How Cold Does an Attached Garage Get? (Things You Should Know)

Most people don’t choose to heat or cool their attached garages because of the added expense of trying to maintain a comfortable environment in a space that has a single, glaring section of uninsulated surface, which is the garage door.

How cold your garage gets depends on a few things, such as where you live where the garage is located in relation to your house, and how the garage was built. The most obvious factor is location. An attached garage is going to get a lot colder in Minnesota than it would in Florida.

While geographical location matters, whether or not your garage is located in an area that catches a lot of sunlight during the day matters as well. Lastly, the design of the garage matters. Depending on the situation, one, two, or three sides of the garage may be insulated, which makes a difference.

Why Do Attached Garages Get So Cold?

The garage door itself is the primary culprit. Usually made out of fiberglass or metal that would barely qualify as sheet metal, there isn’t much in the way of insulation to stop the heat or the cold from getting in. In fact, when it comes to metal doors, they simply get hot in the summer and cold in the winter, radiating their exposure to the rest of the room.

Even fiberglass garage doors will conduct the cold into the room fairly well, especially if you live in an area that gets quite cold. No matter how well insulated the other walls in a garage, the door itself is not going to be able to effectively help regulate the temperature inside the room.

Another aspect of a garage door that affects the temperature in the room is the fact that it doesn’t seal well on the edges and especially at the bottom of the door, where it meets the concrete.

If there are windows inside of the garage space, they can play a role in the interior environment as well, depending on how the window is fitted, its age, and how well it is insulated.

Can You Improve The Temperature Inside of an Attached Garage?

Fortunately, if you are looking to start using your garage for more than parking your car, there are ways that you can go about insulating it so that it is much warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Of course, if all you ever do is park your car in the garage, it may not be worth the expense and the work involved. However, a lot of people love to use their garage as both a parking area and a work shop for a variety of projects.

In the middle of the summer or the winter, the conditions inside of a garage that lacks insulation is going to be uncomfortable, if not downright miserable, leaving only certain timeframes in the springtime and the fall for working in the garage, which is ridiculous if you need a consistent work area.

Insulating the Garage Door

Insulated garage doors will help to increase the temperature inside of your garage by around 10°F. That’s without the aid of an additional heating source. Fortunately, insulating a garage door is quite simple and affordable and you can purchase a garage door insulation kit that comes with everything you need.

These insulation kits are designed to be installed without affecting the garage door’s operability, so you don’t have to worry about losing your garage door function just because you decide to insulate it.

Eliminating Garage Door Drafts

Insulating the garage door isn’t nearly enough. You will also need to eliminate the drafts that come through on the sides, top, and bottom of the garage door. These things are designed to open and close thousands of times throughout their lifespans so sealed edges are not normally something that is considered in garage door installation.

Integrated weather strips are the answer to this, as well as installing a garage door threshold on the bottom, where the door meets the concrete, kind of like you would install a sweeper on the bottom of the front door.

Both of these materials are relatively easy to install and the integrated weather strips aren’t just for the sides of the garage door either. You can also install them at the top while the garage door threshold material can only be installed at the bottom.

Taking Care of Any Windows

If you have windows in your garage, that can be another source through which the cold can penetrate and the heat during the summer months. Thankfully, there seems to be an insulation kit for just about everything, and that expansive list includes an insulator kit for windows.

The insulator kit is shrink wrap and you install it on the glass by heating it up via a hairdryer or a heating gun. Like the garage door, however, effectively sealing and insulating a window includes adding window weather strips and running a bead of caulk around any areas of ingress around it.

Installing a Heater

Once everything is properly insulated and sealed, the only thing left to do is install a heater or cooling unit. The best way to do this is by bringing in an electric heater and installing a window unit.

You can install the ductwork and vent ports necessary to divert some of your central cooling into the garage but that will mean extensive renovations and will also be very cost-prohibitive.

When it comes to heating, there are a lot of options to go with, including propane heating, electric, or even a wood-burning stove if you have the extra cash floating around to install a proper ventilation system to go along with it.

All Things Considered

Without any kind of insulation, your attached garage can get pretty cold during the winter. Even in areas like Florida, 45°F or 50°F is pretty nippy when you’re standing on cold concrete, early in the morning.

In the northern states, it will get so cold in the garage that frost can form on the inside. If you want to use your garage for anything other than parking your vehicle, it’s a good idea to properly insulate the garage door and windows, along with installing a heater to properly convert it into a livable space.

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How Cold Does an Attached Garage Get? (Things You Should Know)