Garage door weather stripping

A $125 weatherstrip package — bottom seal, perimeter stop, and service-door kit — cuts about 12 %CComputed by our engineinsulateFirst() 'weatherstrip' measure — lib/planner/roi.tsReport a problem of a 2-car garage's design-day heat loss on BayHeat's standard worked example, for a payback under 0.3 yrCComputed by our engineinsulateFirst() 'weatherstrip' — cost / savingsPerYear.electricReport a problem year on electric heat.

Savings vary. Find out why in the seller's fact sheet on R-values. Higher R-values mean greater insulating power.

Three leaks, one afternoon

A garage door leaks air in three places, and a full weatherstrip package treats all three: the bottom edge (see the bottom seal page for track matching), the perimeter — the two sides and top where the door meets its jamb and header — and the service door most attached garages also have. Sealing only one of the three still leaves the other gaps open, so the package, not a single part, is what the 3,500 BTU/hCComputed by our engineinsulateFirst() 'weatherstrip' measure — lib/planner/roi.tsReport a problem figure above assumes.

• Perimeter stop — a rubber-bulb strip nailed or screwed to the door jamb and header, closing the gap the big door itself leaves at its sides and top.
• Bottom seal — see the bottom seal page for matching T-style, bulb, or beaded profiles to your retainer track.
• Service-door kit — jamb weatherstrip plus a door-bottom sweep for the walk-in door, which leaks the same way any exterior door does and is easy to forget because it isn't the big door.

The math behind "$125 cuts 12 %CComputed by our engineinsulateFirst() 'weatherstrip' — pctOfLoad, lib/planner/roi.tsReport a problem"

BayHeat's standard worked example is a 24×24 ft attached two-car garage in Chicago, R-13 walls, one uninsulated steel door, average drafts, held at 55°F. Tightening the door and its openings by one tightness grade — average to tight — is what the weatherstrip package above buys, and it's worth $359/yr on electric heat at Illinois rates in this example. A gas-heated garage saves less in dollars per year at typical gas prices, since gas costs less per BTU than electric resistance heat, but the BTU/h reduction itself doesn't change with fuel type.

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Buy the package

What not to buy

Don't buy a new door to chase this same draft. A replacement polyurethane door costs roughly $2,200 installed and closes about 18 %CComputed by our engineinsulateFirst() 'new_pu_door' measure — lib/planner/roi.tsReport a problem of the same garage's load — worth doing when the door panel itself is failing, but not a reasonable answer to a $125 draft problem.