Best Draught Excluders for Doors UK 2026

People fit a brush strip at the bottom, feel a draught the next day, and assume draught-proofing doesn't work. In reality a front door leaks in four separate places and you need to close all of them.

1. The threshold gap. Usually 8–15mm under the door — by far the biggest single hole. Fixed with a brush or blade strip.
2. The frame perimeter. Worn or missing compression seal down the hinge and lock sides. Fixed with self-adhesive E- or P-profile silicone strip.
3. The letterbox. An open slot straight through the door. Fixed with a brush-and-flap plate.
4. The keyhole. Small, but it whistles. A £4 escutcheon cover with a spring flap sorts it.

Hold a lit candle or an incense stick around the closed door on a windy day and you will find every one of them in under a minute.

Most cold air doesn't come through the door itself — it comes through the gap between the door and the frame. A worn or missing door frame seal is the most common source of draughts on UK front and back doors. Self-adhesive foam or silicone strip fitted around the full frame (top and both sides) seals this gap in under 15 minutes. For wooden door frames, brush strip flexes better with seasonal wood movement. For UPVC or composite door frames, silicone strip gives a longer-lasting seal than foam, which compresses and needs replacing every year or two.

See the best window frame seals →

A front door has four separate draught points, and proper draught proofing means sealing all four, not just one: the frame gap (seal with foam or silicone strip), the gap under the door (fit a brush or hinged draught excluder), the letterbox (fit an internal cover plate), and the keyhole (a small keyhole cover, or draught tape if rarely used). Doing all four typically costs under £40 and takes under an hour. Doing only one — most commonly just the letterbox — leaves the other draught points untouched, which is why many people fit a letterbox cover and are surprised the room still feels draughty.

More front-door specific options →

1. Measure the gaps. Slide a coin under the door and down the frame sides. Note the biggest gap at each point — that decides the profile you buy.
2. Clean the surfaces. Wipe the frame and the bottom rail with methylated spirit or a degreaser and let it dry fully. Adhesive fails on dust.
3. Cut the brush strip to width. Measure the door, subtract 2mm, cut the aluminium carrier square with a hacksaw and file the edge.
4. Fit the brush at the right height. Hold it so the bristles just kiss the floor with the door closed — not pressed hard into it, or the door will drag.
5. Run the frame strip. Start at the top corner, work down each side, press firmly for 30 seconds per section. Do not stretch it as you go.
6. Swap the letterbox plate. Unscrew the interior plate, offer the MailPlate up to the aperture, mark, drill if needed, screw home.
7. Test. Close the door and check it still latches without shoving. Re-run the candle test — you should feel nothing.

Everything here can be done without drilling and reversed at the end of a tenancy.

• Choose the self-adhesive version of the brush strip rather than the screw-fix one.
• Use removable-adhesive silicone strip on the frame — it peels off painted timber cleanly.
• Pick a clip-in letterbox brush instead of a screwed plate if you can't change the hardware.
• A fabric door sausage needs no fixing at all and costs under £10.
• Keep any original parts you remove in a bag so you can refit them on move-out.

More on front-door specific options →