What is an Aluminium Panel Door?
To understand what an Aluminium Panel Door looks like, we will like to compare it to a standard uPVC window. Similar to a window, the aluminium door will have a fixed frame along the perimeter of your door opening. The door panel that opens will also have a frame ( around 50-75 mm wide), this is called a sash. Within the sash is set a panel ( 28 mm thick) with a bead, very similar to the glazing set in a window.Unlike uPVC windows where the bead is round edged , aluminium door beads are more flat, square edged . For security reasons the bead is installed on the internal face of the door or window to avoid anyone removing the bead for vandalism or burglary.
Most manufacturers of Aluminium doors in the UK , make only Aluminium panel doors. The first and foremost reason for this is simply, that panel door manufacturing is much more easier as compared to other types of Aluminium doors, which are infill flush doors.
Secondly, most of the panel door manufacturers have a more established business of either bi-fold or sliding doors, and hence it is easy for them to produce aluminium panel doors by replacing the glass panel they use in bi-fold and sliding doors, with an aluminium panel in the same frame to produce a front door .
Aluminium panel doors are made on the same principle as uPVC doors, where a 28 mm panel is fitted in a frame of around 50-70 mm thickness. Hence the total thickness of the complete door is not 50-70 mm, only the frame is that thick with most of the door ( 90% of the door) being only 28 mm thick. This leads to poor thermal performance of the door as compared to a door of complete thickness of 55 -60 mm. Moreover, when you view the door from front, you would see a frame of approximately 70-80 mm wide with a recessed panel.
The U- value of standard panel doors is around 1.8W/m2K; which though meets UK standards, is not the optimum thermal value which one can achieve with a good quality aluminium front door.
Aluminium Panel Doors in the market Vs Glasswin Standard Aluminium Doors
There are many manufactures of aluminium panel doors in the market using varying thickness of the aluminium frame ( sash) ranging from 40 mm-60 mm. The thicker the sash, the better is the thermal efficiency of the door.
As mentioned above the panel set inside the sash is only 28 mm. Hence, the door does not have a flush look when viewed internally or externally. One will see a sash ( frame ) with a recessed panel.
Our Series of Standard Aluminium Front doors uses 59 mm thermal aluminium profile ( sash) with a 28 mm aluminium panel. However, the external face of our doors have only a slight rebate between the aluminium frame ( sash) and the aluminium panel for an appealing look as compared to our competitors.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that our doors are powder coated to a very high standard, using textured, structural paint finish. This provides a more durable scratch resistant coating to the doors as compared to the cheap, plain smooth paint finish most fabricators provide.
Not only this, but the corners of all our Aluminium Exterior doors and frames are mitred neatly using proper machinery to crimp these unlike most small businesses who cannot achieve neat corners.
Moreover, most manufacturers source their aluminium profiles ( sashes) and panels from different suppliers. As these are powder coated by different manufacturers, there will always be a slight difference in colour, even if these are of the same RAL colour. On the other hand, our door panels and sashes are manufactured in the same factory hence this problem will never be faced in our aluminium doors. For Reynaers and Schucho profiles, we source these in the Mill finish and these are then powder coated in house, hence the panel and the profile will always match.
Please visit our website on our home page https://doorwin.co.uk to compare all our door series or call us on 03301224562, to know more about our door series. Should you wish, we are happy to share comparison videos of our door series via WhatsApp for further clarity. You can also email us on sales@glasswin.co.uk
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