Aluminium Back Door

mp3ireland2

The house we bought a couple of years ago had an extension built in 2014. Overall the insulation is very good, it was a B3 when we moved in and now an A2 (although the solar panels moved it up 3 grades by my calcs, so really B2 for energy consumption).

The windows and front door all seem like they are insulating well however the back door, on the extension seems cold and has condensation around it during winter. There's better venting in the extension than the rest of the house.

Based on the fact the some of the paint is scraping off the handle and the frame is a bit damaged (wonder did somebody lock themselves out or try to break in) and that it feels cold to touch I'm assuming it's Alluminium. I bought some car spray paint to touch it up a bit but then started thinking, should i replace it for a door with better insulation. It could be just that the Aluminium door feels cold to touch as it's good thermal conductivity. Did they use an old door? Or what would Aluminium doors have been like in 2014?

I don't want to spend a crazy amount so thinking uPVVC. I don't want to get a door company out as they'd have vested interest so would obviously say to get a new one. Besides a thermeal camera is there any way to check if it's leaking a lot of heat? Would a door have a model or make anywhere? The BER report doesn't go into the level of detail about the door and i didn't think to ask him when he was doing it! I could email him actually, maybe he noted something on it.

EDIT: The BER Report does reccomend external doors, and I know the front one is a new composite one and keeps the cold out, has porch as well so it must be the back one!

EDIT 2: The average door U value is 1.4 W/m2K so if we assume the composite door is about 0.7 W/m2K, that means the back door is about 2.1 W/m2K so would seem like it's worth changing….long as i can get a reasonable price!

10-10-20

Hi, have a look at the glazing stamp for the manufacturer and year of the glass unit. That's always a good clue as to quality. It's in one of the corners.

Upload a photo of the door, might help with understanding the quality on the door and frame.

mp3ireland2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122638372#Comment_122638372

Thanks. I had a good look at the glass but couldn't find anything, it's normally on one of the corners of the glass is it?

I took some photos, inside, outside and of the frame thickness in case any use!

Thanks for your reply.

10-10-20

That's looks like a foam filled PVC door. Any modern replacement will be a significant improvement as many of those only had around 20mm of iso foam between the outer skins.

The glass is made in-house for these, it's just basic double-pane assembly, there is little to no quality to it and there won't be a stamp.

Hope it helps!

mp3ireland2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122638541#Comment_122638541

Thanks! Yeah it's funny I assumed PVC initially then i was thinking aluminium as cold to touch. It's got GC imprinted on the side of the door that's the only additional clue I found! Worth adding to the to do list to replace anyway!

massy086

that doors is not upvc it is old aluminum

mp3ireland2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122643863#Comment_122643863

Yeah i was thinking that's what it felt like, so I'm taking the word "old" means it'll improve things if i replace with uPVC or composite.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122643961#Comment_122643961

Alu or PVC, any investment above the lowest cost option should be an improvement there.

mp3ireland2

Does anybody know where i could purchase a door and get it delivered? Want to compare the cost of supply and install vs supply and getting it installed locally. Have a guy fitting door and window to the garage this weekend so I will see how that goes, maybe could get him to fit the back door if I'm happy with that job. There are plenty of second hand ones that look good value but I'd have no way to know the heat transfer value as it's very hard to see makes and models on doors!