As global warming continues to escalate, people are becoming more and more conscious about reducing their carbon footprint. And you can easily achieve this by making more eco-friendly choices.

The best part is that several consumer products manufacturers are creating eco-friendly alternatives of certain products to help us go green. Your home is the perfect place to kickstart your eco-friendly journey.

While purchasing doors and windows for your home, the most hyped choice is to go for the external bifold doors. With its simplicity, a bifold door can redefine your home’s style, while adding a touch of elegance to it. But how eco-friendly are they?

While reading this article, you will explore if the bifold doors are eco-friendly. You will also learn about the materials used to make these doors a sustainable option.

How Eco-Friendly Are External Bifold Doors?

Bifold doors are popular due to their ability to make your home look more spacious and livable. They can literally transform a space into a multifaceted whole.

While these bifold doors are known as eco-friendly, the question is how sustainable these doors are.

Before we reach any conclusion, it’s important to know the way one can measure how environmentally frindly something is.

What is uValue?

This is one of the most important factors you need to take into account when buying a bifold door.

The uValue of a material measures how effective it will be as an insulator. The lower the uValue, the better insulator it will be.

It’s also called thermal transmittance since it marks the rate of transfer of heat through a given structure.

No matter how low the uValue of the bifold door you’ve just bought, it may still, not work as a good insulator if the installation isn’t proper. The uValue can get significantly higher if the door is fitted poorly.

Calculating & Measuring uValue

There are quite a few specific but complex calculations available to give you the exact uValue. But the easiest way to calculate it is to compile the building materials, note their thickness and conductivity (K value), and finally divide the thickness by conductivity.

What is the perfect uValue of a bifold door? According to law, the uValue of the bifold doors should be at least 1.8W/m2, combining the uValue of the glass and framework.

Which Material is Best for External Bifold Doors?

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The sustainability of your bifold doors depends on three factors, the build quality, installation, and the material of the door.

While you’re using the best materials to make your bifold doors, poor installation and build quality can ruin all your effort. So you have to consider all the factors that make your bifold doors even more efficient – like learning how to make your bifold doors stop from blowing, or what materials are best for saving energy etc

There are four materials that can be used to make bi-fold doors due to their uValue.

Aluminum

Aluminum has been considered a poor choice for doors since it’s a good conductor of heat. But the modern aluminum bifold doors come with modern thermal break technology, which has made these doors more energy efficient.

Wood

While cutting trees has never been an eco-friendly option, wood can still be used to make bifold doors since it’s a good insulator and has low uValue.

Timber, pine, and sometimes solid oak are used to build bifold doors since they are less thermally conductive.

UPVC

UPVC is the cheapest but least eco-friendly option to make a bifold door. However, some choose to install UPVC bifold doors as they require less maintenance.

While made of man-made plastic, they can still provide better thermal efficiency and a good lifespan.

Glazing

When it comes to maintaining a lower uValue, glazing can be a good option. Double-glazed doors have an uValue between 1.2 and 1.4, whereas the triple-glazed doors come with a uValue of 0.8.

If you live in a relatively colder place then you can go for triple-glazed doors. However, if you have a lower budget, you can also choose to have double-glazed.

Conclusion

Whether you’re doing it to make your home beautiful or just doing a favor to the environment, installing a bifold door can bring a lot of positive changes to your home.

However, you will enjoy all the benefits of a bifold door if you make sure the materials are high quality, purchase it from a reputed builder, and install it properly. It can turn your home into your sanctuary where you can unwind and relax.

FAQ

Are external bifold doors sustainable?

Yes. it’s because they are mostly made of glass and glass is highly recyclable.

Do bifold doors keep the heat in?

If the bifold doors are made following the current UK building regulations, they can surely keep the heat in. It means the doors should have double-glazed panels with low E coatings and frames must come with thermal breaks.