Hi Guys, hoping for some of your collective expertise or ideas here. I want to figure out a new garage door for my shop/working from home space to let in more light and allow me some more connection to the outside. I know diddly about garage doors but figure there must be some knowledge here from my Pelican friends.
The shop is on the ground floor of my house and has a traditional "roll up" garage door opening to my backyard. I use the shop both as a shop (in the past 24 months I've done an engine drop, a bunch of welding and body work, a full body repaint of a Vanagon, etc) as well as my "office" when I am working from home… even before covid that was usually a day or two per week. The attached pictures show a vehicle in the shop but most of the time the bay is empty unless I'm actively working on something.
The door that is on there right now is original to the house, and I want to replace it with something that is more energy efficient (current one is insulated with some glued in foam and gaps pretty badly against the house) and lets in light… ideally I would like something either entirely transparent or with a lot of glass panels so that I can enjoy the sunlight and view of my back yard and the plants and trees. At the same time, a little worried about security: you would have to go to my back yard to even see this door (not visible from the street, no neighbors with a view into my yard) but inside it's a candy land of tools, my work computers, etc. as well as direct access to the living space of my home.
Do you guys have any thoughts on the right mix of visibility/light, security, energy efficiency and price? Any pitfalls to avoid, brands to recommend, etc? I'm open to anything so long as I can still drive vehicles in and out, and while I don't want to break the bank I'm willing to shell out for something good.
Door from outside the house (ignore the boat)
Door from inside the shop, my "office space" at right (though I might move that closer to the door if there were light/a view)
