Screen-door options provide ventilation, increase comfort
Q. I like screen doors for natural ventilation, but they are expensive and inconvenient, and they don’t look really good. Are hideaway retractable screen doors easy to operate, and are they durable?
A. Natural ventilation is obviously more efficient than using fans or air conditioning. Just a gentle breeze can make it feel like the air temperature is several degrees cooler than it actually is. Other than days with smog alerts, fresh outdoor air is typically less polluted than indoor air in an efficient house.
Before deciding against a screen door, check out some of the newer designs. There are some very attractive screen/storm doors — in fact, they’re often more attractive than many primary doors. Some of the wroughtiron screen doors also provide considerable security. By installing a good-quality screen/ storm door, your wintertime utility bills will also be lower.
If you’re dead set against a screen door, a retractable screen is probably your best alternative choice.
Ten years ago, I installed a Dreamscreen retractable screen on my home’s double front doors, and it still works well. When the door is retracted, guests do not even realize I have one. The only maintenance needed is spraying a little silicone lubricant into the tracks each spring.
In a retractable screen door, a 2-inch-wide cassette that’s the height of the door is mounted vertically on one side of the frame. The apparatus is spring-loaded to automatically roll up the screen inside the cassette. A samelength mating steel strip is installed on the other side of the door frame, and narrow horizontal aluminum tracks are installed across the top and bottom to support the closed screen and to seal out insects.
To close the screen over the door opening, slide the edge of the cassette side across to unroll the screen and pull it over to the mating strip. A magnetic edge on the screen edge holds tightly to the mating steel strip on the other side, and an adjustable spring inside the cassette holds the screen taut for a crisp appearance. My screen has bulged out only a couple of times in very strong winds. It snaps back into the track when it is opened again.
The same basic spring-loaded design, but shorter, is available for windows. The cassette is also narrower because it has to hold less screening. Very large motorized retractable screens are available for balconies and can cover the entire opening.
Another less-expensive screening option for front or back doors is a removable hanging Bug Off Screen. It takes only a minute or
two to put up and take down. The Bug Off Screen consists of two sections of screening that hang from an expandable rod (similar to a shower curtain rod). The screen sections are stuck together in the center with small magnets and attached to the door-frame sides with adhesive-backed hook-and-loop strips. These screens are easy to walk through, and they seal out bugs fairly well.
The following companies offer retractable screens: Bug Off Screen (888-342-5270, www. bugoffscreen.com), Dreamscreens (888-7570929, www.dreamscreens.com), Mirage Screen Systems (855-488-7655, www.miragescreensystems.com), ODL (800-253-3900, www.odl.com) and Phantom Screens (888742-6866, www.phantomscreens.com).
Q. I have thought about installing foil in my attic to keep my house cooler during summer. I know that doing this should lower my cooling bills, but won’t it increase my heating bills in the winter?
A. Stapling foil under your roof rafters will have little or no negative effect during winter. The amount of heat radiated down from the roof to the ceiling below is negligible during winter.
Radiant heat transfer from a hot object, such as a roof in the summer sun, is dependent upon its temperature. It can be significant during summer. During winter, the roof temperature is not hot enough to transfer much heat downward anyway.
Send inquiries to James Dulley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley. com.