Are Your Dog Doors Energy Efficient? Here's How and Why They Should Be
Dogs, like humans, periodically need a fresh breath of air. They need to rush out for a pee, wag their tails at the lawn and play around with kids. Sometimes, crazy schedules distract pet owners' attention from their dogs, and opening doors for dogs might not happen as often as the dogs would wish. To save them from the unnecessary restrain, pet doors are installed. The dogs can move in and out of the house any time they want. Dog doors are built in a way that dogs can go in and out and still prevent unwanted entry. Crawling children, other pets and neighborhood rodents can be a nuisance if they can access the house anytime.
As you make the dogs comfortable by installing dog doors, it is equally important to conserve energy, especially during winter. You'll realize that if the dog door doesn't stop the cold air from setting in or the warm air from escaping, the heater will be strained to work a little harder. Consequently, your monthly heating and cooling bills will be a little higher. To cushion yourself against unnecessarily high bills, you could ensure the dog doors are tailored to prevent heat loss.
Insulate the doors
First, the material used to construct dog doors determines their ability to prevent possible heat loss. Using plastic, leather, wood, glass or rubber as insulators is a good step towards preventing heat loss, but definitely not the ultimate way out.
Should be airtight sealed
Energy efficient dog doors should be tightly sealed such that no air gets inside the house. Thought of weather-stripping your dog door? You could add a magnet strip along the flap to ensure that the door isn't affected by the strong winter winds, and closes every time the dog isn't moving in or out. Additionally, seal all the cracks around the flap using light rubber insulation. This ensures that no air escapes the room even when the flap is closed.
Home energy audit
Once you're sure that all air outlets are sealed and the doors are properly insulated, hire professionals to conduct a home energy audit. Their work is to pinpoint all areas that cause avoidable heat loss. Although hiring the professionals is a bit expensive, it is worth in the long run, especially when they recommend corrections on areas you'd never think of.
No one wants to spend money extravagantly on energy bills, and paying for preventable bills in this era can only be considered as wasteful. Ways to ensure that your doggie doors are energy efficient are not limited to the aforementioned tips. Purchasing the right size of your dog door, hanging a heavy curtain in the doorway and weatherizing the whole house are alternative surefire tips for saving your hard earned cash.