Repair & Improve

Let Light In, Keep Heat Out

On a bright summer day, there’s nothing more beautiful than the sun streaming into your home through the eye-catching colors and patterns of decorative glass doors. But while the summer sun may be in full force, advances in engineering now make it possible to let in the light without letting in too much heat or raising your utility bills. 

You can close the door on energy loss with simple improvements. For example, fiberglass doors from Therma-Tru® offer five times the insulation of a wood door and are ENERGY STAR qualified, providing excellent thermal protection. You can incorporate decorative glass into your entry to personalize your home and add curb appeal while protecting your home from heat loss.

Add a Touch of Class with Glass A variety of decorative glass designs are available to enhance your home’s unique style of architecture. For example, to complement Arts and Crafts- and bungalow-style architecture, Therma-Tru has introduced its Hazelton^™ and Savannah^™ glass. Hazelton’s geometric pattern embodies the tradition of Craftsman design with shades of amber that stand out against clear bevels and iridescent seeded glass. Or if a delicate floral motif is more your style, Savannah emphasizes the movement from ornate Victorian architecture to the American Craftsman with its straightforward floral design. Sunlight will dance across iridescent water glass, giving the illusion of early morning dew on a garden.

For a true reflection of Arts and Crafts architecture, Hazelton and Savannah are designed for Therma-Tru’s Classic-Craft^® American Style Collection^™, providing the simplicity, understated and straightforward style of early 1900s bungalows. All doors in the collection provide the texture and feel of real wood doors with their patented AccuGrain^™ technology, yet they deliver the thermal performance and durability of fiberglass.

An Entryway Transformed One homeowner who knows how impactful a beautiful new energy-efficient door can be is Janis Boulware of Montgomery, Texas. As winner of the runner-up prize in Therma-Tru Doors’ Ugliest Door in America Contest, she won an entryway makeover valued up to $5,000. 

“The Texas summers warped, split and eroded our wood doors,” said Boulware. “Our doors were so inefficient that we could feel the heat coming through the cracks all year round.”

Boulware’s wood doors were replaced with a low-maintenance fiberglass entry door system that won’t rot, swell or peel like wood doors. She can now enjoy the Texas sun she loves so much without having to worry about it pouring through the cracks of her old, inefficient doors. Her new doors feature Therma-Tru’s Augustine™ glass, an enchanting wrought iron design that embodies the beauty of nature.

How energy efficient are your doors?   Here are some ways to determine whether your current door is really keeping your conditioned air inside and external elements outside.

Hold a candle to the wind.  Using a lighted candle, follow the outline of the door around its frame on a windy day. You’ll see the candle flicker at every point where air is passing through the opening.

Look for the light.  On a bright day, stand in your foyer and look for daylight flowing through the door opening. If light is coming in, so is external air. Your weather stripping may have lost compression, or you may have a warped door or frame.

Take the touch test. Touch your door on hot days and cold days. If you feel the exterior temperatures on the inside surface, your door may not have adequate insulation. 

Watch the weather stripping.  Low-quality weather stripping can lose its compression over time, opening the door to air infiltration. Look for flat or cracked weather stripping that is no longer doing its job.

Sill the deal. Your door sill and bottom sweep prevent air infiltration and water penetration. Try to slide a piece of paper under your entry door. If you can, you’ll likely need to adjust or replace your bottom sweep.

It’s an open-and-shut case.  Finally, open and shut your door on both dry days and wet, humid days. If your door fits tightly on humid days, then it is probably leaking air on dry days. You may want to consider a high-performance door such as fiberglass to prevent swelling.

How can you improve your door’s energy efficiency?  Replace the weatherstripping.  Adding new weatherstripping is a simple solution that can greatly reduce air infiltration. Your local hardware store will be able to recommend the product best suited to your application.

Adjust the hinges.  Loose hinges or low-quality hardware can create gaps. Tighten the screws in existing hardware or consider replacing hardware with high-quality brass or brushed steel components.

Level the sill.  Many times, the sill can settle, opening gaps for air. Purchase shims from your local hardware store to reset the sill so it is flush with the door bottom, and consider replacing or adjusting the bottom sweep to create a tighter seal. 

Upgrade the lock.  If your lock is not installed properly or isn’t the right size, it won’t keep the door seated squarely in the doorframe. Carefully measure your existing lock and door, and look for high-quality brass or brushed steel replacement locks.

Install fiberglass doors.  By installing fiberglass doors with decorative glass, you can add beautiful curb appeal to your home and enhance its energy efficiency —– and let the sun shine in.  Visit www.thermatru.com for more info.

 

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