insulating timber front door

Carawaystick

Hi, I've been thinking about reasonably priced ways to improve the energy eficiency of my house. generic suburban semi-D.

I've thought of obvious things like increasing insulation etc. The thing is I've a timber front door it's about 1.5" thick while the rest of the house has much more insulation than this. I havn't sen any quick and easy methods to improve the insulation of doorways ( other than draughtproofing)
Are there any
Are they cheap enough to give a reasonably short term return on investment. ~5-10 years

thanks for ye're thoughts

silverharp

a porch would be obvious improvement, there probably wouldn't be a full payback in energy terms but useful none the less.

my "power of one" improvements this year have been a double layer of insulation in the attic, insulation strips on a couple of the inner doors for rooms that will be unheated for most of the winter. more strips on the door of the hot press and additional insulation at the top of the hotpress. I have also put foil backed cardboard behind the radiators on the outer walls. I must be doing something right, We haven't had our heating on yet!

jobrok1

Carawaystick wrote: »

The thing is I've a timber front door it's about 1.5" thick while the rest of the house has much more insulation than this. I havn't seen any quick and easy methods to improve the insulation of doorways ( other than draughtproofing)
Are there any
Are they cheap enough to give a reasonably short term return on investment. ~5-10 years

I had a similar problem as you.

A new house with a standard enough timber front door from Munster Joinery.

Tha frame holding the shape of the door itself is about 1.5" - 2" thick also! But there are 3 panelled sections that are only half the thickness, and when winter hit hard they would be absolutely freezing to touch and condensation would form on the inside of the whole door. :eek: Obviously this would not do!

So I used some left over bubble insulation, the kind with foil on one side that's used at the back of radiators to reflect heat. I cut this to the size of the panelled sections and used wallpaper paste to stick them on. Same as you would behind your radiator. I stuck on 2 layers of this insulation until it was 5 - 10mm from being flush with the main frame.
When the adhesive had set I used simple tongue and groove timber panelling (again left over from previous job) to cover over the insulated areas. I just tacked these onto the door. Made sure to punch the tacks in enough. Applied a little filler and sanded them off. I also used filler around the outside of the new panelling where it meets the existing door timber. Just to give it a clean looking finish. And finally a quick paint job and that was it.

The door looks perfect. Like it was never altered.
And best of all! No more freezing to the touch door. Not even slightly cold. And no more condensation either.
I was well chuffed with myself

CJhaughey

You can fit another door inside the house with an air gap between the doors.

ednwireland

i had the same issue on a porch door ( the door was always wet from condensation and hence porch was always damp) what i did was buy some slabs of the thickest polystyrene sheet i could fit into to the gaps where the single skin panelling was. i had a load of offcuts from a tongue and groove ceiling and nailed those over the top. the difference is amazing.

just to explain my door has panelled outer door the inside just had the door frame and three sections where the only thing between me and the outside was 3/8" or so panelling so i now have insulation with panelling over the top on the inside

ircoha

jobrok1 wrote: »

I had a similar problem as you.

A new house with a standard enough timber front door from Munster Joinery.

Tha frame holding the shape of the door itself is about 1.5" - 2" thick also! But there are 3 panelled sections that are only half the thickness, and when winter hit hard they would be absolutely freezing to touch and condensation would form on the inside of the whole door. :eek: Obviously this would not do!

So I used some left over bubble insulation, the kind with foil on one side that's used at the back of radiators to reflect heat. I cut this to the size of the panelled sections and used wallpaper paste to stick them on. Same as you would behind your radiator. I stuck on 2 layers of this insulation until it was 5 - 10mm from being flush with the main frame.
When the adhesive had set I used simple tongue and groove timber panelling (again left over from previous job) to cover over the insulated areas. I just tacked these onto the door. Made sure to punch the tacks in enough. Applied a little filler and sanded them off. I also used filler around the outside of the new panelling where it meets the existing door timber. Just to give it a clean looking finish. And finally a quick paint job and that was it.

The door looks perfect. Like it was never altered.
And best of all! No more freezing to the touch door. Not even slightly cold. And no more condensation either.
I was well chuffed with myself

Nice idea: what about letter box or is it all email?
what about the locks: any pics?

jobrok1

Not much you can do with the letterbox. Except maybe tape it shut when the wind is strong. Or else just seal it up altogether and mount a lockable box outside on the wall beside the door.

It has a 5-point locking system so the lock aren't much of a problem.

I did put some draught proofing around the door too. just for good measure.

I'll get a pic when I go home if I think of it.