Stay Warm this Winter by Insulating Your Sliding Glass Doors

If you feel like your heat runs around the clock as soon as winter arrives, yet it never seems to make much of a difference in certain areas of your home, your sliding glass patio door might be to blame.

Sliding glass doors, as attractive and functional as they may be, are often a major source of heat loss in our homes when they are not sufficiently insulated. Non-insulated sliding doors can create large drafts, causing the interior of your home to become downright cold. This is especially true for older doors, doors without double-pane glass, and doors with compromised weathering stripping or caulking.

If you feel a draft when you are standing near your slider door, there are several things you can do to solve the problem. The following tips and tricks for insulating sliding glass doors for cooler weather can help make your home more energy efficient this winter.

1. Clear the Tracks of Debris

The quickest, easiest way to stop drafts from your sliding glass door is checking the track and rollers for dirt and debris. Stuff like dirt, gravel, pet hair balls, dead insects, and fallen leaves jamming up the tracks can actually create tiny gaps in the weather stripping, preventing the door from sliding and sealing 100%. So, check for debris and sweep it away! If things are really bad, removing the doors will make things easier.

2. Inspect and Replace Weather Stripping

If your door’s tracks are all clear, the next thing to check is the weather stripping surrounding the door. Weather stripping is the material that is attached to the door and wedges in between the door and the door frame or track to create a seal.

Weather stripping can be made out of a wide variety of material, including vinyl or silicone, foam tape, felt, v-strip, or plastic. It’s an important element of all window installations as it keeps out more than just the draft of winter – it also holds back the rain, wind, and snow. 

After a while, weather stripping starts to deteriorate, almost becoming brittle. This reduces its effectiveness. Fortunately, weather stripping is readily available at the hardware store and is easy to install.

3. Inspect Exterior Caulking

In addition to weather stripping, the door’s exterior caulking should also be inspected for it too can deteriorate over time. Replacing compromised caulking can help increase the efficiency of your home. Use a high-quality window caulking rope with a caulking gel for best results.

4. Switch to Insulating, Thermal Curtains

Window coverings continue to improve drastically in how well they can insulate and soundproof windows. Available in home décor stores and home improvement stores everywhere, insulating curtains are heavy-duty, thick, thermal-lined curtains that block drafts from fully entering your living space. The cool air from outside essentially gets trapped in the space between the curtain and the glass slider.

5. Replace Your Single-Pane Sliding Glass Door

If your sliding glass door is single-pane, broken, or not structurally sound, consider upgrading to vinyl or aluminum double-pane patio doors. Both of these options from Modern come double-glazed with soft coat, low E and argon. Our vinyl patio doors are also NAFS and Energy Star certified.

Single-pane glass does not have any insulating properties, which means it’s time for an upgrade if you want to truly save money year after year on your home’s energy costs. Once you switch to double-pane windows with new weather stripping and fresh exterior caulking, you might find that you don’t need any of the other insulating tips on this list! 

Depending on which new sliding glass door you choose, most new sliding glass doors also come with the added benefit of built-in safety features. Patio doors from Modern all come with a sliding screen, keyed lock, dual-pin locks, and foot locks – ensuring you get energy efficiency AND safety all rolled into one product.

Related Content: 6 Ways to Improve the Security of Your Sliding Glass Door

The window experts at Modern can help with your patio door replacement project at any time of the year! We provide sliding patio door and French door installation services across Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and Powell River, BC. Request a free quote for your replacement patio doors today, or contact us at 1.866.934.2599 to learn more.  Rather replace your sliding glass doors on your own? Review our Patio Door Installation Tips before starting out!