Keep the garage door closed
May 18th, 2009 | By Greg Primm | Category: Heating and Cooling, Lead, Low Cost Tips
File this as one of those things that you don’t have to worry about with me — keeping the garage door down. I’ve always been a little nuts about making sure the doors around the house are closed and locked. However, my reasons have more to do with security than with energy savings.
I read somewhere the other day that leaving the garage door down actually helps insulate the main part of your home from the outside temperature.
It makes sense. In winter, if you keep your garage door down the garage will be cold, but not as cold as the outside temperature. If you left your garage door up, the cold air from outside would infiltrate the garage and quickly make the temperature in the garage the same as the outside temperature.
This puts colder air closer to the house, reducing the inside temperature over time and costing more to heat your house.
The same concept applies during the summer months as well. The only change I would make during the summer would be to open the garage for an hour or so at night to let the warm air that gets trapped inside out and cooled during the evening hours.
It should be obvious that this strategy only works with attached garages.
Photo credit: iP
I’ve read other pro and con about opening garage door in summer to keep house cooler. Our 2 car garage faces east and by 11 a.m. or at least noon, the stronger heat is working west. I’ve kept garage door partially open and 2 north and a bit west facing windows (with blinds pulled) open thinking this would prevent heat build up. The major problem is the dirt, leaves and other wind driven stuff that comes in and ultimately tracked into the house. (We live on a hill and in Oklahoma the wind blows a bit.) There is good insulation over the garage and the walls are insulated. I’ve decided to shut the door (mostly to keep out the mess) shut the windows and turn slatted blinds up to deflect afternoon sun and see how it is as far as heat build up. Have even turned on a pedestal fan. This actually seems to be working. The heat isn’t as bad as I thought (it’s been 100+) and the dirt and other windblow stuff is kept out. Since we live in rural area, don’t have great worry about security. The door is and was always closed with auto opener when we aren’t home.