Although you might only have a few exterior doors on your home, these portals may let in an extraordinary amount of cold air in the winter. Reduce the amount of energy old doors waste by winterizing, replacing, or renovating your doors this year.
Hopefully, you’ve already winterized your windows by re-caulking them or upgrading them to double-paned glass. Your doors are another area where you can prevent the winter’s chill from invading your home.
Considering Installation of Storm Doors
One option you have for a heavy-duty solution for cold weather is a storm door. These strong doors will often feature a sturdy aluminum frame and a finish that won’t require any maintenance. Colors are often modern and sleek, but there are also options like brass for the handles.
There are solid storm doors, as well as ventilating storm doors which may offer ventilation on the top of the door or the top and bottom, depending on the style of door you choose. There are several reasons why storm doors are a great investment.
Storm doors:
- Reduce impact of weather on your entry doors
- Easy to install and affordable
- Improve energy efficiency of your home
- Are usable in the summer to improve airflow into the home
- Enhance security of your home
Storm doors are a terrific option if you’re looking for a very simple way to improve your home’s efficiency and security.
Choosing a New Door
Over time, your exterior doors will lose efficiency, and they may even start to hang oddly on their hinges. It’s important to renovate or refurbish your doors over time to ensure they’re not leaking any air from or into the home, and this project is usually something you should complete once a year before the weather gets too cold.
If your doors are very old, it might be time to replace them outright with new, efficient options. The great thing about doors is that they’re one of the easiest and most impactful updates you can make to your home. It’s also easy to retain the architectural theme and style of your home with a new door that adheres to classic, modern, or any sort of décor.
In some cases, your new door will feature a “pre-hung” design which is designed to reduce the time it might take to install it into your home. However, the pros at This Old House suggest:
“A prehung door does simplify and speed up installation, but the term “prehung” is really a misnomer. These doors and jambs must still be carefully adjusted to account for shortcomings in the wall frame.”
Other doors might require that the entry point of your home be enlarged to accommodate a door that’s larger than the old door. It’s important that you consult with a contractor about any new door you choose to install, just in case there are some limitations that exist because of the home’s architecture or support beams.
Other Simple Projects for Winterizing Your Home
Replacing a door is something that might only take a few hours – or at most a few days if structural changes are needed to accommodate a new size of door. You have a variety of other simple options to boost the performance of your home in the winter, and these projects are inexpensive and take just a few hours to complete.
Bob Vila’s site offers some $100 (or less) fixes for keeping your home in toasty condition during the winter:
- Use plastic film window insulation kits to boost the insulation on your windows
- Have weather-stripping applied to your windows
- Add a sweep strip to the bottom of the exterior doors
- Improve HVAC efficiency by cleaning filters every few months
You might also want to consider draft stoppers for the doors if you’re not inclined to replace every door in your home. According to improvenet.com:
“You can purchase draft stoppers (or snakes) at many local hardware stores or you can even create one yourself. Just roll up a bath towel and place it under your door or window.”
Let Us Help You Make Your Home Energy Efficient
Want to improve your home’s energy efficiency? Looking to save money on running your home? Contact us today for a free consultation on your new door.