Who doesn't love a porch? Not only does it provide a spot to shelter from the elements while you carry out the inevitable hunt for the door keys on a rainy day, but it can also contribute so much architecturally to a house, adding depth and interest, even to the most one-dimensional of facades.
That said, for all its potential benefits, when it comes to ensuring your porch ideas bring you joy, getting the design right is key – and this includes taking into account the role it can have in keeping the inside of your home feeling warm and toasty. In the case of my own house, the coldest room by far is the entrance hall – the space which should really feel cosy and inviting, rather than arctic.
Next year we hope to carry out some remodelling work to the house and, as part of this, are considering some porch upgrades. I want to know how the new design could help when it comes to preventing heat loss, so I asked porch experts for their advice.
Start by getting the basics right on your home, not just your porch
My own small porch is original to the house, which was built in 1915 – it has two brick half walls topped with timber posts all finished off with a clay tiled pitched roof. It is really pretty, but other than shielding the front door from the driving rain and, of course, keeping me dry as I return home, I am dubious as to the beneficial role it it plays in keeping my hallway any warmer.
Alexandra Hull, MD and principal director at Back to Front Exterior Design, explains that a porch alone might not be the answer to all my chilly hallway woes.
"When it comes to warmth, a porch can certainly help, but simply adding one isn’t necessarily going to solve a cold hallway. I’d first look at why the hallway feels cold. A poorly performing front door, gaps around the frame, inefficient glazing and inadequate insulation can all contribute, alongside the inevitable rush of cold air every time the front door is opened."
Elizabeth Assaf, co-founder and designer at Urban Front, agrees that there are other factors that could help me more in terms of warming up my entrance hall.
"I would always recommend addressing the fundamentals first. Make sure all windows and doors are correctly specified, fitted and sealed before considering a porch as a solution.
"A porch can certainly help reduce draughts by creating a buffer between the home and the external environment, but it should not be seen as a substitute for proper draught-proofing and insulation," continues Elizabeth.
"In many cases, particularly in modern homes, improving the performance of the entrance door and windows will deliver greater benefits. An enclosed porch is often most valuable in older properties or refurbishment projects where additional protection from the elements is desirable."
Shop hallway draught proofing essentials
Use these two rolls of tape to quickly and easily seal up any gaps around the doors and windows in your entrance hall to ensure any other upgrades you make, including to your porch, are worthwhile. It is easy to cut to size and each roll measures 5m.
Available in a choice of four colours, this thermal door curtain measures 117x213cm and is made of super thick fabric with a cosy thermal lining designed to keep cold draughts at bay. If that isn't enough to sway you, it can also be thrown in the washing machine.
With its super soft texture, this fluffy draught excluder will add a level of visual cosiness as well as preventing draughts from coming in under your doors on a cold day. At 88cm long it is suitable for most front doors and is a good weight to stay in place too.
Alexandra Hull is Managing Director and Principal Designer at Back to Front Exterior Design, a bespoke design house specialising in transforming tired houses into beautiful, welcoming family homes. With experience across hundreds of residential projects, she guides clients from early house-hunting advice through to full remodelling, offering a friendly, collaborative and highly tailored approach.
Elizabeth Assaf and her husband Nabil formed Urban Front back in 2005. Even today the doors are all handmade in the UK and signed off with their careful attention to detail and design.
Will an enclosed porch keep a hallway warmer than an open design?
Which brings us nicely onto this next point – enclosed vs open porches. My own porch is an open, albeit covered, design, so could swapping it to an enclosed model make a difference in terms of heat loss?
"Without question," states Alexandra Hull. "An open porch keeps the rain off and can offer some protection against the wind – but really it's just a front door under a canopy. Open the door and warm air will still rush outside and cold air will still rush in.
"A fully enclosed porch with a well-sealed outer door, decent glazing and some insulation creates that buffer zone," she explains. "That trapped air is what slows down heat escaping from the hallway.
"However, there is a bit of a trade-off here," continues Alexandra. "We often work on older houses where historic additions have created exactly this type of airlock, but the result can be a cramped and awkward space between two sets of doors.
"It might perform a practical function, but it can make arriving at the house a much less pleasant experience, particularly when you’re trying to welcome guests, manoeuvre children, shopping or dogs through the door.
"This is where an open porch can work really well," she continues. "It maintains that lovely open flow between the entrance hall and the front door whilst still providing much-needed protection from wind and driving rain. It also creates a real sense of arrival, giving you a sheltered moment between outside and in without squeezing another enclosed space into the plan.
"An open porch won’t provide the same thermal buffer as an enclosed one," she concludes, "but that doesn’t mean it can’t make your hallway ideas feel warmer and more comfortable. "
"An enclosed porch creates a buffer zone between the exterior and the main living space, helping to reduce draughts, improve thermal efficiency and provide additional protection from wind and harsh weather," picks up Elizabeth Assaf.
"A covered porch, by contrast, serves a different purpose," she agrees. "While it offers welcome shelter from rain and can help reduce the amount of direct sunlight reaching the door, it does little to prevent heat loss.
