Choosing a Sliding Glass Door
Looking for some guidance on picking a sliding glass patio door.
– The patio door faces west and gets hit hard from the winter winds here in Colorado.
– I can’t do french doors because of the space issues
– There’s a large overhang over the patio door so I don’t need special glass for solar gain.
– My current patio door leaks air like crazy when the winds pick up, so I am mostly concerned with the Air Infiltration spec numbers.
My research so far:
– Pella Impervia Fiberglass 0.04 cfm/ft2
– Pella Lifestyle Series PSE Wood 0.10 cfm/ft2
– Andersen 200 & 400 Series <0.30 cfm/ft2
– Jeld Wen V-45 0.10 cfm/ft2
– Milgaurd Tuscany Series (this one is hard to find)
Stats from an energy audit I had before I started air sealing my house a few months ago, my goal is to get it to less than 3 ACH50:
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Blower Door Reading: 3645 CFM50
Equivalent ACH50: 5.9 ACH50
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Conditioned Air Volume: 37082.13 ft3
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Wind Zone: 2
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N-Factor: 14.99
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Equivalent NACH: 0.39 NACH
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Effective Leakage Area: 185.96 in2
3,500 sq ft house
Zone 5
Built in 1995
I have attached photos of my existing door, I really don’t care if the door is white and does not match the rest of the house, I just want an air tight door.
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Replies
You might look at some of the Canadian manufacturers. I know Inline, and likely others as well, use a triple air seal on their sliding doors which will help with air infiltration specs. Most of the US manufacturers use only a double (or sometimes single) seal. I mention Inline only because I’ve worked with them before and they were friendly people, but there are other Canadian manufacturers that also make good products with triple air seals.
Due to the large area of class in a typical sliding door, this is an excellent place to consider using a triple pane IGU.
Bill
Hello Dugdale, I live in Lakewood, Colorado, and I'm looking to replace my two sets of 1983 Weathershield sliding glass doors (standard height, 8 feet wide). I was wondering what you ended up using and are you happy with them?
Becky
Readers in this Q&A thread discuss a few options not on your current list.
I ended up getting a Marvin Elevate sliding glass door, after a year of using it I can say this thing does not leak air. I have felt around it and used my IR camera on windy days and this door performs great. But it did cost $3,800 to have it installed, but my kitchen and living room is more comfortable now.
Dugdale,
Was the $3,800 only for installation, or did the cost include the door?