Tips For Making Your Garage Door More Energy Efficient

If you’re like many people, you’ve probably become more aware of your car’s energy efficiency in recent years. If you’re trying to save money on fuel costs and/or save the environment, you may have purchased a more energy-efficient, hybrid-fuel or alternative-fuel vehicle. Yet even if you’ve made sure you have the most energy-efficient vehicle, you may still be wasting energy if you haven’t paid the same attention to the garage where you park that hybrid car. In fact, few people stop to consider how energy efficient their garages are. That can be a big mistake because garages can be a significant area of wasted energy in your home. Your garage door is one of the biggest areas where this energy can be wasted. That’s why it’s important to consider some of the most important ways you can help ensure that your garage door and your garage are as energy efficient as possible.

For example, it’s imperative to insulate your garage door. If you don’t want to replace your entire garage door, you can purchase a kit that will provide your door with some additional insulation that can protect against wasted energy caused by conditioned air escaping through the door. It’s also a good idea to go around your garage and seal any cracks that might be in your garage floor — as well as in the seams between walls and around windows and electrical fixtures.

The light fixtures in your garage may not be as numerous as inside your house, but they can consume a lot of energy. Switching the light bulbs in your garage lights with energy-efficient CFL or LED bulbs can make a big difference in the amount of electricity your garage uses throughout the course of a year. If you’re ready to make a bigger commitment, you can install solar panels on your garage roof that can provide light and heat for your garage without needing the power grid.

Having an energy-efficient car is great, but having an energy-efficient garage to store it in is even better. The guide below includes numerous tips you can use to help your garage and garage door conserve more energy.

Author bio: Justin White is Marketing Director for Garage Door Repair. Living just outside of Washington, D.C., White is extremely resourceful with resolutions on common garage door problems specific to the region, including Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.