Home Insulation - Close the Attached Garage Door

When we think of home insulation, we think ofmove in and out of the garage because garage
attic insulation, spray foam sealant and insulationdoors aren't sealed very well, but the movement
batting in our walls. Insulation does much the sameof air will be restricted to the point of making the
thing, no matter what material it's made of -- itmass of air in the garage an effective form of
slows down the transfer of energy by creatinginsulation.
"dead air" space. Air that doesn't move can'tKeeping the doors to attached garages closed can
transfer energy nearly as well as air that's allowedhelp keep one side of the house warmer in the
to move.winter and cooler in the summer. Instead of using
There is something even more simple andthe large garage door to enter and exit, simply
cost-effective that we can do in the winter anduse the pedestrian door. That will help reduce the
summer to conserve energy around the house --amount of air in the garage that is exchanged
simply close the doors on the attached garage.with outside air, thus maintaining an enhanced
If we have an attached garage, keeping it closedinsulation factor on at least one side of the house
maintains a "dead air" space on a large part of ourKeeping the attached garage door closed is a
house because the air in the garage cannot besimple way to help our home insulation do a
exchanged with outside air nearly as readily as itbetter job of maintaining a pleasant indoor
can with the door open. To be sure, some air willtemperature.