What is Garage Door R-Value?

What is Garage Door R-Value? When our customers start the process of selecting a garage door we are often asked what the garage door R-value is and why it is important.  Here is an example of what you might read on a garage door brochure:  8ft. x 7ft, R-value 10.4.  The garage door R-values can range by quite a bit so it is important to understand why you should pay attention to this number. First of all let’s learn what R-value is.

To make is really simple garage door R-value is a measurement of the thermal resistance used in the building and construction industry. It is the thermal resistance to heat flow. If the outside of your door is cold, like it gets during the winter in Logan and the Bear Lake area, and the inside of the door is warm, the warmer air will try to get to the other side and equalize the temperature. Insulation is placed in the door to prevent this from happening.  The number of the garage door R-value reflects how well the door will stop the resistance to heat flow. So you want to look for a door with a higher R-value.

This is where it gets a bit confusing. The higher the garage door R-value, the better the insulating properties of the material–that’s true– but that does not mean that an R-value rating of 16 is twice as good as an R-value rating of 8. It does not offer twice as much thermal resistance or twice the energy savings. As you can tell in the chart below a value of R-16 offers a 5% reduction in heat flow and a 5% improvement in energy effciency over a value of R-8.

Garage doors come with different types of insulation materials which help determine the garage door R-value. Some work better than others. For example: Polystyrene insualtion comes in panels that are inserted into the garage door. Air flow can still get in but it still works well. Most insulated steel doors use this. A Polyurethane insulation is foam injected. The spray foam expands and bonds to the surface so much less air flow happens thus the higher garage door R-value. Both are similar material but work differently at stopping heat loss.  There are also Urethane injected doors and laminated polystyrnen sandwhich doors. At Anderson Garage Doors you can go to our website, choose the door you are interested in, click on the picture and the brochure for that door will pull up. From there you can read about what kind of insulation that particular door has and what the garage door R-value is. Go to “anderson-doors.com” to answer all your questions!

Another common questions is “If my garage isn’t heated then why would I get an insulated door?”  An insulated door whether it be vinyl or steel back is a stronger, more rigid door. They last longer and are much quieter. Many homes have rooms above their garages and an insulated garage door with a good R-value rating can really help lower energy costs. Even if your garage isn’t heated, an insulated garage door can help to keep your garage warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

At Anderson Garage Doors we can install insulated panels into your already existing garage door. These panels come with a hard vinyl backing and work great. They are inexpensive and look nice. If you are thinking of selling your home, installing insulation panels will make a great selling point.

At Anderson Garage Doors we have many different insulated garage doors to choose from–Residential, Commercial, Traditional and Carriage House with a large range of R-values. We also can get insulated glass for your garage door windows. We hope this has helped answer your question, “What is a garage door R-value?”.