ENERGY BOOMER

Why Do Storm Doors Save Energy?

I have been getting questions asking why storm doors are so important and how do they save energy.

When an engineer calculates the rate of heat loss through a door, each obstacle in the path of the heat flow needs to be evaluated. In the winter heat from inside will flow out to the cold outdoors.

The object is to slow down the heat flow

One of the roadblocks that heat encounters is at the boundary between each material. In the case of a plain solid wood door, the first obstacle that the heat flow hits is the boundary between the indoor air and the wood door.

Every time heat flows from one material (air) into another material (wood) it is slowed down. Each boundary acts like a speed bump to the flow of heat.

The next item is the wood door itself. Wood does not conducts heat slowly so it is a good material for making doors. The thickness of the wood determines how slowly the heat flows through it. The thicker the wood is, the slower heat escapes through it.

The final barrier to heat flow is the boundary between the wood door and the outdoor air.

The total resistance to heat flow is the sum of the three items above. They are the indoor air to wood boundary, the wood, and the wood to outdoor air boundary.

A storm door more than doubles the resistance to heat loss

Adding a storm door to the doorway adds several more “hoops” for the heat to jump through. A description the path that the heat flow takes with a storm door would look like this.

1. Indoor air to wood boundary
2. Thickness of the wood
3. Middle wood to air boundary
4. Thickness of the air trapped between the doors
5. Air to storm door boundary
6. Thickness of the storm door
7. Storm door to outside air boundary

Without the storm door, there are only three obstacles to heat flow. With the storm door, there are seven obstacles to heat flow. The heat flow rate is substantially reduced by the storm door.

Many storm doors are made of aluminum. Aluminum offers very little resistance to heat flow but it still works as a storm door because of the additional obstacles to heat flow that it provides.

Wood storm doors do work better but they are heavier and cost more to buy and maintain. The lightweight and low cost make aluminum more popular.

Make sure both your security door and the storm door are in good shape and shut tightly.

Remember the more boundaries there are the slower the heat escapes. The same idea work for people too. That’s why several thin layers of clothing keep us warmer than one heavy layer.

Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

Related Posts:

MY NEW STORM DOOR

GREEN ENERGY SAVING GRASSHOPPER

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

SAVE YOUR MONEY BY FIXING YOUR STORM DOORS

Bang! Our front storm door slammed shut behind me once again as I came in with a hand full of fresh tomatoes. The slamming noise woke me up a little. I decided to check the door and maybe do something about it.

I juggled the tomatoes into the kitchen before going back to look at the door. Homegrown tomatoes may save energy, but we grow them because they taste great. Healthy, saves energy and tastes great too. A real triple play.

After a few test slams, of the door, I determined that, not only was it annoying, it was not latching closed. The low bid door closer was not working no matter how I adjusted it.

We need the door to latch tight to keep the bugs out during nice days when we are operating it in the screen door mode. When heating season starts, we will need it closing tight, in the storm door mode, to help keep the heat inside the house.

I had better fix it quick. Good now I have an excuse to go to the building supply store.

Let’s see what else we need to do:

• Oil the hinges and latch
• Adjust the bottom of the door to close the gap there
• Check the weather stripping, fix as needed
• Install a new closer
• Adjust it to close tight every time without slamming

Double check the adjustment by setting the door in the storm door mode with the main door closed. If it closes tight this way, it will always close. As it closes, it will catch a cushion of air between the two doors and really have to work at closing until it latches. With the main door open and the screen in place on the outside door, it may slam just a little, but that is OK.

It is a good stand up job, better than the stoop labor of weeding the garden. This is a good job to do on a nice day, before the snow starts to fly.

A couple of different screwdrivers are need. The first one you grab will be the wrong type so get a straight blade one and a “cross point” one ready. The hardest part of the job is un-wrapping the new door closer.

Make sure you read the instructions before you destroy them to get the wrapper off. From there on it is an easy job.

If you enjoyed this post, then click here to subscribe to the Energy Boomer Newsletter.

Related Posts:

MY NEW STORM DOOR

HOW TO SAVE ENERGY WITH A DOOR SWEEP

HOW TO CAULK AROUND THE HOUSE

.

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

HOW TO SAVE ENERGY WITH A DOOR SWEEP

That broom like thing stuck on the inside of your front door down at the bottom is called a door sweep. It is not there to sweep the floor as visitors arrive. Its job is to keep air from sneaking in or out under the door.

