What to do about external understairs door? (Heat loss)

ezman

Hi, in my house we have an 4 foot high (or so) external door under the stairs which has access to the gas meter.
The main problem is in the winter i can feel cold air coming through the stairs.
Also it's a bit of a security risk..see pic 2 .(probably even more now that I've uploaded these photos....won't keep 'em up for long!)

Also wondering about the 'window' to the right of the door, this has the boiler in it. the wood has holes in letting in cold air.


That cupboard you can see in the background is to the hallway of the house!


the gas meter and stairs....



The options I can think of are to have it bricked up and access gas meter from a new indoor door!
Or...to simply insulate the stairs.
Or...to have a double glazed door fitted instead (custom size?)

Perhaps the favoured option is the double glazed external door as this would mean that we could store bikes or whatever else there in future.
But on the flip side we have little spare cash floating about so it would be good to know a cheap option also.

Any ideas? Thanks for any help.

Eric

ezman

does anyone know any other forums which may be more specific about this sort of problem/solution? thanks.

economiser

I don't like the access from both inside and out. As you say, a security risk. I think I would go for bricking up the outside access.

ezman

it's been a while and it's getting colder so...hoping someone else might be able to offer some pointers, surely other houses have this problem too???

dander

Is there an inside access to this cupboard, or is it just that the drafts are coming up through the wood on the stairs?

I would start by just insulating the cupboard all round. I guess some kind of insulation board might be easier to use on the underside of stairs rather than the thick rolls, but anything would probably make a difference.

27col

I suggest that you apply 50mm polystyrene insulation where you can, it can be stuck on with polystyrene adhesive or no-nails, and do something about securing the door.

vansboy

Agree the insulation board, as fastest & cheapest option.

VB

ezman

Thanks for the replies so far, there are holes in the external door, I'm assuming these need to remain to provide some sort of ventilation? Any ideas?

27col

I should not worry about the holes in the door. I doubt whether the door fits all that well. Presumably the draught that you can feel is being fed by those very holes. If necessary you can always re-make the holes later.

Suzy_M

Looks like an old bin store rather than meter cupboard - hence the door on the inside and the big holes in the top of the door (to let the smell out!).