Door Draft Blockers - Under Door Draft Excluders For Drafting Breezes

When winter comes it brings with it many joys but also many little annoyances like higher heating bills and chilly dafts which sneak in under doors and around poorly fitting windows. Cold under door drafts are a nuisance which chill your feet and make you feel colder than you really are which can lead you to raise the thermostat a couple of notches which will inch up your winter heating costs little by little. Drafty doors are a simple problem to solve however and for once, its not a home maintenance problem which is going to cost a great deal of money to fix.

A simple under door air blocker or draft excluder is all you need to keep those colder winter breezes at bay. You can find removable below door draft blockers which lay snug along the base of the door line and can be moved simply by leaning down and picking them up. These are sometimes called draft snakes because they are long and thin like a snake, although most are just a simple bolster shape although you can buy them looking like a snake (or a dachshund etc.) if you so wish. These are great but need to be repositioned every time you open the door to go through it and if you have back issues them bending down every time to do this might not be appealing.

A similar and more permanent solution for internal door is something like the twin draft guard which slides under the door to provide what is essentially two door draft snakes to block cold air from entering under a door. The way these attach means they slide open and closed with the door so you do not need to keep repositioning them.

A more permanent solution is to grab some tools and installed a draft stopper to stop under door breezes permanently. These draft and air blockers for underneath doors are basically a row of densely packed bristles which extend the length of the door and are screwed or nailed onto the base of the door itself. Drafts are prevented from entering, or at the very least slowed down considerably, so you'll never feel them again. These are often the best choice for external doors.

Which option you choose is up to you, all work, although some are better suited to different task than others. The good thing is, as I said, this is one of the few winterizing activities you can undertake which is quick, easy and isn't going to cost you a lot to perform but which has great instant benefits both to your comfort in the form of no more cold feet and nasty drafts and also to your wallet as you'll be saving on heating costs too.

If you are looking for a more permanent solution to block door drafts then you might want to look into buying a door sweep to stop cold air entering under a doorway. If you are not comfortable using tools or don't want to screw anything into your door then there are self adhesive door sweeps which basically glue onto the door itself. Alternatively, for a more secure solution, there are those which are affixed by screws.

Door sweeps are may be made from plastic or aluminum and may be either a bristle brush or a solid strip of vinyl. Both work equally well although brushes always seem to look nicer to me but in theory should let some air through as they are not a solid air block.

Door brushes and sweeps are great for keeping out winter chills but also help keep out dust and insects during the summer months too. The main issue with these is that when the door expands during those warmer months or from use of air conditioning or a swamp cooler you might find the snug winter fit is now causing scraping and sticking issues. Your mileage may vary on this of course and many, many people have no such issues.

Whilst breezes blowing underneath doors are a major problem in many homes and places of business that isn't the only area in which cold air can leak in around a door as there are gaps all around which can be problematic too. Most cold feet issues are caused by frigid air leaking under a door but to fully seal a doorway and keep your heating bills low you will need to perform a little more maintenance, again cheap and very easy.

Blocking air from blowing through the gap between a door and its frame can be achieved very easily with the use of foam weather strip seal. This isa foam backed sticky tape which you apply to the gap all around your door frame. It also has a nice bonus feature as it cushions the door when it is closed so if you live with people who love to bang the doors giving you a mini heart attack every time you'll no longer have to worry about that either!