10-24-2018, 10:51 AM
Realize this is older but I'll post anyway.
Hard to beat a door built with a foam core "sandwich" type construction. This type door will have a metal inner skin and metal outer skin with an injected polyurethane foam core. These type doors are strong and durable and offer great insulation value. With fewer places to rattle they are often much quieter in operation. Available in different thicknesses to vary in insulation value and also cost. Even box store brands like clopay or ideal have varying levels of quality. The in stock off the shelf doors are a builder quality, you can order a much better version of any brand. Most people buy based on cost alone so they stock what most people want. If a door is cheap, it's cheap for a reason.
Torsion spring is the only way to go. Much safer and an overall higher quality door because of it. Torsion springs are contained on the shaft and can't fly around when they break. Extension springs fly violently forward or backwards when they break and require safety cables to keep them contained. Torsion springs lock both lift cables together so the door always opens level.
You can buy torsion springs rated for extended cycles. This only means that the spring is longer with a larger wire diameter. The spring does not have to be wound as tightly to do the same job so it's under less stress and will last sometimes 2-3 times longer. A standard spring may only be rated for 8-10k cycles while extended will be several times more for minimal added cost. All springs will eventually break, the extended cycle springs are almost always worth the initial cost.
Heating a garage with a large door is a lot easier than cooling. When you open a warm garage to drive in or out, all the mass in the garage is warm so once the door closes the temp can quickly recover. Cooling is different. Cooling the space in much of the country also requires removal of humidity, when you open the door the humid outdoor air just rolls in and it takes much longer to remove. The space will feel muggy for some time because humidity removal is a much slower process. An air conditioner needs to be sized properly so it can run for extended times to draw out humidity. A powerful AC that can quickly cool the space is not able to remove the humidity too so the space may not be comfortable.
Hard to beat a door built with a foam core "sandwich" type construction. This type door will have a metal inner skin and metal outer skin with an injected polyurethane foam core. These type doors are strong and durable and offer great insulation value. With fewer places to rattle they are often much quieter in operation. Available in different thicknesses to vary in insulation value and also cost. Even box store brands like clopay or ideal have varying levels of quality. The in stock off the shelf doors are a builder quality, you can order a much better version of any brand. Most people buy based on cost alone so they stock what most people want. If a door is cheap, it's cheap for a reason.
Torsion spring is the only way to go. Much safer and an overall higher quality door because of it. Torsion springs are contained on the shaft and can't fly around when they break. Extension springs fly violently forward or backwards when they break and require safety cables to keep them contained. Torsion springs lock both lift cables together so the door always opens level.
You can buy torsion springs rated for extended cycles. This only means that the spring is longer with a larger wire diameter. The spring does not have to be wound as tightly to do the same job so it's under less stress and will last sometimes 2-3 times longer. A standard spring may only be rated for 8-10k cycles while extended will be several times more for minimal added cost. All springs will eventually break, the extended cycle springs are almost always worth the initial cost.
Heating a garage with a large door is a lot easier than cooling. When you open a warm garage to drive in or out, all the mass in the garage is warm so once the door closes the temp can quickly recover. Cooling is different. Cooling the space in much of the country also requires removal of humidity, when you open the door the humid outdoor air just rolls in and it takes much longer to remove. The space will feel muggy for some time because humidity removal is a much slower process. An air conditioner needs to be sized properly so it can run for extended times to draw out humidity. A powerful AC that can quickly cool the space is not able to remove the humidity too so the space may not be comfortable.
