Storm doors

[EatenByLimestone]

I’m having my house resided. I pulled the back storm door off so the contractor could do a better job wrapping the trim. I never realized how much of a difference that door makes in heating the house. The little unheated room that is just inside the back door is absolutely frigid whereas it’s normally just cool. It’s just a normal glass storm door. I wonder what the nicer, insulated ones would do?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The wife and I decided to put a better door in place of the one that was removed. When I search storm doors all that comes up is Home Depot and Lowe’s. Do any of you know of another brand I can look into for a double or triple pane door?

 

[joop]

i have the old aluminium ones ,work good.new ones don't impress

 

[Pinesmoke]

The wife and I decided to put a better door in place of the one that was removed. When I search storm doors all that comes up is Home Depot and Lowe’s. Do any of you know of another brand I can look into for a double or triple pane door?

Look at the Larson doors. I've had several and they take a beating for years.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The current door is one. It’s been in there for 13-14 years I think?

 

[joop]

is it i bad shape or can you reuse

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I can reuse it. I was planning on doing that until I realized how much of a difference it made. Now I wonder if I could do better.

 

[stoveliker]

It'll get better if you add a full insulated second door. And even better with a third....

The point is that the main door should be sufficient, and the storm door keeps the wind off.of the main door.

Insulating a storm door seems strange to me, given its purpose to just keep the air flow away from the main door and seams.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It never occurred to me before today either.

The door is foamfilled steel. It already has good weatherstripping. Its not a new door, so the foam is likely Styrofoam, it could be better in that regard.

Honestly, I never thought it would make that much difference. It only adds what, R1 to the room? The door might be R3 or so?

The room is only a little landing before the stairs down into the basement. Its only a 2x on each side of the door until the wall. I think part of the issue is there isn't any other insulation other than that door and no heat reaches it as there's a door leading to that room from the kitchen.

 

[Pinesmoke]

A foam filled steel door with magnetic seals should be about as you can get. Inso depends on thickness and a door doesn't have a lot of thickness to work with. That and a solid storm should be about as good as it'll get.

My son has a high end restoration company doing about 600k of Marvin window installs a year. I ran a finishing shop to get them ready for install. We saw all kinds of windows and doors. They are one of the few things you get what you pay for. I'm not saying spend stupid money but a foam inner with good seals paired with a good storm will rock for you.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

magnetic seals... working google fu now...

 

[Pinesmoke]

Like fridge door seals. They are just guaranteed to hit and hold.

 

[semipro]

Along the same lines as what @stoveliker said; I'd suggest that the primary benefit is the additional air sealing (and weather protection) that a storm door provides.
Depending on how much sun exposure it gets it can also create a mini greenhouse area between it and the main door. This may have the effect of heating the main door on sunny days (and thus the house somewhat). This can be good or bad. Our doors with storm doors and sun exposure get quite hot in the summer.
I'd focus on getting a well-sealing storm door and not worry so much about thermal insulation.