"However, a covered porch can still help protect the entrance from the elements," she concurs, "reducing weathering and extending the lifespan of external finishes and materials."
Can the positioning of your porch help prevent heat loss?
Clearly then, switching from an open porch to an enclosed design could be a good way to keep a house warm in winter, but how about its positioning? Obviously it needs to fit in front of the entrance, but what other tips did the experts have to offer?
"The location and exposure of the entrance can have a significant impact on how the front door performs over time," explains Elizabeth Assaf. "For example, a door that is set back within a recess, positioned between two walls, or protected by an overhang will generally experience "orientation matters; north-facing elevations often receive less direct sunlight and can remain damp for longer, while south- and west-facing elevations are more exposed to UV and driving rain."
"Orientation and exposure are definitely worth thinking about," agrees Alexandra Hull. "A doorway facing into the prevailing weather is going to benefit far more from shelter than one tucked away in a protected spot. The depth and height of the porch, the direction the weather tends to come from and whether a side wall might offer a little extra protection are all things we’d think about when designing it."
Elizabeth Assaf points out that orientation matters when specifying the door for your porch or home too. "We always consider the location and surrounding architecture when recommending door designs, finishes and door types (hinged or pivot doors).
"The right specification can significantly improve both the longevity and appearance of the entrance," she explains. "Pivot doors for instance are not suitable if a house is being air tested as they can never be fully weather tight."
How do you create good thermal separation between the front door and porch?
Whether you have an existing porch and are trying to maximise its heat retaining potential, or are considering adding one to upgrade your home, you want to think carefully about how you can use it to create the best thermal separation possible between inside and out so that your porch costs are put to best use.
"The most effective approach is to treat the porch as an unheated buffer zone between the outside and the main house," advises Elizabeth Assaf. "This can be achieved by maintaining a thermally efficient external door to the property itself, ensuring high-quality seals, glazing and insulation throughout the entrance.
"If the porch is enclosed, keeping a heated living or hallway area separated from the porch space helps maintain the thermal benefit," she explains. "That said, advancements in door design mean that a high-performance entrance door can often provide excellent thermal separation without relying on a secondary internal door."
Jake Vincett, co-director of Heritage Build Group LTD, has some more useful advice here.
"For thermal separation, the inner door between the hallway and porch is the one that should be high performance, including insulating and draught-proofing the letterbox if there is one. Don't try to heat the porch because you'll just be wasting money," he warns. "Just make sure there are no gaps around the doors. And only open one when the other is closed, so you keep heat in and cold air out."
Jake Vincett is the co-Director of Heritage Build Group LTD – a construction company based in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
Does the choice of front door affect how warm a hallway feels?
There are a few tasks I have been getting to grips with lately in order to get my home ready for winter – one of which has been to draught proof the front door. It is, perhaps, too early to tell how much warmer this will make the hallway feel, but, according to the experts, addressing your front door can be the best place to start if you too suffer from a chilly entrance hall.
"If you invest in a high-quality front door with excellent thermal insulation and, crucially, ensure it is installed correctly, there should be little need for an additional room purely to reduce heat loss," explains Elizabeth Assaf. "Modern door sets are increasingly tested and certified to meet stringent thermal performance standards. Across much of Europe, achieving these standards is already a requirement for new-build properties.
"It's also worth noting that many contemporary self-build homes do not include enclosed porches unless they are being used as an architectural or aesthetic feature," adds Elizabeth. "A well-designed, well-fitted entrance door can provide outstanding thermal performance on its own."
FAQs
What is the best way to make a cold hallway feel warmer?
Alongside looking at your porch design and front door ideas, there are lots of other steps you can take to make a cold hallway feel a little more comfortable.
I, for one, need to look into hallway radiators – my own is seriously undersized and spends most of its time covered by the coats hanging from the hooks that sit directly above it.
According to Georges Cornah, managing director at Warm4Less, there are things we can all do to help cosy up our entryways. "Hang a heavy thermal curtain behind the front door – it's old school but it's a cheap, effective extra layer. Keep the porch as a cold zone for coats, shoes and boots, so wet gear isn't drying out in the heated hallway and, if you already have a porch, check for gaps where it meets the house wall, and seal them with appropriate sealant."
"Ultimately, I’d look at the entrance as a whole rather than thinking of the porch purely as a way of keeping the hallway warm," concludes Alexandra Hull. "The best porches balance kerb appeal, shelter, thermal performance and the experience of actually arriving at the house. Get those things working together and you can create an entrance that feels warmer in every sense of the word."
Georges Cornah is an infrared heating specialist and Managing Director of Warm4Less, a leading UK supplier of infrared heating solutions. Since taking the helm in 2014, Georges has played a key role in growing the business, combining technical understanding with a sharp focus on practical, real-world performance.
If you are thinking of adding a porch, make sure you are aware of the most common porch mistakes – they could just save you the heartache of spending money on something that does more harm than good to your home as a whole. And, once it is built, consider these porch storage ideas to make it neat, tidy and functional.
