# Storm Doors



## maple1 (Jan 11, 2012)

Highly recommended and advised.

We lived for 15 years with just the steel entrance doors - three of them. Never gave it much thought - they were solid, well insulated, and for the most part tight. Finally decided this fall, after doing some weatherstrip and trim maintenance, that adding storm doors could do nothing but good - thought about it for years but always put it off. One of our doors opens into the living room on NE side from a verandah. Not used for entry during the winter, but there were always complaints of chillyness from some when sitting near it in the evenings. Another one enters our kitchen from a deck on the SW side - it gets used the most, as does the room it enters into. The third on a deck on SE side into a central hallway with not a lot of traffic. I did the NW & SW ones first, aiming to reduce cold air entry into the living space. Then did the SE one almost as an afterthought, since it entered into an area not really habitated much. But here I sit on a sunny morning, it is -15c outside, the steel door is open on the SE hallway side, sun is blasting in through the new storm door reaching all the way into my office 25 feet away on the other side of the house, the entire first floor is up to temp and will be all day with no furnace help. I severely underestimated the impact the storm doors would have on not just keeping cold air out, but increasing my solar gain by a ton on days like this. I am amazed what that one new 3ft x 80in. piece of glass on the SE side of my house is doing for my heating situation. Cross ventilation in the summer will be an added bonus to come. Seems common sense now, but took me 15 years to get around to it.


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## Retired Guy (Jan 11, 2012)

When I was younger, many houses in town had vestibules (about 4' x 4') on the front porch that were set up each fall and taken down in the spring. Very effective in eliminating drafts, and were a good place to store your boots.


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## firebroad (Jan 11, 2012)

Retired Guy said:
			
		

> When I was younger, many houses in town had vestibules (about 4' x 4') on the front porch that were set up each fall and taken down in the spring. Very effective in eliminating drafts, and were a good place to store your boots.



Wow, I wonder if you can get these anywhere!  I sure could use one!


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## Retired Guy (Jan 11, 2012)

Mostly they were three panels with a storm window in both sides and a simple wood storm door on the front. Walls and front were screwed together with angle brackets and were held in place with a couple of cleats on the house. Fold them up and store in the basement or garage in the spring.


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## fishingpol (Jan 12, 2012)

My house had one, long gone though.  Just the upper cleating is left.

Good for you on the install Maple.  Screens in the door are nice in the summer, and letting the sun in during the winter isn't bad either.


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## jebatty (Jan 12, 2012)

> maple1: I severely underestimated the impact the storm doors would have on not just keeping cold air out, but increasing my solar gain by a ton on days like this. I am amazed what that one new 3ft x 80in. piece of glass on the SE side of my house is doing for my heating situation.



Ditto for us in northern MN. Our storm door, full glass, faces WSW and looks out across a lake, frozen and snow covered in winter. On a sunny day, no matter how cold outside, which easily could be -30F (-34C), the winter low angle sun + reflection off the like makes the door feel like a furnace. We have other windows which do the same, and we need no heat on when the sun is shining. Passive solar supplies all the heat needed for the house.


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## velvetfoot (Jan 12, 2012)

It can get pretty hot though when the sun is shining and both doors are closed.  If the steel door is painted a dark color too.  Might cause adhesives (like for a door window) to melt, they say.


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## stejus (Jan 12, 2012)

velvetfoot said:
			
		

> It can get pretty hot though when the sun is shining and both doors are closed.  If the steel door is painted a dark color too.  Might cause adhesives (like for a door window) to melt, they say.



So true.  Our southern exposure front door that is never used has a full glass or screen storm door.  Over the years the sun heated up the air between the storm door and steel door and it melted/warped the fanlight in the steel door.  Be warned if you have a southern exposure and a storm door.  If you do, crack the storm door open a little during the day to vent the heat out.


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