Super insulated “storm” door?
Hi,
My home has a beautiful but very inefficient wood front door. It’s original to the home (75 years old), and installing a new door would require removing and probably destroying a hand carved door surround. For those reasons my wife isn’t willing to part with the door at this time. Since it currently has a cheap storm door that needs to go, I was wondering if we could replace that with something more robust and insulated, making the storm door the thermal enveloped or while being full glass (double or triple pane) to preserve the view of the original.
Had anyone seen this done, Or am I stuck with my uninsulated door to go with my U 0.13 windows?
Thanks,
Ryan
Minneapolis, MN
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Replies
Ryan,
First of all, you can install a new exterior door (if you want) without replacing the existing jamb. Any competent finish carpenter should be able to order and install a door.
Second, it's always possible to install new weatherstripping to reduce air leakage around an old door.
Third, of course it's possible to install a new storm door. Storm doors come in several different levels of quality, so if you want a really good one, they are available.
I'm not exactly sure what a "superinsulated" door is -- but if you are thinking of a Passivhaus-certified door from Germany, that's what you should buy. (Be warned, however -- these high-R doors aren't cheap.)
Ryan,
I haven't seen double or triple pane storm doors. Your 'inefficiency' seems a heat transfer concern.
I've had a similar problem. We have large raised-panel oak double doors at the front of our south-facing house. I considered a pair of mammoth storm doors but backed off. One problem is potential heat buildup in summer. I have a neighbor that has a west-facing single front door (with storm door) that was damaged by heat. He repaired and repainted the door a light color and now leaves his storm door ajar as a precaution on hot summer days in the Chicago area.
I constructed and stained a removable ultra light wood frame and mounted it on the inside of the door and attached along the depth of the door. I then filled the frame (2 sections per door) with clear acrylic sheet. You still see the inside of the door but the reflections take some getting used to. It's all easily reversible leaving no marks. It provided some huge benefits. In the summer, the door exterior heats to 130F due to the sun. The interior surface of the door is now cooler: was 100F, now 75F. In winter (I don't recall the numbers), the door is still cooler than the wall but it's warmer than the interior double pane window surfaces. There have been no moisture or mold issues and the door opens and closes as before.
Sometimes remedies are unexpected. Such projects can take a bit of courage to implement.
Once again the USA is behind the curve on this one. While highly insulated doors are all over the European market we here in the States are stuck with R-1 doors and maybe some R-2 doors if you look around. If you want an insulated door one has to go with the European market and like mentioned, those doors are NOT cheap.
I was curious and looked around, Andersen makes an insulated glass storm door/ i have never been impressed with the quality of storm doors, but Andersen is a step above Ed the window guy stuff and do stand by their products.
Is it worth the money......well, call it a screen door and ventilation is priceless.........
The Anderson double pane storm door is available in low-E. The combination of the wood door plus that won't hit U = 0.13, but it should be Pretty Good (TM).
Another idea that is unlikely to be helpful given the carving you want to preserve, but perhaps worth a mention: you can buy outswing doors with full height triple-pane low-e argon windows in them from several North American window companies, including Kohltech and Loewen. It's at least conceivable to use one of those in combination with a wood inswing door, but the details of getting that set up would be complicated.