Insulate Garage Attic Space

The primary reason to insulate any part of the home is to provide a thermal barrier between conditioned heated or cooled interior space and the outdoors or unheated spaces such as an unfinished.

Insulate garage attic space.

You can also get loose fill fiberglass which it suitable for blowing into a garage attic space above a finished ceiling. You should have a vapor barrier between the insulation and the ceiling of your garage. If you re considering turning your attic into conditioned storage or living space it s worth changing tactics to insulate between the rafters and wall joists instead of the floor. Insulating the garage door is the easiest and cheapest thing to do.

If the collar ties are 2x6 then the most blanket type insulation you can install is r19. Take the insulation up to your attic so that you are above the garage ceiling. Take up the floor allowing you to see the joists. Insulating the area in the attic over a garage might keep the temperature a little more stable in the garage but it does little to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool your house so it s not a good investment of your energy dollars.

Additionally you can also purchase a new pre insulated door. You can purchase different kinds of stick on insulation or kits that will have everything you need. When you should insulate the garage if your home s hvac system does extend into the garage then the attic above it should be insulated as it would for any other room of the house. Studies for our climate have shown that no significant amount of savings were seen by insulating an unconditioned garage.

It s sold in pre cut batts and long blankets that fit between wall studs and ceiling joists. This is particularly imnportant if you have heating and air in the garage. If the garage is unconditioned meaning there is no mini split or duct going to the garage there is no reason to insulate the garage s attic. For example heating and air can come from clothes driers.

Achieving greater r values in attics the higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation. Many garages have an attic above them. Insulating the attic above the garage will help keep temperatures in the garage a bit more stable but it won t have any appreciable effect on energy bills. If the attic space is going to be over the bay you pictured then you are limited in the amount of insulation you can install and still have a floor for storage.

You can use rigid foam panels or do as tom silva does with nearly all houses these days.