At first glance, it’s hard to have anything negative to say about a set of exterior folding doors. They’re a common home improvement addition used to open up a porch or patio space or create a beautiful, open event venue.

One of the most common concerns about exterior folding doors, though, is that they will increase your power bill and energy uses. When most people see a big glass door, they automatically assume that just because they don’t see fiberglass insulation, they’re losing heat or A/C.

However, this isn’t always the case. In fact, most of today’s top-selling door systems manufacturers specifically design eco-friendly folding doors to reduce energy waste and contribute to a more “green” house.

In today’s post, we’re going to explain how today’s modern eco-friendly doors work and answer some of the most commonly asked questions regarding the “green factor” and folding doors.

Green Technology And Eco-Friendly Folding Doors

Before the advent of modern-day insulation, it was hard to keep the inside climate of a home consistent. Depending on the time of day, the strength of the sun, and whether or not you had any windows open, the temperature inside of your home could be hot, cold, or somewhere in between.

Thanks to modern fiberglass insulation, though, we’re able to keep the interior of our homes relatively consistent. As long as we run the furnace or A/C periodically throughout the day, most of the inside air stays in and the outside air stays out. The only real weak points are the windows and doors (which aren’t usually insulated).

However, after California (the biggest market for folding door systems in the U.S.) passed Title 24, things started to change. The new bill required all door and window manufacturers to design insulated eco-friendly door systems to prevent energy loss through glass window panes.

Specifically, Title 24 states that all glass building materials must have a U-Value of .3 or less. The U-Value (or U-Factor) of a pane of glass is a unit that measures how much thermal energy is transferred from one side to the other. The lowest U-Value is 0 and the highest U-Value is 1 (0 meaning that no energy is able to transfer from one side to the other; 1 correlating to high thermal transfer between the sides of the glass).

So, as you can see, U-Value of .3 means that very little heat or cold air is able to transfer from one side of the glass to the other. Almost all folding door manufacturers design their glass with a U-Value between .1 and .3.

How do they accomplish this, though? Let’s take a look.

Thermal Breaking In Doorframes

The first line of defense is in the doorframe itself. Unless the doorframe is made from hardwood (which is naturally well-insulated), the inner lining of the doorframe is typically coated with a thin layer of polymer plastic. This layer is resistant to thermal transference, which means that air can’t get in through the hollow doorframe.

Low-Emissivity Glass

The biggest contributor to a low U-Value is low-E glass technology. This technology typically involves using two or three glass panels aligned in parallel. The vacuum space between the glass is then filled with Argon gas, a compound that resists temperature change and energy transfer.

Low-E glass is a relatively new invention and is one of the reasons why high-end folding door systems cost so much.

Ceramic Window Tint

If you want to add an additional layer of protection and further increase the energy efficiency of your folding doors, then you may consider applying a ceramic tint to the glass. Ceramic tint is a film tint that’s infused with microscopic ceramic particles which naturally deflect heat. This is commonly seen in folding door systems that receive a lot of direct sunlight.

Will Folding Doors Increase My Power Bill?

Overall, a folding door system shouldn’t increase your power bill too much. Of course, when your doors are open, you’ll probably want to turn off your heat or A/C to prevent them from excessive energy consumption. However, as long as the door panels are closed, they won’t leak a lot of your interior air.

Conclusion

Overall, eco-friendly technology has made green folding doors the industry standard. This, in turn, has made folding door technology more practical and accessible by the industry as a whole. So go ahead! Treat yourself to the folding doors you’ve always wanted. They’re as beautiful as they are energy-efficient!