Ultra-bargain new garage doors

Early last week, we had a new garage door installed. The old one was in terrible condition, with rotted wood along the bottom from years of rain bouncing back up against it. It was also very heavy and made a terrible noise when it opened or closed. I used to cringe when I heard it outside, because it was so much more noticeable than any of our neighbors' garage doors.

We got a great deal on this door. It's a Wayne-Dalton that we got at Lowe's during their free upgrade sale. The deal was that you buy their basic model 8000 door, and get upgraded to the insulated model 9100 for free. Since we already knew we wanted the 9100, we got exactly what we wanted for $250 less.

Then my husband's eagle eye spotted a $20 price difference on two displays of the garage door opener we wanted, so we asked for the lower price and received it.

As I said, the new door is insulated. After it was installed, I noticed that it was much darker in the garage during daylight hours than it used to be. I realized that the uninsulated wooden planks of the old door must have leaked lots of cold air as well as light. Now in the morning on a cold day, it's not freezing in the garage. And our bathroom wall, which butts up against back wall of the garage, is less chilly when I take a bath at night, so the water in the tub stays warmer now.

I'm hoping this makes a difference in our electricity bills. The downstairs thermostat is located just inside the entrance to the garage from the house, so on super cold nights, the coldness in there must certainly have made the system cycle on more often.

But mostly I'm just happy to have a new garage door because now I don't have to hear that old clunker banging and squealing as it opens and closes. That makes it really a bargain to me.