easier to bend and fit inside the door. It's available in 1 1/4". to get that extra 1/4", you could put up reflectix radiant barrier next to sheathing and hold it in place with foil tape, the type they use for HVAC systems. that should drop the temperature another 5 to 10 degrees. It may look ugly on the inside but it'll be cooler and you would need the adhesive. Did you insulate the rest of the garage? If you did, I hope you used rockwool in 3.5" and obd board to sheath it.
1in doesn't get very much R value. That's why I chose what I did. But, yes, you could put spacers in and use radiant barrier adhered to the back of the foam panel. That seemed to be more work than fiction fit panels in my opinion.
I'm doing 3.5" foam board in the garage and sealing the inserts with foam. Gives high r value and air seals the space
Then putting sheet rock over it.
This made me realize that the drywalled exterior wall in my garage is uninsulated. Relatively mild climate, though, and compared to the garage door probably not worth losing sleep over.
R value isn’t everything. Radiant is a separate factor. It’s like the difference from a fluffy warm blanket and one of those shiny space blankets. For hot days, a radiant barrier will reflect more heat back to the outside (it rebounds the heat). So if you do the experiment on one panel, you’ll see with your thermal camera that that on the *inside*, that panel will be less hot than the others. And if you look at the door from the *outside*, the panel with the radiant barrier will be *hotter* as it’s rebounding (reflecting) the heat out.
The result of doing your entire garage door would be, like someone else posted in the comments, 5-10F less in the summer.
In the winter the radiant will reflect the heat back *into* the garage, keeping your heat inside. From what I’ve seen with other videos, the effect isn’t very profound (1-5F), so unless you’ve got a heat source in the garage, a radiant barrier doesn’t help a lot with winterization. But it does help a lot for summer.
Nice job on the garage. I’ll be working on my own garage door soon. I’m going to do as you did but with a foam board product that has a radiant barrier stuck to one side (available at Home Depot). I want R value and radiant protection, and since I’m putting a sound studio in one bay of my garage, sound deadening. I also be putting in new garage door weather striping and a radiant barrier in the garage attic. I’ll also need to add in an AC unit.
You've correct, r value isn't everything, but order to keep radiant energy out a foil faced insulation must be used. Secondly, if the heat from the summer is to be rejected, the foil surface can't be allowed to touch the door (aka it needs an air gap), which would mean some type of spacer system.
I didn't want to go to that extreme. Insulation was good enough shgcsince it's not a living space. The other issue was finding foil backed insulation to fill the entire cavity and I didn't want to have multiple sheets in there.
Best of luck on your build, you'll find similar results. Interested to know how it goes.
My local HD only has the 1" and the 2" (R5 vs R10). I may have to go with the 1" when I do this project b/c 2" is too deep.
Might try different locations or maybe lowes.
Thanks for video, I'm planning to use 2 inch foam board, but I also wanted to add reflective insulation on the top? do you think it's too much?
If it's on a door with 2" insulation you might have to glue it. Not sure of your depth of the door. Foil backed isolation needs an air gap...so if your trying to keep heat out of the garage it needs to face towards the door but not touch it. You'll need some type of spacers to do that.
Hey I just bought a new house in NC and looking to insulate garage door. My door is brand new I’m just concerned about the extra weight that gets added. It seems like you added 20lbs extra to your door ? Have you had any issues opening or closing the door?
It's been fine, no issues so far.
Did you have to rcalibrate your door springs for the extra weight?
Nope, the extra weight was negligible.
What is the fire rating on the door now?
redrok
Not sure, but definitely not better with the insulation
"If being used in an interior construction application, painting the FOAMULAR is not recommended as FOAMULAR cannot be left exposed and will need to be covered by a 15-minute thermal barrier such as drywall", and for a foam board using different material, "Installations utilizing R-Matte® Plus-3 must be fully protected on the inhabited side of the building by a thermal barrier such as a minimum of 1/2” gypsum wallboard. Consult local building
codes and insurance authorities regarding special applications or details required when using R-Matte® Plus-3 as an exposed product in uninhabited spaces."
That said, these materials are sold in pre-cut panels for garage doors, so I think the uninhabited spaces thing comes into play. If I'm not mistaken, garages should already be separated from living spaces by a firewall, so anything used for garage door insulation can probably be lumped into the same category as stuff in your garage that can burn. Also, I am not a subject matter expert nor competent...well, in general, but specifically to comment on this subject.
Good point, my living area is separate from the garage.