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Weatherizing Doors

Unless your home or small business is very old, your entry doors probably have high insulation values and mainly cause energy loss through air leaking around the door edges. Caulking around the door frame and weather stripping around the door opening are inexpensive and highly effective means of saving energy. If the door is cracked or warped so it does not seal well around the edges, it should be replaced. Choose an insulated metal or fiberglass door as a replacement.

Storm doors are also effective approaches to reducing heat loss and air infiltration, but they shouldn't be used to compensate for a poor main door. Storm doors also offer the advantage that they can be fitted with a screen during warm weather to enhance natural ventilation and cooling in the house.

Sliding glass doors can be energy losers, especially if they are loose-fitting or single-pane glass (see the Windows section of this Web site for more information about choosing glass). Metal-framed sliding doors should have a thermal break to keep heat from being conducted through the frame.