Maximise Your Home’s ROI With Garage Door Insulation

When most homeowners think of increasing home value, they tend to associate such projects with kitchen and bathroom renovations, a new outdoor deck or patio, or new windows. Many homeowners fail to realize that there's a very affordable, value-adding opportunity present to them, as long as their homes have a garage: garage door insulation. Yes, a garage does more than provide a place for your vehicles and yard tools — it also acts as somewhat of a window to the home.

This post is designed to explain what garage door insulation is, its benefits and the type of value it can add to your home.

Garage Door Insulation Explained

There are two ways you can improve the insulation of your garage door: You can purchase a new garage door or purchase an insulation kit to use with your existing garage door.

While both are good options, purchasing a new garage door is likely to cost a bit more than an insulation kit for a garage door makeover. Hence, if you're content with the look, colour and style of your current garage door, acquiring and installing an insulation kit can be one of the most worthwhile garage door upgrades you can perform — especially if your garage is attached to your home.

Just what is a garage door insulation kit? It's a speciality kit that contains several insulation panels that can be installed on your existing door. Installing the panels is a simple DIY job, and it typically takes about an hour to accomplish. While the kits themselves only cost a few hundred dollars, many also require some of the garage door hardware (such as the springs) to be replaced or removed during installation. This often requires more specialized service, for which you may need to call in a professional.

Unlike an insulation kit, a new garage door can cost thousands. Generally, though, most new doors are typically better insulated than taking an insulation kit to an existing door.

Benefits of Garage Door Insulation

Just why is insulation one of the best garage upgrade ideas today? Because of all the benefits associated with it. We've detailed several of them here:

• Energy efficiency: There's a reason why garage door insulation is so significant, especially if you have an attached garage. That's because your garage acts like somewhat of a giant window to the home. It captures heat in the summer and cold in the winter, and these temperatures are bound to enter your home to some extent. Insulating the garage door helps reduce the amount of heat your home takes on in the summer and cold in the winter, thereby reducing your energy bills. How much of the energy savings you experience depends on the quality of the door and the insulation. Regardless, know that your bills can be reduced, and your home will stay more comfortable.
• Return on investment: You're likely to experience a greater return on investment when purchasing and installing a new garage door as opposed to installing insulation on an existing one. This return on investment, however, can be significant, potentially as much as 90 per cent. That means if you spent $2,000 on a new garage door, you're likely to get $1,800 of that back in value. It's worth noting that spending just a few thousand dollars can have such a significant return on investment, rather than spending tens of thousands on a bathroom or kitchen renovation.
• Affordability: Finally, an additional benefit to insulating the garage door is the affordability of doing so. As we mentioned earlier, insulation kits usually only cost a few hundred dollars on the high end, and the national average for a new garage door is less than $1,100. Think of it like this: Spending just a few hundred dollars on an insulation kit could help you shave money off your energy bills each month for years. It's an investment that could pay for itself within months.

A new garage door is an option, too. While the upfront cost is higher, the return on investment could be significant — through an upgraded product (contemporary door with better insulation) and/or added value to your home overall. If you go to the new garage door route, select a style that complements the home and would be appealing to a potential buyer.