Is Your Garage Costing You Money?

Many of us are pretty well knowledgeable when it comes to maintaining our homes to reduce energy costs. But do you know that you are spending more money if you have a garage and have not winterized it? This is very true. Some of us even have our heat and air units in the garage along with the water heater.

Accessing Your Situation

You can climb up on your roof and put those turbine bags on to prevent heat loss. You can also caulk around all the trim, windows and doors that have brick meeting up with them. All of this is good to do, but if you have not done anything to your garage you are really losing money.

Walk back into your garage and take a good look at how it was finished. Were the walls finished and painted? Is there a large gap from the "cement rail" of the wall to where the drywall starts at the bottom of each wall? Can you see light from outside when you close the garage door?

Wait! There's more! Look up at the ceiling. Is it finished? Do you have an access ladder to your attic from the garage? Should your walls be unfinished and you don't like your answers to these questions, then maybe it is time to do something about it.

Insulation (Weatherproofing) The Garage Door

Home improvement stores have insulation (weatherproof) strips that you can put around your garage door. To be extra conservative, add some foam or fabric strips in between each panel length. Recheck the door to make certain you have it completely sealed.

Any combustible chemicals should be put away outside in a storage unit out of the way of direct sun. This is for your safety if you tend to leave your vehicle running to warm it up in the winters. The sun can also heat up your garage in the summer.

A north facing garage may be less likely to cause these chemicals to combust, but you can never be too careful. Read all the labels. An outdoor shed for all of these items including those that hold gasoline is most advisable. Lawnmowers, weed eaters, etc. are risky, too. Sealing up your garage will raise the temperatures.

Insulating the Walls

If you are unsure if the walls have any or adequate insulation in them, call the builder or your realtor agent. You can test an area to patch up later by sticking something through the drywall such as a screwdriver or wire coat hanger. A little spackling and paint will make it look new.

Before you start tearing up the walls, find out which type of insulations you may install in accordance with your city laws. There are several varieties. There is insulation by the roll, blow in style, and foam type, too. Ask your local home improvement store which ones they carry to make sure they have what you need.

You will need to remove the drywall if there is no insulation behind it. You can try to salvage most of it, but this may be pointless if you have no experience in patching it up. Use a small prybar and a block of wood to keep from damaging the surrounding drywall.

Pull out the nails and place them in a container of some sort. You may be able to salvage a few nails, but that is highly unlikely, too. Drywall can range from $5 on up to $13 a panel at eight feet long by four feet wide. You may be looking at $50 to $100 to replace the drywall and nails. That may seem like much compared to the possible $300 more you will spend on energy for the year. After a number of years it will pay for itself.

Put in your insulation and seal it up with the drywall before moving onto the next section. When you are done with this process, tape up all the seams using drywall tape and sealant. Caulk at the base of the walls next to the concrete, and at each corner. Do not forget to caulk where the walls meet the ceiling. Now you are ready to paint (if you want).

A layer of paint will make the walls look nice. It also adds in insulating the walls and ceiling. Two layers of paint should be fine, but a third or fourth coat will be much better.

Air Conditioner / Heating Units

You may have read this elsewhere or maybe not. Adding a two inch layer of insulation to your AC/Heat unit will be of much benefit to you. The access panel does not need any of this since you will need to change out the filter every 30 days.

Any pipes that come out from the unit can be covered in an insulation batting made of foam. Tape these well with duct tape so they do not unwrap themselves. Check the walls where they enter to see if there are large gaps in it. Caulk these up well.

There will be at least one duct channel going into the wall, too. Seal this up with fiberglass insulation. Tape it off with duct tape. This may also need caulking where it enters the wall.

Water Heating Units

The water heater can also be insulated. Most of them have an insulator sleeve that can be purchased at a home improvement store. Write down the brand name and model number to give to the salesperson. They can match you up with the right insulation, which should fit perfectly around the water heater in your garage.

You will also need some foam insulation to go around the pipes. Tape up the insulation with duct tape or the tape that came with it. Caulk around the pipes at the wall as this will reduce heat loss.

Access Door to the Garage

Whether your garage's access door is from the inside of the house or the outside, weather stripping it will also reduce your overall energy costs. This project should not take more than 30 minutes.

Attic Access

Believe it or not, weather stripping your attic access panel can make big difference in your heating and cooling costs. Just run a strip of foam weather stripping around the edge of the panel, and that is it. This should not take more than 15 minutes at the most.

Concrete Floor

This may sound ridiculous, but you may be surprised as to how much difference it will make to seal the concrete in your garage. There are many concrete sealants to choose from. Behr makes a great wet look sealant that can be used outside, too. I do not recommend using this on your driveway if you ever get ice in your area.

Take caution not to get this on your skin when applying it to the concrete. Read the directions to know which tools you will need for this sealer. Keep the garage door open when applying this so that you do not become overwhelmed with the fumes.

You may not notice much of a difference on your bill if you make up for what you did by running more appliances indoors. Keep up your regular routine, and after 30 days you will notice quite a difference on your next bill.

Sources:
Personal Experience,
http://www.spendingless101.com/2009/01/09/does-insulating-your-garage-save-you-money/,
http://maela-net.org/save-money-with-your-garage-door/