doorsinsulation
I'm considering replacing the front door, and I'd like to know what to look for to get the most insulation. When shopping for doors, I'm not sure what I should be looking at to determine which doors will provide adequate insulation. I live in New York, so the winters can be quite cold.
What should I be looking at, to figure out if a door has adequate insulation?
First off, I make no warranty of any of these suggestions. Especially if this is actually a bank...
I would be hesitant to completely rely on an all-electronic solution, since if there is a failure (which, frankly, is likely with a budget of only 200 per lock), you don't want to have to resort to a plasma torch or something to cut open (and destroy) the door to get in.
What seems like an interesting option to me though would be some of the RF-controlled keyless locks on the market. These look like a normal deadbolt, but have an RF remote.
What would be needed in whatever is chosen is the ability to hook into it, specifically, you need two things:
I'm going to assume that you have some type of microcontroller running the rest of this setup. You didn't specify.. but presumably you have something that has some I/O on it, the ability to connect it to the locks, and some software running to handle what I describe below. I'll also assume that you have an alarm and monitoring.
To control the lock, ideally, you could hardwire in to it, and be able to apply a signal to lock/unlock all the deadbolts. Less ideally, you could hack apart the remotes, and have your controller effectively press the buttons on the remote(s) to lock/unlock. This adds unreliability since you're dependent on an RF signal.
Since these are keyed locks, you have a nice backup mechanism if everything fails: use the 4 keys to open the locks (and note, you'd need to be sure they're 4 separate keys).
Of course, since they're keyed locks, they're also susceptible to being picked/bumped. To try and combat that, what you can do is have your controller monitor each lock individually. If any of the locks ever open when the controller didn't tell them to, then it should trigger an immediate alarm (consider: someone is likely to pick/bump one at a time). If this is an exterior door, then this is your first line of defence, unfortunately. If it's an interior door, then you should also have motion and other door sensors that will hopefully trigger before someone gets to this door.
You also need to consider all other aspects of physical security. You're only as secure as the weakest point, so if someone can break through a window or wall or vent then it doesn't matter how good the door is. Physical security is also just a matter of time: eventually, you can get through anything. That's why I suggested having an alarm system connected, which is both a deterrent, and triggers a police/whatever response. Consider: safes, even high-end ones, are rated by the time it takes to crack them: your door will be no different. Having video cameras probably helps as well, both as a deterrent and to help catch people afterwards. Your video and security system also need to be protected, so that they can't just be disabled/destroyed.
On the other hand, too much security and you actually can attract attention. I've heard that the houses with extra locks, security cameras, etc, are often targeted by thieves since they look like they have something valuable worth protecting.
This is not an easy question. I would have to know the actual dimensions of the existing opening and a better look at the whole door frame. In most cases, I'd be tempted to gut the opening and reframe it to accept a new pre-hung. In your case you need a pre-hung without trim as you will need to install extension jams and finish it out. The door should be mounted fairly close to the interior and have the excess outdoors. This is not a real difficult job, but definitely not for an inexperienced DIYer. There is going to be framing, water/weather proofing, squaring/installing the door, and finish work. You will definately need a circular saw, table saw, 4 or 6 foot level and some air guns would be nice to have to make it a lot easier.
Best Answer
All doors will come with a rated R-value or U-factor (sometimes called U-value). The higher the R-value the better the insulation. The lower the U-factor the better the insulation. Even doors that qualify for Energy Star certification come in a wide range of insulative capacity. I would simply go to your local lumber yard and speak there to a window/door salesperson. He or she will be willing to work with you to find a door or doors that fit your budget, aesthetic sensibilities, and desire for better insulated doors.
One thing to note - it doesn't matter how good the R-value of the slab if the door isn't installed properly with effective weatherstripping. Also note that at some point there will always be a compromise between the tightness of the fit and operability.
Here's a website that explains more about doors and insulation: http://www.green3dhome.com/YourHouse/Exterior/Doors.aspx