a place called home . . .

If you think of the opening of a garage as a large void in the buildings structure you will begin to understand the importance of installing a high quality insulated garage door from one of the leading manufacturers.

After years of continued research and development by the major manufacturers, they now produce garage doors that will save money by reducing homeowner`s energy consumption.

Insulated garage doors are made by injecting foam insulation between 2 skins of door profile during the manufacturing process. When done correctly, the foam fills every void within the 2 skins of steel to create a continuous foam blanket across the garages structural opening

Insulated garage doors tend to come in 2 forms depending upon the required application.

Insulated roller garage doors are great at providing medium levels of insulating properties but as they have to coil into a neat roll they cannot be too thick. Due to this they are generally around 18mm thick and give a u value of around 5w/m2k. This means that whilst they offer better levels of insulation than a traditional garage door they will not be super efficient at preventing heat loss. Having said that, in these modern times with energy costs at record highs every little saving helps.

Compare this to an ultra energy efficient insulated sectional garage door where u values of as low as 1w/m2k can be achieved. Sectional garage doors are designed differently to insulated roller garage doors therefore can be much thicker. This type of door is generally around 20-42mm thick depending upon the levels of insulation the homeowner is looking to achieve. This crowns them the king of garage doors and will significantly reduce energy bills year in year out.

So now we have looked at the type of doors available you may still be wondering why bother. Well if your garage is separate from the house then you may well have a point.

However, this still leaves thousands of properties which feature the garage incorporated into the house. Add to this the continued increase in demand for space to build on, many new housing estates are been constructed with attached garages. For properties where the bedroom is over the top of the garage you will see a dramatic reduction in the amount of heat been lost through the bedroom floor once you install an insulated garage door.

This will in turn mean that the central heating system does not have to work as hard or for as long to heat the room. If no bedroom is above the garage then the door will still provide an effective barrier to heat loss by adding an extra layer of insulated space between the wall that divides the house and garage.

In addition to the energy savings that can be achieved with the insulated door another great benefit is the strength that is provided due to the door been doubled skinned. With some insulated garage doors even been insurance and police approved you may also benefit in saving money when you come to renew your house insurance.

To conclude, although an insulated garage door may be around £200 more expensive than a traditional garage door they will pay you back in energy savings in no time at all. So the next time you look to ways of reducing your energy bills look to your garage as the ideal solution.

Submitted by Dan @ Roller Doors Ltd, Roller Garage from Roller Doors.co.uk