Jeld-Wen Pet Doors

Jeld-Wen has a line of doors with integral pet panels, but recently I ran across their option for a pet panel integral to a sliding glass door which I found intriguing.  In general I encourage the use of French doors in lieu of sliding glass doors in our area.  The seals are much better, security is better and the mechanisms hold up better over time.  That’s not to say that sliding doors don’t have their place.  I have two at my house opening up to our deck.  They are hard to beat when you want maximum glass and have limited floor space which makes a swinging door an issue.

One of the major down sides of our sliding doors is that we use them to let our dog Theo out.  We lose AC in the summer and heat in the winter every time we open that door for him.  A couple of weeks ago when we had all the wind, it didn’t take much time with the door open to kick the thermostat on again.  This system has a passage flap that is held closed via magnets and a second locking window similar to a single hung window that provides a secure and weathertight seal the rest of the time.  I don’t think I will be changing out our existing doors for Theo, but this would be something I would consider when the existing doors fail.  It is definitely something I’ll point out to pet owners when we talk about remodeling projects!