Going green isn’t just reserved for your recycling bin! You can turn your garage into one of the greenest parts of your home with minimal work and effort.
Reduce your carbon footprint and do your part for the planet with these seven ways to help your garage go green!
1. Solar heating
By adding a solar heating unit to your garage, you’re one step closer to having a green garage. Solar heating units are more energy-efficient than gas or electric heaters and are a great way to keep your garage warm in the winter months.
2. Use caulking or a baseboard coating to insulate
If you haven’t upgraded your garage floor with a good garage floor coating, the concrete has probably seen better days. Concrete allows heat and air to escape and it’s also prone to cracks. Gaps between the floor and walls can be a major source of heat loss in garages.
Adding caulking between the floor and walls is a practical way to insulate your garage and improve the room’s energy efficiency. An even better solution is to have a baseboard coating applied to the lower part of your garage’s walls which matches the coating used on the floor.
3. Recycled garage doors
You can buy garage doors that are made from recycled materials, typically in steel and wood varieties. Making a conscious effort to buy garage doors that you know can one day be recycled is also ecologically responsible.
While this is a great option to go green and be economically mindful, it’s important to never risk safety in order to save a few dollars. If you’re going to buy recycled doors, ensure they’re still sturdy enough to keep out intruders and last you awhile.
4. Weatherstripping
In most homes, the access door that leads from the garage to the inside of your home isn’t properly weatherstripped. This allows heat and air to escape from your home.
If the door lacks any weatherstripping, it’s very cheap to buy a package to apply yourself. Replace your old weatherstripping when it gets too worn or won’t stick any longer.
5. Let there be light
That solitary incandescent light bulb isn’t just doing a poor job at illuminating your garage, it also isn’t energy-efficient.
Replace it with something newer and more energy-efficient like Garage Living’s LED lighting. Our lights provide the same light output as ten 60W incandescent bulbs, but use 90% less energy. They last for ages, too – up to 180,000 hours!
6. Go au naturel
If it’s not too expensive, install an energy-efficient window in your garage to let in more natural light. You could also upgrade to a garage door style with window panes that allows sunlight into the room.
7. Don’t be idle
Avoid idling your car while you’re in the garage. It wastes gas and idling in the garage creates harmful fumes that can leak into your home and change the quality of the air.
Green up your garage
Saving the planet isn’t an easy job, but with a few green tweaks to your garage, you’ll be doing your part one weatherstripped door at a time!
Schedule a free consultation with a Garage Living design consultant to learn more about making your garage more eco-friendly.
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