Sustainable Garage Solutions: 5 Simple Steps to Energy Efficiency

Making changes to reduce your energy use can help the environment.

• By Jessica Smith
• May 05, 2023

We are in the middle of the “green revolution," when new technologies are emerging to help people live sustainably. The focus is to reduce carbon footprints and become less dependent on fossil fuels. However, while huge strides have been made in energy efficiency, garages still have more to do.

Garages remain versatile in any home that does more than just store a car. If your monthly energy bills are higher than expected, one place to consider is your home's garage. You can do many things to your garage to increase its energy efficiency, including implementing sustainable solutions. This article will examine five simple steps to create a sustainable garage with energy-efficient measures.

1. Install Insulation

Are you interested in learning how to make your garage energy efficient? Start by insulating your garage walls and ceilings to regulate temperatures inside the garage. Just like any part of your home, garages lose heat in the weakest areas of the space. Air will flow into the garage when an undesirable temperature leaks through the doors and windows. Instead of continuing to run the heating and cooling systems, which can increase your energy bills, consider adding insulation through the garage door.

A good insulator garage keeps cold air in during the summer and warm air in during the winter. Choose the right insulation type and install it properly to keep your garage at a stable temperature by limiting cold air from outside.

Next, insulate the garage door to improve the garage's energy efficiency. Adding insulation to the roof of your garage is another efficient way to improve its energy efficiency. You can use blown-in insulation or foam insulation panels to reduce the need for heating and cooling. Make sure you insulate between the garage and the rest of the house.

2. Use Energy-Efficient Lighting

After insulating, replace the light bulbs and update the switches to increase energy efficiency in the garage. Update your garage lighting by replacing outdated energy-sucking bulbs with more energy-efficient and modern alternatives. In most cases, incandescent bulbs produce both light and heat and can consume more energy than LED bulbs.

Using LED bulbs in your garage will save energy and reduce your bills because they don't require high energy levels. These bulbs only need low voltage levels to emit bright lights, making them more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and lasting longer. Regardless of the LED lighting you install, you will notice a decline in energy bills over time because of its efficiency.

3. Seal Air Leaks

Do you sometimes notice air flowing through the garage and into the house? While insulation will help resolve the bulk of the issues, you may also need to seal up the door that connects the house to the garage to remedy the problem.

Air leaks can cause heat loss or gain in the garage, forcing heating and cooling systems to work harder. After insulating your garage, you need to seal up any cracks that can cause heat energy to leak out. The door that connects your garage to the rest of the house is the first place to seal.

Check your garage for gaps that allow hot and cold air into the space. These gaps can be where the garage floor and wall meet.

Use a foam sealant or caulking to seal these gaps and prevent cold air from rising from the floors. Also, a draft stopper can stop air from passing through the cracks underneath the door if you place it at the bottom of the door inside your house.

4. Upgrade Your Garage Door and Window

Once you're done insulating a garage, determine how efficient the windows are in saving energy in your garage. If they are old, it's only sensible that you upgrade to more energy-efficient alternatives. Invest in new energy-efficient alternatives if your garage doors and windows are old or broken. Replacing or installing energy-efficient doors and windows can stop moisture from seeping inside and prevent unnecessary thermal energy loss.

Broken or improperly insulated windows often let cold and warm air in. Therefore, start by inspecting your garage door and windows for cracks and upgrading them with energy-efficient alternatives. Ensure you get a garage door with a high r-value or thermal resistance factor.

Most people tend to replace windows in their houses but neglect the windows in the garage. While they may cost more, they will save you money in the long run. After upgrading the doors and windows, insulate them with insulated window kits.

5. Install a Programmable Thermostat

Another sustainable garage solution is installing programmable thermostats that will help reduce the energy used in the garage. These devices use a lot of energy to keep your garage cool or hot and can be wasteful if you don't use the space more often.

With programmable thermostats, you set them to adjust automatically depending on when you plan to use the garage. In other words, the thermostat only heats or cools when you need it rather than running the heating or cooling system continuously, which can become wasteful and increase energy bills.

If you only use your garage for a few hours daily, you don't need your thermostat to run continuously. Instead, program the thermostat to only turn off a few minutes before using the garage and turn it off once you leave, helping to save energy.

Bottom Line

Your garage is one of the essential home spaces that raise energy bills. Hence, you must implement sustainable garage solutions to reduce energy use and protect the environment. There are many ways to achieve energy efficiency in your home garage, including upgrading garage doors and switching to LED lights. You also should insulate your garage walls and seal any air gaps that carry air into and out of the garage.