Whether it is winter or summer, it is always a good idea to have your home sufficiently insulated. Older homes, especially, may require additional insulation in order to make them more energy efficient. Almost everyone is looking at some type of frugal living tips, but often neglect how much money is being wasted on energy by not having enough insulation in certain areas. Being no different than anyone else, I too, have taken a second look at my insulation efforts only to find that they need some improvement especially the garage.

Provided is a list of items that can always need improvement. Most people, like myself, are not in the market to replace expensive items such as windows. This list provides inexpensive ways to make a garage better insulated and more efficient.

The garage is usually not insulated and does not have heat or air conditioning. If the garage is attached to the house, it also can be a very large of source of heat and cooling loss. It also is the most likely place to have an access door to the attic. The cold or hot air escapes into the attic which then can enter the home. Therefore, it is wise to take a look at your garage to see if anything can be done to improve it's energy efficiency.

First of all, make sure that the door that leads into the house is insulated. Add insulation to the side of the door that is in the garage. Foam boards, regular insulation or even an insulating drape attached to the door will help keep out the weather. Add weather stripping around the doorway to prevent drafts from entering the home. Make sure no drafts are entering from the bottom of the door. Insulation can be added to the attic access door also.

The garage door is another point of interest to add insulation. Insulating foam boards can be cut and taped on to a garage door. This may sound far fetched, but it will help to keep the garage at a more reasonable temperature and, in effect, allow less cold or hot air into the home. Make sure that there is some type of weatherstripping around the garage door to block out drafts. If you can see light when the garage door is closed, then some type of weatherstripping is definitely needed.

Don't forget about garage windows. By adding window film to the windows, the garage will retain a much cooler temperature during the summer months.

Now that the garage is insulated, there is one very important tip. If it is summer and the garage is hot, open the garage door at the coolest time of the day and let the hot air out and the cooler air in. The same goes for cold days. As the day gets warmer, open the door and let the cold air out and the warmer air in. This only takes a few minutes but can help keep the air inside the home stable and thus save some extra money on heating and cooling.