Sliding Door Freezing

[yostmatt]

I have a question for people living in the north dealing with the cold weather.

My sliding glass door heading out onto the patio keeps freezing shut. There is visible ice on the inside of the door the whole way around. That is the door we let the dog out though, so it has been a pain in the butt lately. The door is a older steel door, and I have had it on the list to replace with a vinyl last summer, but ran out of nice weather to do it. My real question is, if I replace it with a vinyl slider this year will it still freeze? I am leaning to put in some normal french doors, but my wife is not sure she likes that idea. If the vinyl door is going to freeze as well, then, we would probably have no choice and just put in a french door.

thanks in advance. Matt

 

[JohnT]

Metal doors conduct heat outside so the inside gets cold. Humidity inside condenses on the cold metal and freezes. A door that doesn't conduct heat will do much better. Reducing indoor humidity with exhaust fans in the kitchen and bath may help in the meantime.

 

[yostmatt]

I did lower my humidity from 40 to 30, and the ice build up is not quite as bad. I am guessing vinyl would not conduct the heat and cold.