Sliding glass doors provide convenient access to the outside, bring natural light into your home, and offer a great view of your surroundings. What you might not realize, however, is how these doors can help improve the look of your home and increase your home’s energy efficiency. 

How Can You Tell If Sliding Doors Are Inefficient?

Inefficient sliding glass doors can cause your energy bills to go up. Signs your home’s sliding glass doors may be inefficient include:

• Air Gaps: Gaps can form between sliding doors or in between a door and its frame. These can cause warm or cool air to leak outside your home.
• Drafts: To detect a draft, stand near your sliding doors. If it’s hot outside, you shouldn’t feel a temperature rise. Or, if it’s cold outdoors, you may feel a chilly draft entering your home.
• Your Sliding Doors are Difficult to Open and Close: It may be tough to open and close your sliding doors when they are misaligned from the tracks. If this happens, the frame may be damaged, which can affect the doors’ energy efficiency.

Address these problems and many others by investing in the most energy-efficient patio doors on the market today. 

Best Features for Efficiency

The best sliding doors offer features to help reduce air and heat transfer, including:

• Double- or Triple-Pane Insulated Glass: Have two or three panes of glass that act as sound barriers and help improve energy efficiency.
• Low-E Coating: Helps limit the amount of ultraviolet and infrared light that can pass through glass and improve the glass’ insulating properties. 
• Ultra-Smart Weatherstripping: Protects against drafts and air gaps that cause warm or cool air to enter or exit a home. 
• ComfortFoam Insulation: Offers continuous insulation.

Learn as much as you can about the best sliding glass doors. That way, you can buy energy-efficient patio doors that will serve you well long into the future. 

What to Look for When Shopping for Sliding Doors

Consider the materials used in sliding glass doors since these impact their energy efficiency. 

Along with these materials, other things you should look at when shopping for sliding doors include:

1. ENERGY STAR® Label

Products receive the ENERGY STAR label if they meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for energy efficiency. If sliding doors have this label, they can help you save money on your energy bills without compromising comfort, features, or performance. 

2. National Fenestration Ratings Council (NFRC) Label

NFRC evaluates a product’s energy performance. The NFRC label confirms a product has been independently tested, certified, and marked to help consumers compare energy-efficient products. 

NFRC labels for sliding doors have two important values when it comes to energy efficiency: solar heat gain coefficient and U-factor. Solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) measures how well a product resists unwanted direct or indirect solar radiation. U-factor highlights how well a product helps keep heat from escaping inside a room.

SHGC is measured on a range of 0-1. In warm temperatures, sliding glass doors with a low solar heat gain coefficient help keep your home cool. Comparatively, sliding doors with a high solar heat gain coefficient in cold temperatures help keep your home warm.

U-factor measurements range from 0-2. With this measurement, look for a low number — the lower the number, the better sliding doors are at keeping heat inside your home.

3. Durability

Sliding glass doors can take a beating. Durable materials, such as vinyl, do more than help lower energy bills; they withstand the elements and your foot traffic. Plus, a durable door can be a safer door. Look for stainless steel 2-point locks, strong deadbolts, and sturdy rollers to keep your door on track and running smoothly. Aluminum-capped thresholds, metal reinforcement, double-strength glass, and heavy-duty screens help make a door built to last and help resist break-ins. 

Prioritize sliding doors made of premium materials. This allows you to invest in doors that upgrade your house’s appearance and lower energy costs.

4. Options

The best sliding glass doors complement any architecture and decor. Suppose you want sliding doors to match your colonial or mid-century home or any other type of residence. In that case, options are available that both help improve aesthetics and maximize energy efficiency. Look for

• Color choices, including paints, woodgrains, and laminates to meet your style
• Grids – flat, contoured, thin, thick, pencil – or even SDL grids that adhere to the outside of the window that meet a lot of historical home standards
• Choice of door handles – for a great look and feel to complement your door
• Between the glass miniblinds – for a dust-free experience
• Glass – besides energy-efficient glass options that meet your climate needs, do you want obscure, impact, turtle, or tinted?
• Different sizes and configurations – design a look that is right for you.

You want to get it right the first time. You want a door that will last – and meet your needs.

Choose Sliding Glass Patio Doors from SoftLite

SoftLite provides a choice of sliding patio doors that combine energy efficiency, durability, longevity, and beauty.

Our Kingsroyal Glide Sliding Patio Doors offers an array of options to customize your door to your own personal taste.  

We also supply Panorama Sliding Glass Doors, which are rigorously tested and have a DP-50 rating to withstand high forces or shocks.

Our team is available to discuss our energy-efficient patio doors for homes. 

Contact SoftLite for efficient sliding glass patio doors.