Big Savings for Insulated Garage Doors

Do you realize how truly energy wasting the typical garage door can be? Upgrading to an insulated garage door will not only save on energy costs in the long term, but with tax credits in the short term. In fact, choosing an insulated garage door may just qualify you for a tax credit of up to 30% of the purchase price.

Under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government authorized this tax credit to apply to qualifying products that meet certain technical requirements that give it an Energy Star rating.

The technical requirements for doors include:

U-Factors under .30

U-factors are ratios of heat transfer. A lower U-Factor indicates more energy efficiency. U-factor values are expressed in numbers from .20 to 1.20 and lower is better, as it means the product is more resistant to heat flow, thus more energy efficient.

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)

The SHGC is another aspect of the Energy Star rating. It's expressed as a value between 0 and 1, as it's a ratio of solar heat gain entering the space due to the door vs. normally occurring solar heat gain. Smaller numbers are better in the SHGC in terms of energy efficiency. Normally, a rating of .30 or less qualifies a door as an Energy Star.

In addition to these requirements, the garage door perimeter must have a means to control air infiltration, in essence a good seal. It should also be installed on an insulated garage of a primary residence to qualify for the tax credit.

Insulated garage doors can be the ticket to long term savings on energy costs and short term tax credits.