Very unscientific findings with Reflectix

[MikeMcCoy]

I have 3 projects awaiting a top coat of finish plus the long overdue plaque for Loring and I have been making a small effort toward maintaining the temps in my garage shop so they can get done. There have been several threads on insulating garage doors with Reflectix and I started on mine Monday night. I didn't get quite enough but was able to cover all except two of the door panels. My shop temp stays fairly stable as long as the outside air temp is 40 or above but when it gets down in the 30's or below, the temp drops pretty drastically. I was curious last night and had the room temp right around 65 and the outside air temp was 33 and took a reading around the room. The uninsulated panels were 45 degrees and obviously cold to the touch while the Reflectix covered panels were room temp (65). Outside air temp this morning was 20 and the shop interior temp was 44 - the uninsulated panels were 23 and the Reflectix panels were 44. I'm not sure what that tells me but it appears to make a fair improvement for very little labor and not many $.

[Uncle Cracker]

Reflectix in the winter helps, but only from the airspace contained in the bubble wrap. If your insulated panels face the afternoon sun, Reflectix can actually hurt your efforts to keep warm, as the heat gain from sunlight hitting the panels is largely reflected back to the exterior. The same effect that helps keep the heat down in the summer can make it chillier in the winter...

[dbhost]

UC, by the same token, if the garage / shop is gaining heat from the house, that reflectix will bounce the radiant heat back into the house...

I have found that the Reflectix that I glued directly to the panels isn't doing a whole lot, but the stuff that is glued to the inside sort of spanning the gap and closing the "box" made by the garage door panels does help, a LOT. And I have only one door done... And yes, I know it is because I not only have the dead air space in the bubbles, but I also have created a dead (ish) air space between the layers of reflectix...

Now if I can only seal the edges of the doors off, and insulate the walls and ceiling I would be doing a lot better...

So far this winter has been nothing like you northerners have had to deal with, but it's been cold enough for my tastes...

[Uncle Cracker]

UC, by the same token, if the garage / shop is gaining heat from the house...

Typical insulation schemes don't allow for much of that. Mine sure doesn't... The garage is well-insulated from the house... or else I couldn't afford the cooling bills in the summer...

[dbhost]

That was a mighty big if...