Unbelievable difference

So this dog door was an upgrade after our previous unit had about 5 years of wear on it. The old unit had a standard metal frame, and was a ‘large breed’ dog door.

In MN, in our winters, it wouldn’t be unusual to have ice forming on the interior of the old dog door, and water condensing/dripping onto the floor due to the temperature differences. The closet where the old door was located was significantly colder than the rest of the house.

Today though was the last day of weather over 20 degrees before a weeks worth of near zero temps, so I decided to do the installation now rather than wait, and boy am I glad that I did.

A huge reason this door works so much better than other models I’ve tried are due to the door materials used. The frame is some kind of low heat transfer material, and the door flaps (2) are both made of a thick material that has virtually no heat transfer.

By having two flaps instead of the typical single flap, the flaps are able to seal with each other, ensuring an air tight seal every time.

I had to reframe the top of the old opening, but the sides fit perfectly. Once framing and sealing the door with exterior caulk, I noticed a massive, immediate improvement in the temp in the room. I filled in the small gaps and we went out for dinner.

Came back two hours later and the closet is noticeably warmer than it has been in the past. I wish I’d gotten this door years ago.

The two dogs figured out the new door in about a minute.

edit: I just wanted to update my post after going through the coldest months of a Minnesota winter. We had days where it was easily -20 F with 30+ MPH winds, and you couldn’t even feel a whisper of outside air when standing next to this dog door. Unbelievable how much better this is than our other dog doors were. I’d thought perhaps with enough wind or when it got cold enough I’d start to find where this door no longer excels, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The only thing I can say that I might not like about this door is that the old dog doors had transparent flaps, and I liked that it let light into the room where the dog door was located. I wouldn’t dream of trading that for no weather proofing though, but I had to come up with something about this product that wasn’t perfect so I don’t come off sounding like a shill.

edit: Just updating. Two years later, still loving the door. We had a 10 year cold snap this year, and I happened to have a thermal gun handy. Will include a short video review, but the gist of it is the door temp was a solid 3º – 4º C (40ºF) , while outside the flap it was -26º C. (-15ºF) so a difference of over 50º. My old dog door would get moisture around it any time it was a few degrees below freezing, and ice inside when it was below 0º F, so this is a major improvement.