When it comes to energy efficiency, fiberglass
Fiberglass exterior doors are among the strongest on the market. They're also some of the most energy-efficient. Fiberglass is a poor conductor of heat, making it energy-efficient on its own, but when insulation is added, it's hard to beat.
Consider a fiberglass, insulated door. A fiberglass door is going to be long-lasting and resist sun damage, while wood may weather, and metal will get hot. Avoid doors that have glass in them if your door is frequently in direct sun, or make sure the glass is properly treated and insulated.
Best Types of Energy-Efficient Doors
While fiberglass, aluminum and steel are great exterior door options, the best kind of energy-efficient interior door is veneer wood doors. While a solid wood door provides some insulation, doors with insulating cores are more energy-efficient.
The best energy-efficient doors you can buy right now are the Emerson Therma-Tru fiberglass and Masonite Steel Primed doors. These doors have a polyurethane foam core – one of the most energy-efficient materials on the market – placed in the middle.
Fiberglass. Fiberglass wins for the choice of the most insulative exterior door choice. While they fill a fiberglass door with foam much like a steel door, its low maintenance feature makes it superior to steel.
Fiberglass doors are the top choice for handling direct sunlight. Fiberglass doors are durable and far less likely to be damaged by the sun than wood, while being relatively cooler to the touch than steel.
Look for the ENERGY STAR label to help identify energy efficient products for your climate. The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) label helps you compare energy performance ratings of doors. The label shows the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and U-factor for the door.
Steel doors are often made from recycled materials, making them a good eco-friendly choice. That being said, fiberglass doors are also made from recycled materials, and they are generally more durable when compared to steel doors. Fiberglass is resistant to dents and scratches, two common issues for steel doors.
Insulating Windows and Doors
Generally, the gaps between the panes of glass are filled with air. Heat loss is reduced as air is a poor conductor of heat. The use of caulking materials around window and door frames can also reduce heat loss. Draught excluders around doors can save energy too.
Closing doors disrupts the airflow and makes the system work harder than it should which can lead to higher energy bills and lower indoor air quality. Therefore it is crucial to keep the doors open to ensure proper airflow and avoid pressure imbalances.
Add draught excluders to your doors and your letterbox to prevent warmth getting out, as well as cold air getting in. Brush style draught excluders are fine in most cases, but if you have wooden or tiled floors, an under-door excluder could work better.
Built with a polyurethane foam core that offers up to four times the insulating R-Value of wood, Therma-Tru fiberglass doors insulate against cold and heat for exceptional energy efficiency. (Comparison of fiberglass to wood doors, both without glass.)
Low Energy Doors are automatic swing doors that must be opened specifically via a Knowing Act device, such as a push plate, touchless actuator or wireless button (per ANSI standards). These doors require less kinetic energy to open and close as compared to Full Energy Doors.
Duracore® Doors are premium interior doors when considering privacy. Starting out as Hollow Core Doors, these doors are filled with environmentally friendly foam for the highest level of insulation and privacy between rooms.
In addition to being durable and low-maintenance, the insulative properties of fiberglass make fiberglass doors a prime option for keeping the cold out—especially as this will help you avoid high energy bills during the winter months.
Sliding doors are generally more energy efficient than French doors. This is because they are made of single panels of glass that don't allow energy or air to escape as compared to the French doors which have several panels.
And steel can get hot when exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, which makes it a little less efficient than fiberglass. Verdict: While both steel and fiberglass are energy-efficient options, fiberglass outperforms steel in this area, making it a favorite door replacement option for many homeowners.
Doors account for 11% of the overall heat loss in a typical home. However, if they are in poor condition (or just very old) they can contribute to higher amounts of air leakage and related energy losses.
Where is the Draught Coming From? Draughts come from doors when they are not sealed properly around the edges. Although the door may not appear to have a gap around the edges; it still could be letting in the cold air if the door is not sealed properly.
Self-adhesive weatherproofing strips are one of the quickest and easiest answers to how to insulate entry doors. Simply cut to size and stick around the door frame, to seal any gaps without interfering with the function of the doors.
A thermally broken door uses thermal breaks to keep exterior temperatures from entering the house. The thermal break material is placed inside the door's structure, creating a thermally insulated barrier. It also prevents heat loss, an essential feature for extremely cold areas where heating is needed for long periods.