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.
A much better use of your energy saving dollars would be to make sure you have at least 12” to 14” of insulation in the attic over the heated and cooled areas of your house.
Watch this video to find out more.
Further Information
- How Much Attic Insulation Do You Need (video)
- Find Out if You Have Enough Insulation in Your Attic (video)
- How to Install Fiberglass Insulation in an Attic (video)
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Danny Lipford: Sarah wants to know, “Will I save energy dollars by adding insulation over my garage?”
Yeah, you would think you would save a lot of money on your energy bill by insulating that space above your garage, but it really doesn’t save you money.
It might keep the temperatures in your garage a little more stable, but you can spend those insulation dollars in your existing attic—the area above your heated and cooled areas—and really drive that energy bill down.
And it only makes sense. If you have sufficient insulation, which in most parts of the country that means 12 to 14 inches, then you’re heating and cooling system is going to work a lot less. And that certainly translates into less money going out to keep the temperature in your home nice and comfortable.
So, even through if you’ve just run out of things completely to do around the house, and you want to insulate the attic above the garage. It might help a little, but it’s not worth the investment.
What you’re not addressing is if there is a room above the garage. My two story home has a room above the garage that I use as office space. It gets really in the summer, and I clicked on this todayshomeowner.com video to get information about insulating above my hot garage in hopes it might help keep the heat separated from the office above. I realize it wouldn’t be a small job, since I’d have to first check to see if it’s already insulated by cutting a test hole in the garage ceiling sheet rock; Assuming there is no insulation there, It’d be nice to see a video about my next options. i.e. have insulation blown in?
Thanks,
Bob McCormick
Good point, Bob. If you have a conditioned room over your garage, it would be a good idea to insulate the garage ceiling if it’s easily accessible. But since it’s a floor to the room, insulating it won’t have as much of an effect as the room’s ceiling.
My attached garage is part of the main living level of our tri-level home. The attic above the garage is the same as the kitchen, dining room and living room. It’s all insulated and has a common roof. All that area is insulated and has an attic wind driven ventilator. Does your advice still go for our setup? Thanks
My home is from 1986 and has a recalled siding in most areas and some lower areas replaced with cement fiber type. Question is can the siding be insulated without damage to the siding. What do you recommend as the cheapest way? I am in Ga. Atlanta area.
My electric water heater and HVAC fan and heating unit are in a closet in the garage on a wall of the den. The return air space is under these units and that vent is located in the den. The noise from all this is very loud when the fan is on. The tv sound has to be adjusted constantly. This closet is open at the top into the very cold/hot attic. Can this opening top and bottom be managed to be more efficient.
My house my wife and I purchased was built in 1988. Thank you for the information on insulation over the garage. I discovered that Im a little shy on the hight of insolation over the house. My question is, does the old blow-in insolation over the house attic need to be removed? or can you just blow new over top of the old?
Hi, Steven,
You can add insulation over old insulation — unless the old insulation is wet.
Here’s more information: https://energystar.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/212111327-Can-I-add-new-insulation-on-top-of-old-insulation-
Good luck!
thanks for the tip. Boy did you look hot.
Hello! What do you think of adding foil radionant insulation barrier to the attic at the so its?
Thanks
Hi, Marie!
What a great question! We recommend submitting questions about unique situations like yours to the Today’s Homeowner Radio Show.
Please use this form to contact Danny Lipford, America’s Home Expert, directly: https://todayshomeowner.com/radio/ask-questions/
Take care!
I have moved to Florida and since I have 2 collector cars, I added a mini-split A/C system to maintain temp and humidity control. There is no insulation in the attic space above this garage area. Plan is to put in a floor for storage. Recommendations?
Hi, Mike,
We have featured a project that matches yours!
We recommend checking out this resource for more information on adding a storage area to the attic, and insulating it: https://todayshomeowner.com/video/how-to-build-a-raised-storage-area-in-your-attic/
Thanks for your question!