BOULDER Blog

Should I Insulate My Garage?

Obie here.  We are asked this question by potential customers a good bit.  The answer is everyone's favorite - it depends!

'What does it depend on,' you ask?

Whether or not it's good practice to insulate your garage depends on these things, among MANY other factors:

• Is your garage attached to the living space of your home? Or, is there living space above or sharing a wall with the garage?
• Is the attic above the living space completely blocked off (and insulated) from the attic above the garage?
• Do you use your garage for work or for personal activities?
• Are you currently having temperature issues in the garage (damaged goods, frozen drinks or good, etc)?

Within this conversation, it's important to understand what building code suggests for where you need insulation.  Building codes set forth standard amounts of insulation required for areas directly surrounding the living areas of the home to varying degrees of R-Values.  Since your garage is not (usually) considered a living space, building code typically does not apply to all walls within your garage.  However, if your garage shares a wall or ceiling/floor with a living space within your home (bedroom, kitchen, etc) - then you are required to insulate whichever walls/ceilings border the living spaces of the home.

In our opinion, another important factor is whether or not the main attic of the home above the living spaces is fully sealed off from the garage attic area.  Often times we encounter attics that run the length of the home, where the attic is full of good insulation and then stops once it reaches the garage wall, leaving the garage completely bare (garage & home sharing an attic area).  This can lead to drastically elevated/lower (depending on the season) temps in the garage that can leak through doors and walls into main living areas.  In this case, we typically suggest to customers where this is the case that it's a good idea to air seal and install insulation above the garage area.

In sum, more often than not in today's world the garage is an extension of the living space within a home.  While someone may not sleep, cook dinner, or relax there - they may store food or gear there, or workout there, or have a workbench in there.  The two main benefits that a fully insulated garage can provide are: 1. comfort and 2. (you guessed it!) added savings on your energy bill.

Still have questions?  Call Koala Insulation of Boulder today to learn more!