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A composite door provides one of the best investments you can make in your home. They are durable, low maintenance and look great too. However, there are so many different options it’s sometimes difficult to choose the right one. Here are some factors to consider:

Great aesthetics and low maintenance

Many homeowners prefer the look of timber but not the maintenance! That’s why a composite door with a woodgrain effect finish is a popular choice.

Some of the leading composite door suppliers’ hand-finish their woodgrain effect ranges to ensure superior aesthetics. Although a labour intensive operation, a hand finished composite door is visually far superior as it creates a much richer, deeper finish – virtually indistinguishable from real timber, but without the maintenance!

If you are looking for a more contemporary composite door, choose a solid colour such as blue, red or green. Asking for your composite door coloured both sides also creates a better coordinated look. Choose a traditional or contemporary glass design to complement your composite door and create a real centre piece to your home.
Tackling draughts

If you try standing in the hallway or porch of your home you may be surprised by how much draught your door lets in – especially with the recent gales. With many older, poorly fitting doors you can really feel the cold air blasting through the gap between the door and frame.

Give it a go on a windy night– if you feel an icy chill, chances are you would benefit from a new composite door. Draughts are not only uncomfortable as they mean your house is loosing heat all the time. If air can get in to your home, it means warm air from your central heating system is escaping, which means much higher heating bills!

The best way of tackling draughts is a composite door with a triple seal around the door and frame because it gives much better weather performance. With a triple seal, you’ll notice the difference straight away especially if you had a poorly fitting timber door before. A few of the best suppliers even supply a composite door with a weatherproof letter plate, which again drastically reduces cold blasts from outside.

Thermal performance

A composite door is up to six-times more thermally efficient than a timber door. A simple way of checking the thermal performance of your existing door is to place your hand on the internal face. If it feels cold – or worse, damp with condensation - chances are that it is letting a lot of heat out of your home.

Fitting a composite door is one of best ways of keeping your home warm because it has a super thermally efficient core that locks in heat. With around 15 per cent of heat lost through doors and windows, a composite door can really make a huge difference to your heating bills

Security

Choosing a composite door doesn’t just make your home draught free and thermally efficient. A composite door provides added security, which is why many property experts think that they offer one of the best ways of adding value to your home.

Always ask for a composite door that complies with Secured by Design standards as this means it will meet minimum requirements set out by the Association of Chief Police Officers’.

Many homeowners choose a composite door with an anti bump lock. Bumping of locks is a practice used by burglars on traditional cylinder locks to gain entry to a property in seconds. Placing a ‘bump’ key (available widely on the internet) in a cylinder lock and then applying a slight pressure to the back of the lock plug before giving the key a slight tap or ‘bump’ causes the pins to jump inside the cylinder. This allows the plug to slide out freely, thus enabling the burglar to gain entry in seconds.

A composite door is one of the best ways of giving your home a real wow factor. Chosen carefully, you can also benefit from high thermal efficiency, enhanced security and low maintenance.

To find out more about The Dales Collection of composite doors from Eurocell, visit: www.eurocell.co.uk/composite_doors.html