How energy-efficient are your home's doors? New ratings will say

Residential doors in the UK will now be given energy efficiency ratings much like windows have long received, under a new program from the British Fenestration Ratings Council (BFRC).

The Door Energy Ratings (DER) scheme extends the rating system already used for doors on fridges, freezers and other white goods to standard residential doors as well as French, folding and sliding glazed doors. The new system is the biggest extension of BFRC ratings since 2006.

The ratings will affect a British door market worth £772 million a year — that’s 1.7 million doors — and for the first time will provide homeowners with a way to assess how energy efficient various types of doors are.

All kinds of external pedestrian doors — solid doors, partially glazed doors and fully glazed doors — will be included in the scheme. The system, with ratings from “A” (most efficient) to “G (least),” will rate doors whether they are constructed of PVC-U, aluminum or timber or are a composite-type door.

While solar gain won’t be included in external pedestrian door ratings, as it is for windows, air leakage rates will be taken into account. “A” ratings will be reserved for the best performing doors currently available. “F” and “G” rated doors wouldn’t meet existing building regulations, but are included to cover products for, for example, historic or architecturally sensitive buildings.

Solar gain will be accounted for in ratings for glass doors.