In today’s economy people are looking at ways to save money and cut costs. One of the biggest costs homeowners face during the winter months is heating. It’s a delicate balance between keeping the thermostat high enough to be comfortable but low enough so you can still afford to pay the bills. Properly insulating your home goes a long way in reducing your energy bill and keeping your house warmer, but often the biggest cause of a cold home, the garage, is overlooked.

An improperly insulated garage will become cold in the winter as temperatures drop. The cold garage siphons heat away from the adjacent rooms, causing those rooms to become colder and forcing your heating system to work harder and expend more energy. Don’t worry, you don’t need to rip apart your garage to fix this.

Read on to quickly learn how you can insulate your garage door and reduce your heating costs.

Weather Stripping and Bottom Seal

The first thing you want to do is check the weather stripping and bottom seal around the perimeter of the garage door. From the inside of your garage, run your hand along the perimeter of the garage door and feel for drafts. Is the weather stripping and bottom seal cracked, or aging? Is there even any weather stripping or stop molding in place?

Replacing or adding good weather stripping and bottom seal is one of the biggest improvements you can make to your garage door to keep the cold out. Just like an insulated window, it doesn’t matter how good it is if you leave it open.

You can pick up weather strip and bottom seal at your local hardware store. Or you can call Precision and our certified technicians will winterize your garage door for you.

Insulating Your Garage Door

Having taken care of the weather stripping and bottom seal around the garage door, you can take the next step of adding insulation onto the garage door itself. You can purchase a garage door insulation kit from your local hardware store. They sell for $50 – $150 depending upon the size and type of the door.

We don’t recommend insulating the garage door itself as it adds weight to the door. Garage doors are designed to be lifted with a counter balance spring system. The springs render the door weight neutral which allows the garage door opener to lift the door. If you add extra weight to the door we recommend changing the springs to maintain balance. The change in insulation is minimal for all this extra work though. If you really need to add extra insulation you should consider buying a new insulated garage door.

Buy A New Insulated Garage Door

These suggestions will only go so far, especially if you have an older door. If you want to make the biggest impact on stopping the cold consider buying a new insulated garage door. With the government still offering a 30% Energy Tax Credit on new energy efficient garage doors it’s never been a better time. A new insulated garage door can make a huge difference in your heating bill. To find our what the best insulated garage door is call your local Precision Door.

One Last Tip

Now that your garage door is sealed and insulated, it might be a good idea to look at the door that leads into the house from the garage. Check to make sure that door is also properly sealed and insulated.

In the end, anything you do to reduce the inflow of cold air to your garage will help reduce your heating bill each month. It’s hard to tell just how much money you’ll save, but as time goes on those savings will add up. You’ll appreciate the difference, in both your wallet and being in a warmer, more comfortable house.

Turn your garage into a spooktacular room of fright this Halloween for friends and trick-or-treaters alike.

Image of Haunted Garage Kit from Shindigz.com

Just how creative you want to get is up to you. We’ve scoured the web for the best tips and ideas on how to convert your “gore-age” into a scream inducing experience!

1. Put away or move dangerous tools, and straighten up the area. Use coverings such as old sheets, ripped netting, burlap, or anything else you have around to conceal larger objects and shelves. The more ragged looking the better!
2. Arrange spooky props like tombstones and coffins, cobwebs, dripping blood, dead flowers, old candelabras, haunted paintings and animatronic bats, skeletons and zombies.
3. Cover a table or bench with Halloween table cloth and decorate it with plastic spiders, cobwebs, and any other plastic creepy crawlers your local party store offers.
4. Place your candy buckets with narrow openings on the table. If you feel like playing a trick, fill one bucket fill with candy and treats. The other place red Jello and cooked spaghetti to simulate innards.
5. Illuminate the scene and any moving or glowing decorations with a strobe light or black light. The odd lighting will also keep your guests off kilter and make them think the decorations are even spookier.
6. Play horror movie soundtracks or eerie sound effects. You can also lighten the mood by playing classic Halloween songs like “Monster Mash.”
7. Put a friend or older child in a cardboard box or large garbage can and conceal it as best you can. Have them jump out of the box as trick-or-treaters are taking their candy.
8. Make the garage even moodier with a fog machine

You can read these tips and more at:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2267391_make-garage-scary-halloween.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Garage-Scary-For-Halloween

If you decide not to turn your garage into a haunted room, you can still have fun decorating the outside. Think of the garage door as an empty palate. What you can do with it is limited by your creativity!

• Use sneakers and an old pair of jeans stuffed with newspaper to mimic a garage door accident.
• Purchase some decals and stickers from your local party store to spruce up the wall.
• String cobwebs, bats, spiders and more around your garage door.
• Put fake blood on and around the door.

For more great tips ask the salespeople at your Halloween store. Happy Halloween!

The garage door is the single largest entry point into your home. Even if you have a detached garage you still have valuable items stored inside, least of all being your car. But it is scary how quick and easy it is to break into your garage.

Thieves Use Garage Door Openers to Enter Houses

A recent string of burglaries in Rye, NY highlights the biggest weakness to the garage door – the remote. In Rye, thieves used garage door remotes left in residents cars to gain access to garages and homes. One of the victims said he thought he was dreaming when he heard his garage door opening one early Sunday morning.

Another homeowner had an even scarier encounter when she came within feet of the burglar in her house. “I was upstairs and he passed behind me down the stairs and onto the landing very smoothly, not running. I didn’t say anything to him because I didn’t want him to turn around and confront me. He then walked out the door, down the path and across the street to his car.”

It’s clear from these stories that it’s important to lock our doors, but as others point out a determined thief can still break your car window and gain access to your remote and your house. Following are a number of safeguards you can take.

Automatic Garage Door Locks

All of your garage door safety precautions are for naught if your garage door isn’t properly locked.
Automatic Garage Door Locks will automatically close and lock with a deadbolt if accidentally left open. The homeowner pre-sets the length of time to wait before auto closing. The deadbolt lock ensures that no intruder can gain access to your home through the garage. These systems work in tandem with your garage door opener, so you only need to have one remote to open and close your garage door.

Key Chain Remote

The simplest solution is to purchase a key chain remote. You always bring your keys in with you, so having a key chain remote attached to them ensures your remote is always out of reach from would be burglars. You can pick up a key chain remote at your local Sears or hardware store or through Liftmaster.

Biometric Entry

Guarantee your security with biometric entry. To open a door all you need to do is place your finger over the sensor. The reader than scans your fingerprint and matches it against the fingerprints you preregistered. If your not registered it wont open, so even if it somehow was stolen a thief could not use it to gain access to your home. It’s wireless so it can replace the existing garage door remote in your car, and is easy to program.

Be Prepared!

Regardless of what method you use, be sure to take the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of your family and your possessions.