Insulation for your garage is typically the same insulation you use inside your home to plug up air holes and reduce the amount of colder air coming into the space and the warmer air leaving the space. It makes sense to insulate your garage, especially if you're planning to heat the space..jpg)
Some types of insulation are better than others for a garage, depending on whether the space is finished or not. You may also want to look at insulating the garage door, which has different installation requirements than walls or ceilings. It pays to insulate your garage if you're adding a garage heater, whether on a permanent or as-needed basis. If you're not adding heat, there's little point in insulating.
It's a popular misconception that insulation adds warmth. In reality, insulation merely slows the transfer of heat through the insulated barrier, which is good for hot and cold climates. Some say that insulating an unheated garage that is attached to the house may offer an additional thermal buffer between the exterior of the home and the outdoors. But no state requires the entirety of the garage to be insulated as part of an energy-efficiency mandate.
It's also unlikely that this minimum improvement in energy transfer will offset the costs of adding extensive insulation. The walls that are shared with the house, however, should always be insulated to their maximum value.
Air Sealing
It's also important to realize the value of air sealing in conjunction with insulation. Garages typically aren't built to be airtight and have lots of air gaps to the outdoors. Before insulating, go around the garage with a can of low-expanding spray foam and seal all gaps and cracks that let in the daylight. Waiting to do this after the insulation is installed tends to be a messy job. Also, make sure weatherstripping along the bottom of the garage door, window, and door frames are intact to seal off drafts.
Fiberglass Insulation
Fiberglass is the most commonly used type of insulation in garages. It's sold in precut batts and long blankets that fit between wall studs and ceiling joists. You can also get loose-fill fiberglass, which is suitable for blowing into a garage attic space above a finished ceiling. If the walls and ceiling will remain open, it's a good idea to use paper-faced or encapsulated fiberglass bats that are wrapped in a plastic film. These will give the walls a slightly more finished look, and you won't have the itchy fibers of the insulation exposed and ready to catch dust at all times.
Cellulose Insulation
Cellulose is a loose-fill insulation that is growing in popularity. Made primarily from recycled newspapers and treated with a fire retardant, cellulose is usually blown into wall and ceiling cavities with a special blowing machine that also aerates the cellulose and fluffs it up.
Blowers can be rented at many tool rental stores, and home centers will sometimes loan you a free one if you buy your cellulose from them. If the garage is already finished, you can install cellulose by cutting strategic holes in the wall material, spraying the insulation into the cavities between framing members, then patching the holes.
Don't insulate your garage walls and ceiling without insulating the big garage door, too. Keep in mind that the structural metal ribbing of garage doors is an excellent conductor of heat, and this typically doesn't get insulated. As a result, the overall thermal performance of the door will be well below the rated performance of the insulation itself. Air sealing is particularly important with garage doors.
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