The Gl@zine Blogsite

Door Energy Ratings

Door Energy Ratings

As the UK’s leading composite door manufacturer, we are delighted to learn that a Door Energy Ratings scheme is to be introduced next year. Such a scheme can only have a positive impact on the door industry. You only have to look at the introduction of Window Energy Ratings (WERs) to see what a success they have been.

It will give fabricators and installers an extra selling point to differentiate themselves from the competition by offering doors with different energy ratings to suit their customers’ requirements. With so many similar doors available, Door Energy Ratings (DERs), or whatever the British Fenestration Ratings Council (BFRC) decides to call them, will provide better options and more choice to customers.

For companies tendering for social housing work it will allow them to offer a door which meets the specifications of the Decent Home Standard.

The scheme should lead to more innovative products being introduced as door manufacturers and fabricators look for ways to achieve better ratings. Sceptics may say the scheme will not take-off. It may not grow as quickly as WERs initially, but I believe the scheme will help the industry grow in a difficult year. We look forward to putting our own door through testing.

Mark Simm
Sales Director
Rockdoor

Black Doors

Problems with Black Doors

Homeowners love black doors, and will buy them when they are offered. But black has been a problem for manufacturers for years because foils previously used were too thin and were affected badly by the British climate causing cracking, bending, warping and failure as the temperature fluctuated, so few offered them. Now everybody seems to be offering black composite doors. How many of these black composite doors will stand up to the weather and last?

We wouldn't supply black doors for years as we didn't feel comfortable offering a door with a high risk of failing. But now we have confidence to supply what we believe is the first reliable black door to the market.

Using exclusive Heat Shield technology we know our black doors won't suffer the problems of the past. With a higher Vicat softening point of the virgin PVC substrate together with much lower heat absorption, Heat Shield can reflect up to 80% of the Near Infrared (NIR) proportion of sunlight, significantly reducing surface heating.

Heat Shield outperforms any other foil on the market so our customers can sell a homeowner a black door which looks good and stays looking good whatever the weather throws at it. And because Heat Shield is up to 12 times thicker than other foils, it's also more durable and less prone to knocks and scratches in everyday use.

Other industries have suffered quality problems in the past. If one manufacturer has a problem it is bad. But if a group of manufacturers suffer the same problem the whole industry can be tarnished. To continue sustainable growth of the composite door market, we need to be able to supply installers with products which truly last. Let's keep quality at the forefront so our industry can grow as it should.

Yours Sincerely
Mark Simm
Sales Director
Rockdoor