Energy efficiency is an important concept for homeowners in North York, Markham, and other parts of the Greater Toronto Area, for both financial and environmental reasons. If your property boasts an integral garage, as many in this part of the world do, making sure that it is well-insulated should be a prime concern. Any cold air that is allowed into your garage will eventually make its way into the rest of your home, potentially compromising other energy efficiency measures you may have taken. To make sure that this does not happen, there are two courses of action you could take.

Improve Your Existing Door or Invest in New Insulated Garage Doors

If you would rather not spend money on new doors, it may be possible for you to retrofit insulation to your existing door.

• Repair any Damage – If the door frame or the door itself has sustained damage through years of use, the first thing you need to do is to repair this damage. A loose-fitting door will allow cold air to penetrate your garage and, eventually, the rest of your home too. Keen DIY enthusiasts may wish to tackle the work themselves but if you are not confident in your ability to perform such work, you can always call the professionals at Smart Doors for help. We repair a wide variety of garage doors in Toronto every year and would be more than happy to provide you with a competitive quotation for the work in question.
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• Fitting an Insulation Kit – Homeowners who do not have insulated garage doors can purchase insulation kits that are designed to make older doors more energy efficient. If you decide to purchase such a kit, it is a good idea to have it fitted by a professional to make sure that it provides you with as much insulation as possible. A poorly-fitted kit will not be as effective so it is well worth making sure the job is done right the first time.
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• Adding Weather Stripping – Strips that are designed to cover the gap between the top and sides of your garage door and the door jamb will help to stop cold air from entering, as will strips that are designed to cover the gap between the bottom of the door and the concrete slab that lies beneath it. Even if you invest in one of the modern insulated garage doors, it is worth adding weather stripping once it has been installed.

The alternative to retrofitting an insulation kit to your existing door is to invest in a new one and have it installed by a team of local overhead garage door replacement professionals. While this is undoubtedly the most expensive option as far as initial costs are concerned, the savings you could make over the years may well make it the most economical choice in the long run. The type of insulated garage doors that are available today are a vast improvement on those that were being made in the past so if your existing door is more than a few years old, you could find that this is the best option for you.

More Information on Modern Garage Doors

To make an informed choice, you will need to know exactly how much it would cost to install new garage doors and how much it would cost to improve your existing door.