The Right Ventilation for Your Home: How to Choose a Storm Door to Fit Your Needs
Entry doors keep your home safe and secure, but they don’t allow airflow without letting all the creepy crawlers inside. But when you add a storm door to your front or back entry, you make it possible to improve interior ventilation, add natural light, and provide a clear view of your neighborhood or backyard.
But one question remains: how do you choose the right ventilation options for your new storm door?
Key Takeaways: Ventilation Options for Storm Doors
Storm doors provide much-needed natural ventilation for your home, improving air quality and reducing energy bills
Different storm door designs provide different ventilation options, along with other key features
ProVia has 5 storm door brands that range from fully customizable to budget-friendly, with pros and cons for each option
SD Window & Door offers professional installation for homeowners in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Mitchell, and surrounding areas, with a focus on integrity and quality.
Why Ventilation Matters for Your Home
A nice breeze can brighten your day, but it’s more than just a simple pleasure for your home. Storm door ventilation affects everything from your humidity levels to your heating and cooling costs.
Balance Indoor Humidity Levels
In cold seasons, you’ll probably see condensation on your windows and doors. It’s a normal occurrence when indoor temperatures are warmer than outdoor temperatures. One of the best solutions to this condensation, though, is simply adding ventilation in your home.
Vent fans, ceiling fans, and dehumidifiers can help, but a screen door can let your home breathe naturally. That’s less equipment, less electricity, and fewer complications to solve your humidity issues.
Improve Indoor Air Quality
Stagnant indoor air has been linked to more illness in winter months. Cold and flu season ramps up with closed doors and windows. Your storm door introduces fresh air into your home and pushes out germs quickly during the winter months.
Reduce Energy Consumption
In shoulder seasons, when your HVAC is running double duty, screen doors let you shut off the AC when solar heat bumps up the temperatures inside. Cool, fresh air drops your cooling bills in the fall and spring.
How to Choose the Right Storm Door for Better Ventilation
The best way to select a door brand and model that fits your personal needs is to determine what your top priority is.
Maybe you’re looking for a truly custom door to match your home’s exterior perfectly.
Or maybe you need a more durable screen door to keep kids and dogs from jumping through the screen.
Or maybe you’re trying to keep the budget under control and just want a door that looks good, protects your entry door, and still lets you get airflow when you need it.
Flexibility
Want truly flexible ventilation? Retractable sash-and-screen designs make it possible to let in a little air or get a strong breeze throughout your home. Retractable screens are perfect for adjusting airflow by season while keeping pests outside.
Simplicity
Stationary screens require no seasonal changes or adjustments, making them a perfect option for hands-off homeowners. Optional interchangeable sashes can make storm doors more energy efficient on the hottest and coldest days of the year, but you’ll only need to make the switch when absolutely necessary.
Durability
If you have small kids or pets in your home, you know how hard they can be on just about every surface in your house. Screen doors are no exception. Invest in a stainless steel mesh screen instead of fiberglass for extra durability against busy hands and paws.
Security
That same stainless steel mesh that keeps kids and pets inside will help keep intruders outside. It’s harder to break and cut, and optional aluminum sash or high-quality glass inserts can be used for additional safety when ventilation isn’t needed. We also offer laminated glass in some of our models for next-level security.
Budget
Want to keep your costs low without ditching quality? Self-storing and stationary screen and sash designs, along with limited customization options, can reduce your investment while still offering superior construction quality.
Customization
Fully custom storm doors provide the ventilation you want, the colors you want, and the hardware features you need. Custom doors are a bigger investment, but they’re the perfect choice for homeowners looking for both style and color matches for their homes.
ProVia Storm Door Brands: Pros, Cons, and Top Features
At South Dakota Window & Door, we have storm door options to meet any ventilation, customization, or security need you may have. From cost-conscious to fully custom, you can find a door you’ll love for decades to come.
Top Features and Pros-Cons Comparison:
| BRAND | TOP FEATURE | PROS | CONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spectrum™ | InVent® System | Customization & Flexibility, Top Quality | Higher Price Point; Limited Glass Options |
| Decorator™ | Highly Customizable | High-End Looks, Sturdy Construction | No Integrated or Self-Storing Screens |
| Deluxe™ | Self-Storing Screens | Most Customizable Line | Less Flexible Ventilation than InVent® System |
| DuraGuard™ | Durable and Secure | Heavy-Duty Materials | Stationary Screens Only |
| SuperView™ | Affordability and Quality | Self-Storing Screens Available | Limited Customization Options |
Spectrum™
This premium brand offers a wide variety of customizable features and designs with its retractable screen technology. Spectrum doors provide flexible ventilation options with 33 colors to choose from. Whether you want a full, three-quarter, or half view door, you’ll be able to find exactly what you need with the flexibility of the InVent® system.
Top Feature: InVent® retractable screen system, Laminated Glass options for security
Pros: Highly customizable, flexible ventilation, easy seasonal changes
Cons: Higher pricing, fewer glass options
Decorator™
You deserve a door that fits your home’s style. The Decorator™ series is where you’ll find it. With plenty of glass options, 33 colors and matching door closers, and rattle-free screens and sashes, you’ll get the look you want and the airflow you need. This brand also offers up to 8-foot door frames to match the dramatic look of your front door, no matter the height.
Top Feature: Widest variety of customization options, including glass, door style, and hardware
Pros: Fully customizable, sturdy construction
Cons: no integrated or self-storing screens
Deluxe™
Want more customizable options? Our Deluxe™ series offers more choices than any other brand. Its self-storing screens and sashes run on separate tracks to make seasonal changes easy, as well as reduce cleaning needs.
Top Feature: Self-storing screens for easy seasonal changes
Pros: Easy-to-change ventilation options, most customization options of all ProVia door brands, Highly cost-effective
Cons: Less flexible ventilation than InVent® system
DuraGuard™
With 20% thicker aluminum walls than industry-standard doors and a stainless steel mesh screen that takes a beating better than fiberglass, DuraGuard™ is our most secure line of storm doors. The metal screen won’t rip like fiberglass screens, and the interchangeable sash allows you to seal the door for winter to reduce heat loss.
Top Feature: Durable and secure construction
Pros: Heavy-duty materials
Cons: Fewer customization options, only available with stationary screen or interchangeable sash
SuperView™
You don’t have to lose quality if you want to save money on your storm door. Our SuperView™ doors focus on functionality and construction instead of customization, letting you get a beautiful door without the cost of a premium door. This product line is best when the desire is to not conceal the beauty of the entry door behind it.
Top Feature: Affordability and quality
Pros: high-quality doors at lower price points, stationary and self-storing screens available
Cons: limited customization, fewer premium features available
South Dakota Window & Door: Your Locally Owned Storm Door Experts
We’re here for South Dakota residents looking to upgrade their storm doors for better ventilation. Our experts know how to help you choose the storm door and ventilation options that fit your needs, give you the airflow you want, and look great in any weather.
Fast and Friendly Estimates
Start with a free in-home estimate. We’ll give you mock-ups of your options, walk you through the ProVia features you can choose from, and get you a quote quickly.
Installation with Integrity
Once you find the perfect storm door, we’ll schedule your installation with our team. Most of our installations are done within a day, making it easy to upgrade your entry door without inconveniencing your day-to-day life.
Commitment to Service
ProVia doors and windows come with industry leading warranties, and we are committed to making your new door last for decades. If you have any problems with installation or defects, our team is ready to make it right.