Insulate Garage Attic Space

Take up the floor allowing you to see the joists.

Insulate garage attic space.

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. Hire a pro to install spray foam insulation. You should have a vapor barrier between the insulation and the ceiling of your garage. 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.

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. 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. Studies for our climate have shown that no significant amount of savings were seen by insulating an unconditioned garage. For example heating and air can come from clothes driers.

Find your zone on the map and then use the chart to determine the level of insulation you need to properly insulate your attic walls floors and crawlspaces. You can use rigid foam panels or do as tom silva does with nearly all houses these days. It s sold in pre cut batts and long blankets that fit between wall studs and ceiling joists. 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.

Take the insulation up to your attic so that you are above the garage ceiling. 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. 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.

Achieving greater r values in attics the higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation. You can also get loose fill fiberglass which it suitable for blowing into a garage attic space above a finished ceiling. 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. If the collar ties are 2x6 then the most blanket type insulation you can install is r19.

Fiberglass is the most commonly used type of insulation in garages just as it s the most popular type in homes.