We all know insulating our homes is important, and that making them as energy efficient as possible is beneficial, but don’t forget your garage too. It can help to save you money that you may currently be spending on your energy bills unnecessarily. So what can you do to make your garage more energy efficient?
Insulation
Insulating the walls, roof and even your garage door will help to slow down, and even prevent, the movement of heat from ceilings, doors and walls.
This will work especially well if you have a room above your garage, or your garage is attached to your house. Insulation will help to stop any heat moving away and being lost from the room above, or prevent the house temperature changing because of the heat or coldness in the garage.
Thresholds and seals
Often an overlooked part of the garage, the door seals and threshold can easily let cold and hot air transfer from the outside to the inside and vice versa, especially when they are old and worn. To stop this, make sure the seals on your main garage door and side door have correct weather stripping, and your threshold barriers are in good condition to help keep the elements out.
Solar Panels
Ok, so you may be thinking “why would I need solar panels on my garage?”, but it is a great way to help not only generate electricity for your garage, but for your home too. It may be expensive in the beginning to install the panels, but in the long run you will save considerable amounts of money on your heating bills – and potentially massively reduce your dependence on traditional electricity.
Lights
A simple and easy task, but changing the light bulbs in your garage to energy efficient bulbs or LED bulbs will help lower your carbon footprint, as they require less energy to run, and last longer than traditional bulbs.
Garage windows
In your home your windows sadly do not last forever, and do need replacing on average every twenty years. This goes for your garage windows too. Especially as windows can pose as a security risk if they are not up to date with the latest security features. The latest windows have the best energy efficiency and security, so are a worthy investment for your entire home.
Garage floor
Most garage floors are made of concrete, which can either hold the heat or quickly lose it. Place rugs or old carpet on your floor to help reduce the amount of heat lost. Plus, concrete floors tend to crack easily due to constant temperature change, so having them covered by a carpet will help minimise this.
Appliances
Perhaps you store your spare freezer or fridge in the garage, so you can have more room in the kitchen? But have you thought about how old these are, and that they can potentially be costing you more money than necessary?
The latest appliances have been designed to cost less to run and to be more energy efficient. If you find that you don’t really use it that often, then have a think about throwing it away, or at least unplugging any appliances you have in the garage when you’re not using them.
