It is fairly common to think of an insulated garage door as identical to all other insulated garage doors. Even more so if the R-Values, also called RSI, are similar. Yet, even if that figure is close to identical, one door may be vastly superior in terms of energy efficiency. This is because doors without effective thermal breaks and top‑performing weatherseals may be allowing heat to escape the home.
This translates to wasted energy, and if you are about to replace an old garage door, you’ll want to choose only the most efficient option.
Below are some of the key features you want to find in the door you choose as it ensures your heating and cooling bills remain the lowest possible.
End Blocks Made of Wood
Section end blocks are what manufacturers use to hold all of a door’s insulation in place. These same wooden end blocks are what are used to hold hinges on the door. Finally, the sealing of each door section requites weather stripping or a glue joint that connects interior and exterior sheets, and this too is best if made of wood.
Why? It is a common practice in North American garage door manufacturers to rely on steel sheeting cut to a 26″ width and also to the length of the door needed. When it is time to seal the ends, they use steel end caps. This, however, is highly inefficient and is why thermal bridging occurs. Essentially, this is when the materials and their construction permit major heat loss.
Garaga, however, is different. Instead of traditional methods, they use a unique injection and manufacturing method. This requires door sections to be carefully crafted individually, and to rely on wood end blocks to close the ends of every section before insulation is injected. This creates a thermal break that blocks outside temperatures from transferring in or heat being lost.
Effective Joints Between Door Sections
Of course, it is not just the wood alone that makes the Garaga doors far more efficient. There is also the issue of the way that the metal sheets are joined together. There are two exterior sheets of steel used to top the insulation, and they are often joined with a metal staple. Yet, this leads to heat transfer. Rather than losing heat and wasting energy, the Garaga design features a triple contact PVC weather seal that joins the two metal sheets. It prevents the exterior metal from contacting the interior metal, creating that unwelcome thermal bridge. This ensures optimal efficiency.
Exterior Weatherstripping
PVC weather stripping sounds ideal, and yet many manufacturers depend on a much lower grade of PVC weather stripping that will lose all of its flexibility after just a few days of exposure to below freezing conditions. Garaga’s weather stripping, however, is a double lipped and premium product. It has arctic grade status and remains flexible even down to -15 °F (-25 °C).
Weatherstripping Along the Door Bottom
Optimal sealing occurs when weather stripping is applied along the bottom of the door and the threshold. If it is not premium material, though, it becomes rigid and allows air transfer.
Garaga, however, relies on TPE (Thermal Plastic Elastomer)-based weather sealing that continues to remain flexible down to an incredible -52 °F (-62 °C)!
To Review…
No two garage doors are alike just because they have similar R-value insulation. Rather, doors are comprised of different factors relating to construction and materials.
While the R-value (or RSI) is important, it isn’t the only significant issue. You must also look at the way a door is put together and where it might be weak in terms of heat loss, transfer and efficiency. Look from top to bottom and at all connections to find the best choice.
If you have any questions about this, just contact us toll‑free anytime at 330-889-0062. We are glad to serve as your advisors and explain the best choices for you based on your most needs. And if you’d like a quotation, we can send you one by email.
Also feel free to visit our showroom, try out our online Design Centre to see what style of doors work on your property or browse our image gallery to get an idea of different garage door examples.
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