Last Updated on 9 January 2018 by ianr
Winter is here
And no, we are not talking “Game of thrones” we are talking a proper British winter a one where lots of the country signs (berries on trees etc) are pointing to a long cold dark few months.
The summer heat is now but a distant memory and now when we think heat – rather than sun cream and dark glasses we are thinking “winter fuel bills” and how do we keep that heat in the house. With all the government initiatives that have been run in recent years we have all had the opportunity to ensure that we have loft insulation and /or cavity wall insulation. The graphic below gives a pretty good representation of where your precious heat can escape from your home even if you have the walls and loft covered you could still be losing through doors, windows and floors – if you simply substitute the word “money” for the word “heat” the whole issue takes on a somewhat depressing feel.
Over coming months, we can expect to see infra-red images showing just how lacking in energy efficiency most our properties are colour coded to depress, as if we could not feel the draughts and cold spots in our property.
As we can pretty much guarantee that sometime between October and March there will be an exceptionally cold period of weather, we have no excuse for not being prepared and there are many simple things we can do to maximise heat retention and minimise heat loss before we consider the expensive options of changing, boiler and radiators, windows and doors, although at Global Door we do have a vested interest in selling you a new front door – but more of that later.
A few of the simpler remedies –
Curtains – as a general rule the thicker and heavier they are, the more of the heat they will retain, draw them tightly closed as soon as the light begins to fade it will help cut down draughts and minimise your heat loss, you may also consider hanging a similar heavy-duty curtain across the interior of your front door.
Re arrange your furniture –do not block off radiators behind furniture they work best when air can circulate freely around them radiators work best when they can heat up the air around them – why would you want to heat the wall behind them – try draping a piece of aluminium foil behind your radiator to reflect more heat into the room.
Draught seal – there are literally hundreds of cost effective products available and if they reduce your heat loss even by only a few % they will probably more than pay for themselves.
Have, your boiler serviced – if its working efficiently it will be your best guarantee to lower bills – plus it could just avoid the nightmare scenario of suffering a boiler breakdown. If it is a really old boiler you may qualify for one of the assisted replacement schemes and a new boiler should last 12-15 years when you have it checked annually.
Your wardrobe – If you have some nice warm sweaters drag them out and wear them it is a far better way of saving money than cranking up the thermostat just so you can continue to wear a “T” shirt through the winter – dressing appropriately with a few more layers, particularly socks (thermal ones are best) may mean you can turn the heating down a few degrees and still be comfortable
If each of our suggestions saves 5% on your efficiency that could be a good 20% saving and what better way could there be of using the money than investing in a new front door from – yes we said we would come back to it a new front door from Global Door
As the first image above shows up to 15% of heat loss could be because of an old or badly fitted front door, as warm air leaks out it is replaced with cold air, which is pretty similar to a ‘wind chill’ effect, a draughty house means a warmer overall temperature will be needed to feel comfortable due to the constantly changing air movement.
A recent Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) study advised that, insulated doors are the third most cost-effective Energy-saving home improvement that it is possible to make, a replacement boiler and cavity wall insulation filling the first two places.
Similar to electrical appliances, doors can now be tested for their Energy efficiency and be given a simple A-G rating. A high performance insulated door will have a minimum energy rating of ‘C’ and above, it is advisable to avoid doors with a rating of ‘D’ or below. The rating your door will be influenced by its glazing content. Current legislation requires that all new doors sold and fitted in England & Wales must have a “U” value not exceeding 1.8W/m2K and the lower level of (1.6W/m2K applying in Scotland).
The U-value of a door is a measurement of its energy efficiency, the lower the value the more energy efficient it will be.
Every Global Door comes with its own individual energy rating certificate between A and C.
If you have not renewed your front or back door in recent years maybe now is the time to consider a change – we do not need to advise the benefits there are plenty of Government sponsored campaigns trying to ensure that we all do our bit to prevent Global Warning
So how can we assist you to ensure your comfort for the coming months –– from our perspective here at Global Doors we would recommend that you take a visit to our web site where you will find a stunning selection of new Composite Solid timber core front doors which are guaranteed to reduce the heat loss through your front door significantly –normally by at least 10% -12% and “the benefits start to be repaid the moment you install and close your new door -reducing the heat loss from your home and saving in your energy bills”
The Global door range of Composite Doors are manufactured with a high density 100% CFC free solid foam core, which is not only strong but also, has excellent thermal properties and, as all of our doors are installed as “door sets” i.e. pre-engineered where door and frame are factory assembled as one, not only does this mean the door will fit the frame it means we can apply draught sealing as a factory task guaranteeing a superior fit. Excellent thermal insulation and draughtproofing is only part of the story as you can also upgrade your glazing with double glazed units, which are injected with argon gas to improve insulation they also have a warm edge spacer bar, which does not conduct the cold air to further improve the insulation quality.
The correct installation to ensure that your door functions as it should, is also a key factor in the fight against winter chills – a badly installed door will have draughts a correctly installed door will not which is why we recommend our “First Class Installation “service tried and trusted for ten years with the customer reviews to endorse this claim and every installation comes with a five year installation guarantee.
If you still have an old draughty front door maybe now is the time to change before the full onset of winter and just to make it that little bit easier any door from Global Door can be supplied on interest free credit for customers who comply with the necessary finance criteria.
A visit to the Global Door web site and a few minutes spent browsing the range of styles colours and accessories and using our door designer to create the bespoke door you want could just be the tonic you need to chase away the winter blues visit today at https://www.globaldoor.co.uk and make a decision which will benefit you and your home for years to come.
