contents 1. Where to Insulate 2. Reflective Insulation 3. What is Reflective Insulation? 4. Advantages of Using Reflective Insulation 5. Other Kinds of Garage Insulation 6. Garage Door Installation Method for Reflective Insulation

There are many good reasons to insulation your garage. Chief among them:

• Insulation on the wall that separates the garage from the rest of the house will make your home more energy efficient and comfortable
• The garage will not be so hot in summer and cold in winter making it available for year round use in any climate

• Insulate the wall between the garage and the rest of the house. Insulate this wall using the same techniques you would use for a building exterior wall. If moisture in the garage is an issue, include a vapor barrier (vapor retarder).
• Insulate the walls - temperatures inside the garage will fluctuate less. Covering the insulation is optional with either drywall or pegboard.
• Insulate the ceiling. If there are bedrooms above the garage, the ceiling must be well insulated to keep bedrooms comfortable. Even with nothing above, the garage ceiling should be insulated to keep winter heat inside and summer heat outside if you intend to use the garage.
• Insulate the garage door. Un-insulated garage doors will leak a significant amount of air. Include a threshold seal and weather stripping. Insulating the door can reduce street noise as well. Garage door insulation is critical for a garage door that faces East, West or South to keep cool in the summer.

Reflective insulation is the right answer for your garage to stay cool in summer and warm in winter. Reflective insulation will reflect 97 percent of radiant heat gain. It also will function as an air barrier, preventing warm air from reaching the cold exterior of the garage wall thereby preventing condensation.

Heat flows from a hot or warm medium to a cold medium in three ways:

• By radiation from a warm surface to a cooler surface through air or a vacuum using infra-red heat rays
• By conduction through solid or fluid materials resulting from direct contact
• By convection, which involves the physical movement of air - warm air rises

Heat moves through wall cavities or between roofs and attic floors by a combination of radiation, conduction, and convection with radiation being the dominant method of heat transfer. Research shows that control of radiant heat transfer is the core of heating/cooling climate control.

Radiation is accounts for 65-85 percent of all heat transfer through walls, ceilings, attic and floors. Reflective insulation is an effective barrier against radiant heat transfer because it reflects back almost all of the infrared radiation striking its surface and emits very little of the heat conducted through it. Reflective insulation products also incorporate trapped air spaces as part of the system to retard the convective flow of heated air the same way fiberglass insulation does.

Click here to read a detailed article on the physics of foil.

• Reflective insulation is the only type of insulation that reflects radiant heat. Traditional fiberglass insulation has no effect on radiant heat transfer. Estimates are that between 80 and 90 percent of the radiant heat striking fiberglass will pass right through it. Aluminum foil reflective insulation, which can reflect up to 97 percent of the radiant energy that strikes it, has proven to be an outstanding radiant heat barrier.

• Reflective insulation is the only type of insulation that can be used as a vapor barrier to block condensation that normally would collect under the ceiling. All other insulation requires the addition of a separate vapor retarder to prevent moisture accumulation in the walls and ceilings that can cause rot, mold, fungus, and dripping.
• Reflective insulation will not compress or absorb moisture - conditions that seriously degrade the performance of both fiberglass batt and loose-fill insulation.
• Reflective insulation can provide up to R-14.5 resistance to convective heat flow in a single layer.
• Reflective insulation provides a clean and washable finish - no drywall is needed to provide either a finished look or fire protection.
• Provides Class A/Class 1 fire rated protection - meets fire and smoke safety requirements of most federal, state, and local building codes.
• Does not provide nesting for birds, rodents or insects.
• Very light - no need to adjust the garage door lifting system.

Click here to read a detailed article on the control of condensation in a home using reflective insulation as a vapor barrier.

Fiberglass Insulation

Fiberglass batt insulation can be installed in between the studs with reflective insulation installed on top to provide extra R-value protection in colder climates. The reflective insulation provides the vapor barrier necessary to keep fiberglass dry. Since fiberglass insulation provides no resistance to radiant heat transfer or moisture, it cannot be used alone.

Blown-in Insulation

Blown -in cellulose is a common method used for retrofit insulation projects in colder climates. It is primarily used in a garage that has drywall installed but no insulation. A contractor will make a hole in the wall and blow the insulation inside the wall cavity.

Foam Insulation

Both polyurethane foam sprayed directly on the wall and rigid foam board are used as garage insulation in conjunction with reflective insulation in colder climates to provide a higher R-value. Foam is preferred over fiberglass insulation as it is non-hazardous/non-toxic/non-carcinogenic and it is safer for workers to install as there are no fibers to breathe or cause skin irritation. Foam also has two times the R-value per inch of fiberglass insulation. Foam by itself does not have the fire rating necessary to be installed alone. Covering the foam with reflective insulation will provide fire protection as well as a radiant barrier.

• Cut insulation strips (1.5" wide) to create the air spaces.
• Install them on the door with double-faced adhesive tape for metal doors (staples for wood doors) as shown in the diagram below. Put strips between each mobile panel of the door. Make sure the insulation strips are stuck only at the upper panel side. They must be wide enough to stay over the lower part while the door is open.
• Stick the insulation to the insulation strips with tape or staples.
• Seal the seams with aluminum tape.