November 2013 South Carolina Living Magazine Vol. 1 | Page 12

EnergyQ&A

BY jim Dulley

Sizing up storm doors

Q

This self-storing storm door
is made of aluminum skins
permanently bonded to a solid core.
Strong, tarnish-free brass hardware is used.

I feel air leaks around my doors,
so I thought about adding storm
doors. I’d prefer ones with
screens, but my budget is limited. Is it
worthwhile adding storm doors? What
should I look for?

t This storm door has a retractable insect screen.
Its operating system includes a concealed screen
that rolls up and out of sight when it’s not in use.

A

GetMore
The following companies offer storm/screen doors:
Cumberland Woodcraft, [phone],
cumberlandwoodcraft.com
Emco Specialties, [phone], emcodoors.com
Homeguard Industries, [phone], home-guard.net
Pella, [phone], pella.com
ProVia Door, [phone], proviadoor.com

12

Photos: Pe lla

Even though a door is relatively
small as compared to the entire
wall area of a house, just one
door can allow a significant amount
of energy loss. Even insulated
doors often have some glass, which
decreases insulation value, and inadequate weather stripping will allow
air to leak through.
Before buying anything new, make
sure your primary doors are as airtight as possible. Adding storm doors
can certainly improve the energy
efficiency of almost any house, but
they are not designed to correct the
efficiency problems of an old, warped
primary door.
If possible, buy replacement
weather stripping for your existing
doors from the original manufacturer. If you can’t find it, most home
improvement stores sell many styles of
generic weather stripping that should
fit. Pry off the old door molding, fill
any gaps around the framing with
non-expanding foam insulation and
caulk around the door frame.
When you’re ready to buy a storm
door, pay attention to the quality

Designs and features
can fit any efficiency
need or budget
of the door’s construction. That’s
for a nice appearance, long
life and security. Plus, the door must
withstand a lot of abuse, so don’t just
pick the cheapest one. From just an
energy-efficiency standpoint, though,
the most important factors are the
dead-air space between the storm and
primary doors and how well wind
is blocked.
Buying an aluminum storm door
and installing it yourself is a typical
low-cost option. They’re very lightweight and made to fit standard-sized
openings, so installing one is a simple
do-it-yourself project.
When you see the door on display
at the store, attached to a wooden
frame, the aluminum frame will feel
­
important

SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING? | ? November/December 2013 ?|? scliving.coop

very strong. When you open the box
at home, you may find the unattached
aluminum frame strips are somewhat
flexible. Be careful not to kink them
during handling. Apply a generous
bead of caulk on the back of the
aluminum frame when screwing it to
the door frame.
If you plan to use natural ventilation during the summer, a self-storing,
triple-track storm/screen door is the
most convenient option. The screen
panel has its own vertical track in the
door, so it never has to be removed. At
the end of winter, just slide one of the
glass panels down and slide the screen
panel up for ventilation.
A fairly new design of storm/screen
door uses a spring-mounted, roll-up,
retractable screen, built into the door.
When you are ready for ventilation,
just lower the glass and pull the screen
down as far as you wish. This design is
attractive because the screen is hidden
away during winter without having to
remove and store the screen panels.
When your budget does open up
someday, some very attractive, allwood-frame storm/screen doors are
ava