Best Garage Door Insulation Options for Energy Efficiency & Comfort

Q: Will insulating my garage door affect its operation?

Insulating your garage door can affect its operation. It will add weight to the door, which means an increased burden on the springs. You may consider having your springs re-calibrated or replaced by a professional after insulating.

Transform your garage into an energy-efficient and comfortable space with the right insulation. The best garage door insulation options include Owens Corning Fiberglass Batt Kit for simplicity and Insulfoam Polystyrene Insulation Kit for availability. Learn how to choose based on R-value, door type, and budget.

By: Sean Donnelly | Published: May 21, 2025

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Insulating a garage door is a vital step towards ensuring the energy efficiency of any attached or detached garage with HVAC elements. You’ll see reduced road noise, lower energy bills and sometimes increased visual appeal of your doors. We at Garage.com have reviewed some of the best options for DIY insulation kits, and can recommend some of the top professionals in your area to assist with any garage insulation needs.

Why Insulating Your Garage Door Matters

Insulating your garage door can greatly improve your comfort inside your garage, especially if you spend an appreciable amount of time in your space. Tackling this on your own can help you to minimize temperature fluctuations in your interior space while cutting down on road noise that leaks into your structure.

We urge you to remember that you’ll have to insulate your entire garage to make a real difference in your energy savings. This is the real return on investment that you could see from insulating an exterior non-living space.

Understanding Garage Door Insulation

Simply put, R-values set your garage door insulation’s effectiveness.This is a measure of a material’s general resistance to temperature fluctuation. The higher the R-value, the more impactful insulating your garage door will be.

Up to R-6: An option for non-insulated or detached garages
R-6 to R-9: Best for attached garages with no HVAC elements
R-9 to R-13: Ideally used in attached garages with heating or cooling
R-13 and up: For an exterior living space or a frequently-used workshop

Polystyrene foam board kits are the most commonly used option for DIY installations. Pre-cut fiberglass batts are more costly, but offer the highest R-values with simple installation processes.

Best Garage Door Insulation Kits Compared

The kits here are among the easiest to apply to garage doors with little to no expertise and basic household tools. In most cases, you’ll need a utility knife, stepladder and tape measure. In some cases, you may need double-sided waterproof adhesive and weather tape to seal your insulation in your door. Many kits come with these materials, however.

If you have steel, aluminum or composite doors, you’ll be able to use most insulation types. Wooden doors are often incompatible with fiberglass batts. Also consider R values and possible weight added to your doors when making your selection.

Kit Type	Compatible Door Materials	Cost*	Installation Difficulty
Pre-cut fiberglass batt	Composite and metal	$118	Easy
Polystyrene board	Composite, metal and wood	$58	Intermediate
Pre-cut reflective barrier	Composite, metal and wood	$69	Easy

*Source: Data from Amazon and Lowe’s is current as of April 2025.

Top Garage Door Insulation Options

Owens Corning’s fiberglass batt option gets our vote for simplicity. If you want a ready-made solution that can be cut to fit most garage door panels, we recommend this kit. Its vinyl backing is a nice aesthetic touch that offers a clean look for most garage interiors. This is ideal for any garage door except wood models.

R-value: R-8
Price per door: $118

Polystyrene foam boards are another easy option that can fit any garage door. These kits come with 8–10 individual panels with relatively low R ratings, but can be put up in less than an hour per door. As a bonus, these are an option for any door type and are available at any big box store or retailer.

R-value: R-4.8
Price per door: $58

You can usually purchase rolls of reflective barrier for a lower price, but Amazon and other retailers offer pre-cut kits that can greatly expedite your installation. One available option would be to combine this with a polystyrene board kit to fully seal your garage doors and avoid air gaps.

R-value: N/A
Price per door: $69

Other Ways To Insulate Your Garage

As mentioned, it’s always best to insulate your entire garage rather than just your doors. Garage door insulation offers limited noise dampening effects on its own, but will not provide meaningful protection from temperature fluctuation without full-scale insulation.

Luckily for you, permits are rarely required for insulation projects. If you aren’t altering the interior structure or any exits in your garage, this is a task you can DIY. However, we always recommend that you at least get quotes from licensed contractors for this. Insulating your walls and ceiling or rafters is an in-depth undertaking.

If you opt to do this yourself, fiberglass batt insulation is the best choice. We recommend R-values of between 13 and 15 if you have an attached garage, although you can always purchase higher R-value insulation.

Common Questions About The Best Garage Door Insulation

Insulating your garage door can affect its operation. It will add weight to the door, which means an increased burden on the springs. You may consider having your springs re-calibrated or replaced by a professional after insulating.

It’s difficult to find reliable cost data for utilities savings after applying insulation to a garage door. However, you should note that your savings will be minimal if not nonexistent if you don’t insulate your entire garage.

Insulation provides a natural buffer to the exterior. If you have a thinner metal door, spray foam or fiberglass batt material can have some noise dampening or reduction effects.

This depends on whether or not you have HVAC running to your structure. If yes, and if you plan to spend much time in your garage, you should consider a high R-value solution.

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