Door Draft Stopper
One-sided door insulator
Insulating one’s dwelling cuts energy consumption and expenses while boosting comfort. One inexpensive component of such insulation is door draft stoppers. They can be attached not only to outer doors but also to those inner doors that lead to the most lived-in sections, so their heat (in winter) and cooling (in summer) don’t get lost.
The stoppers consist of two parts, both of which are cut with scissors to the proper width before mounting: A door-mounted, adhesive-backed, semi-rigid strip of velcro; A semi-rigid strip of mating velcro flexibly connected along its length to a foam-filled draft-stopper fabric sleeve that rests on the doorsill.
I chose this type of stopper because:
- its lower edge doesn’t catch on anything it encounters when the door is opened, such as a doormat or rug (it glides over them noiselessly)
- it attaches easily—with adhesive instead of screws
- the sleeve-half attaches to the door-half with velcro—meaning that perfect initial alignment isn’t necessary.
- The foam also provides some soundproofing.
It has one hidden gotcha. It must be cut to 1/2 inch less than the width of the door, leaving a gap at the end near the hinge. This is so that the tube won’t jam up against the molding when the door is opened. But the gap can be covered with a cut-to-size piece off the leftover adhesive-backed strip—a bit of a pain. (This is something I realized after I’d thrown my leftovers out.)
09/23/20
