Conscious Choice: Garage Doors

September 2001 | Sensible Home

Garage Doors

by James Dulley

Dear Jim: I want to replace my old, noisy, faded garage door with a new insulated one with decorative yet secure glass windows for natural light. What are the best designs, materials, and features to consider? — Martha D.

Dear Martha: When it comes to the street appearance and overall energy efficiency of your house, people often forget about the garage door. More than 30 percent of the frontal area of a typical home is garage door. With a lifetime warranty, a new, efficient, insulated garage door can be an excellent investment.

Although the garage door opener has an impact on the noise level of a garage door opening, the design of the door is most significant. High-quality rollers, hardware, counterbalance springs, and adjustable tracks reduce the noise to where it will not wake you, even with a bedroom above.

The newest garage doors are carriage styles. When closed, they look like side-hinged carriage doors. They open upward, though, like a regular section garage door. Some use insulated steel with wood trim; others use real wood with insulation. Grained stainable steel doors also look like real wood.

Another recent improvement is the availability of decorative and energy-efficient windows in the garage door that naturally light the garage. Tough clear acrylic plastic windows are available in beveled and leaded designs.

Real glass windows are available in frosted and leaded (for privacy) and efficient double-pane styles. The newest styles offer a choice of different window shapes.

Even if you don’t heat or cool an attached garage, the door quality impacts your utility bills. Check the joint design between the door sections for safety and efficiency. The newest are pinch-resistance joints that push fingers out of the joint as the door closes (this option is particularly good if you have children).

For efficiency, the joint seal, between the sections when the door is closed, should be as airtight as possible. Several of the best seal designs for between the sections are tongue-and-groove, shiplap, and compression.

The garage door sections’ insulation level has the greatest impact on efficiency. Insulation levels in the top-quality two-inch-thick doors range from about R-6 to R-18 (higher R values are better). Choose a door with a plastic thermal break between the indoor and outdoor steel skins.

Polyurethane foam insulation, injected inside the steel door skins, has the highest insulation value. The other insulation method uses a piece of rigid polystyrene foam that is placed inside the door during construction. Beautiful, durable copper and composite plastic door skins are also available.

Write for (or instantly download) Update Bulletin No. 894, a buyer’s guide of eleven insulated garage door manufacturers listing insulation types/levels, styles, materials, colors, glass options, seals, panel contours, and features. Please include $3.00 and a business-size SASE. James Dulley, Conscious Choice, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244.

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