With today's high energy prices, garage door insulation is equally as precious as everywhere else in your home. The amount of uninsulated garage doors sold continues to fall as consumers demand energy efficiency for cost savings and relaxation, which is really more important than ever as more folks use their garage as a work place or social gathering area, and not just storage.

Garage doors produced from aluminum and glass offer a modern, refined look. The aluminum frames are offered in several colours as well as finishes and you can choose from a wide variety of glass options including clear, vague, and tinted. Aluminum garage doors are relatively maintenance-free, however they may not have as much insulation as other doors, so they may not be ideal for areas with excessive temperatures.

Can the largest moving thing in my house be dangerous? Make sure it is not.

Safety is a concern with any product, and garage doors are no distinct. Since it is a large moving object that many family members socialize with, it should have as many safety features as possible.

Pinch-resistant garage doors feature a design that pushes fingers out of harm's way should they accidentally be set too close to a shutting door.

Tamper resistant bottom brackets reduce the danger of injury from garage door components under tension. The polyurethane insulation even provides better fire safety in that this kind of insulation lessens the number of smoke and fires in the event of a fire.

The thermal property of insulation is expressed as an R-value. A higher R-value reduces external noise and enables the door function more gently. Many insulated doors are constructed using polystyrene or polyurethane foam.

Most polystyrene insulated door could be thicker but have a lower R-Value than polyurethane. If you're searching for thermal efficiency as well as a high R-Value, avoid being misled by the thickness of the doorway!

A polyurethane insulated door might appear thinner but really offers a much greater insulation R-value. That's due to how the insulating material expands through the manufacturing process to tightly fill the cavity between the two steel panels as it bonds to the skins of the doorway.

Not only does this make the door better insulated, it also makes the door incredibly strong and helps minimize noise whilst the door operates.

How long your door will last, what kind of punishment it might take, or even how much annual maintenance it will necessitate is strongly influenced by the material used to make the doorway.

The Classic Steel garage doors and Carriage House Steel garage doors are durable with only occasional need for cleaning or touch up. Vinyl garage doors can continue even longer, particularly in environments with harsh weather conditions, and are more resistant to dents, are rust-free and never need to be painted.

Counterbalance springs are how your door is actually lifted and closed. It isn't the opener that actually lifts and shuts your door. That just provides the force to have the door moving. It is truly the springs, which are wound tightly when your door is shut. As the doorway moves up, the springs unwind, which provide the force required to lift the door. As the door closes, the weight of the door really winds the springs back up until it closes fully. At this point the springs have their full tension again. These springs are ordinarily exposed and when they're under full tension, can be extremely dangerous.

Everyone has a budget. Well, most of us anyway. However, many people are surprised by how affordable garage doors can be. Most reckon twice as much as what it actually comes out to be.

Usually, premium wood doors are the priciest, then fiberglass doors, steel doors with and without vinyl or PVC overlays, and then uninsulated, single sheet steel doors and lower grade wood doors.

When considering what to spend though, consider that this purchase will never be made again for many, many years, if ever. And what you put on your own garage now will have a large impact in the garage itself and possibly even more significantly, to the remainder of your home. A couple extra dollars now could give a benefit of a lifetime, and raise the real value of your house to a new level.