Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Any recommendations to insulate a garage door? I had 2? polystyrene on it but have since motorised the door and removed the polystyrene, I don?t want to use polystyrene again as I believe it is flammable and gives off toxic gasses if there is a fire.
There are quite a lot of aluminium foil kits of various thickness to do this, some are self adhesive and some come as a roll but must be glued. So anyone done it and did it make a discernable difference to the temperature? Any negatives or other comments?

I did my up and over and the single thickness brick work at the front of the garage (single, integral). Also did one side of the door to the house. The stuff I used was from Wickes/ B&Q. It's about 2mm think, kind of corrugated.. guess the air pockets are the insulation. Glued with contact adhesive... Can't remember if I used headlining grade or the cheaper stuff from Screwfix. It stuck well to metal/ brick... Overlaps not quite so good... Used a foil joining tape I had knocking about.

Does it work... I'm convinced... Put your hand on it Vs the bare door on a cold day... Definite improvement.. still some draft holes but the conducted heat loss improved.... I was able to be out tinkering on all but the coldest days of the (UK) winter.
Adrian

Tks Adrian.

I did something similar to my previous up and over garage door but there was an unexpected side effect in that the extra weight of the insulation upset the balance of the door and it didn?t stay up as readily as before.
Ed

Hi Brian
I fitted one of these doors - not silly money and easy to fit.

https://www.auto-roll.com/insulated-rol ... s-autoroll

Good luck.
John

Thanks for the reply?s, my door (double) is an up and over, I looked at roll ups but due to the lintel it is not feasible to fit a roll up as it would be to low and not give head room for a normal car (Elans would fit)
I decided to keep the door and just motorise it and replace the polystyrian with something less prone to fire risks.
Just trying to get info on the products available, I dont think the weight with insulation will be a problem, I'm sure the motor is strong enough.

that is a good point - my door also heavier. it's fine when all the way open. As a precaution I drilled a hole into the wooden frame, each side and put a bolt in if I'm working with the door part open (eg if raining)..

Hi Brian,

Getting rid of the highly combustible polystyrene is a good plan but be aware that many of the other rigid foam systems are also combustible despite many claims to the contrary (Grenfell!:)

If you want truly non combustible the your best option would be Rockwool. I think you can get it in 2 inch thick (maybe thinner is available check online), it will be heavier undoubtedly but I doubt it would be too heavy for your door.