The door sweep also blocks bugs and creepy crawly things from getting in. Some door sweeps are made like a mud flap with a strip of flexible material instead of broom bristles. Older classy designs were made of thin flexible bronze metal.

Door sweeps are supposed to work with the threshold. The threshold is the mini speed bump in the floor directly under the door. A well-adjusted door sweep should touch the threshold, not the floor.

The flex in the bristles or other sweep material allows the sweep to push against the threshold for the full width of the door. There should be no gaps or open spots anywhere along the width of the door. If the door sweep is worn or damaged, the wind will blow through under the door. It does that just to run up your heating and air conditioning bills.

If your door sweep is not well adjusted, a mental health professional will not help. You need a few tools to shift it to a better position. You may need to take it off to fix it so you might as well be ready to put on a new one. They are not expensive. A new one will cost much less than a mental health professional.

If you have a screen/storm door outside of the main door, it should also have a sweep on it. The sweeps on modern aluminum storm doors usually have couple of screws that hold the bottom piece of the door where the installer set it.

You can adjust the sweep by loosening these screws and moving the bottom section of the door until the sweep makes a good seal when the door is closed. Check to make sure the door still opens and closes freely.

Take a good look at the threshold. Most modern thresholds have a bump of flexible material that helps seal under the door. The threshold is half of the team that weather seals the bottom of the door so be nice to it.

I have damaged them by dragging heavy furniture over them. If yours has been worn out or is damaged by heavy traffic, replace it with a new one.

The heating bill you save may be your own.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

GREEN ENERGY SAVING GRASSHOPPER

MY NEW STORM DOOR

Weather-strip now to Save on Your Heating Bill

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

GREEN ENERGY SAVING GRASSHOPPER

The other day I was sitting in the chair at the barbershop getting my haircut. We were solving all the worlds’ energy problems. The next customer walked in under the door. Yes, I said under the door.

I am not sure the green grasshopper wanted a haircut but his grand entrance got my attention. I think that I was the only witness to his appearance. I know my barber can not see anything when his mouth is open for talking.

The green grasshopper spoke up and told me that he came in to show us how to save energy.

I pointed him out to the barber who started a Rock-a-Billy dance, out of time with the music. Pretty soon, the green grasshopper was flattened and the barber returned to the business at hand.

I observed that the poor grasshopper had not needed to duck his head when he walked in under the door. I pointed out, to the proprietor, that there was a large draft (draught for you speakers of real English) of air blowing under the door. I suggested that the door sweep be adjusted to close the gap under the door. Commenting that fixing the door would prevent a vigilante mob of locust from seeking revenge in his shop.

Maybe he will fix it when snow starts blowing in under the door in a couple of months, unless the grasshopper mob gets him first.

Warning: If you do not want to be visited by the Green Energy Saving Grasshopper mob, fix the gap under your doors now. You will save energy in addition to securing your borders.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or to the ENERGY BOOMER by email.

Related Posts:

TRAINED BAT LOCATES ENERGY LEAKS

MY NEW STORM DOOR

Weather-strip now to Save on Your Heating Bill

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page

MY NEW STORM DOOR

My current residence doesn’t have a storm door on the front entry. If I want one I’ve got to select one, pay for it and install it.

That sounds like a lot of work on a nice day and it might cause a lost fishing day. That means that the reasons for having a storm door better be real good.

First I thought about all the money I’d save during this winter’s heating season if I had a storm door.

Then I opened my electric bill for a hot humid summer month. That got me thinking about all the money I’d save on air conditioning next summer.

We are heading into the in between season now. I thought about fresh air and open windows. We don’t get cross ventilation through our front door because bugs would fly right in. A storm door with a self storing screen would let the fall and spring air blow right in and keep the bugs outside.

Storm doors aren’t much for security but they might delay an intruder. An unwanted visitor would make noise getting the locked storm door open. It would give me a place to display a security sticker that might cause an unwanted visitor to go somewhere else.

I hate shopping in big stores. I had to bribe myself with a trip to the tool department so I would look at storm doors in one of those chain home supply mega stores. I found Energy Star rated storm doors at Lowes priced under $100 that would do the job. For double the money they would install it. I was running out of excuses.

Now that the nice new storm door is up my wife says the front door looks shabby and needs paint.

Here at work we need good doors that close tight and latch so the cold wind can’t blow in at floor level.

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed or the ERGY BOOMER bt email.

Related Posts:

HAVE YOU HEARD THE ONE ABOUT WINDOWS?

IS MONEY GOING UP YOUR CHIMNEY?

Click here to return to Energy Boomer home page