Add an unheated timber porch

Buffer your rooms from the cold outside by building a timber porch at each external door. By having a further outer door, you’ll cut down on draughts and help limit the loss of heat.

Porches that face south and have large windows and solid floors such as quarry tiles can warm the air as well.

• If a porch faces south or south west and has a lot of glazing, fit an opening window in case it gets too hot.
   

• If you change the original door, make sure it is exterior quality to keep out draughts and keep your home secure.
   

• A glazed porch shouldn’t be heated because it will waste energy. If you want to build a heated porch, make sure that the windows take up no more than half the wall area — the rest should be properly insulated cavity walls.
   

• Make sure the porch doesn’t cover a boiler flue.
   

• Make the porch big enough so that you can close one door before the other door is opened — and make it wide enough to deal with bags of shopping or change your shoes.

Draught lobby

If there’s no space outside for a porch, see if there’s enough space inside to build a draught lobby with an inner door.

Consult your local council planning department if you want to add a porch — you may need planning permission.

Boiler flues must have a supply of fresh air and the exhaust fumes must go out into open air. You must not build a porch over a boiler flue.

You need to get a building warrant if you want to build a porch:

• more than 8m2 (9½ square yards) in floor area; or
   

• closer than 1m (3’3”) to a boundary; or
   

• for a flat.; or
   

• that needs changes to the structure of the existing building.