Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Review: Twin Draft Guard®


It’s been a very cold winter already and it’s still got several weeks to go … Sigh. But something I finally bought over the weekend – after weeks of seeing it advertised on TV – is making the season a bit more bearable: the Twin Draft Guard. I paid $9.95 for it at Wal-Mart.

I am, by nature, a skeptic. I never believe anything I see on TV. And through the years, manufacturer after manufacturer has done little to change that. So, it was not all that surprising when I opened the box to find, in a nutshell, four pieces of foam and a skimpy, brown cotton sack.

Yeah. Right. This is really going to work, I thought as I assembled it as instructed. The directions say to measure your door width and cut the tubes a half-inch shorter. Luckily, I didn’t do that. I laid it down along the door first and found that I already had at least a half-inch gap at the hinge side of the door.

Then, I just wrangled the loosely connected tubes (joined by a very fragile collar on the end of one) into each side of the bag, pulled over the excess and sealed at the velcro closure, tucked in the corners and slid it under the door. I had a very tough time closing the door, but finally it did. And the draft? It stopped.

It was a cool night (40ish) but not frigid when I installed it so I put little stock in the success. The next night, however, it got down in the teens, and then lower during the morning. Still no draft. The door was still hard to close, but working a little better by last night. When there was still no draft! Mind you, this skimpy bit o’nothing replaced one standard towel between the storm and front door and a second, chunky towel on the inside.

Caveat: There is more than one type of this out there. If you want to buy this one, look for the “As Seen on TV” label.

A second caveat: I looked at a ton of online reviews. I’d say it was about a 60-40 split in the product’s favor. The biggest complaint was that it didn’t fit the door. Frankly, I’m concerned about whether this will work on the other two doors I want to use it on. But, I’m going to find out and I’ll let you know.

The second biggest complaint was that it fit too loosely, got bunched up, and needed constant readjusting.
A handful of people complained that it didn’t work on carpet. I can’t attest to that as we no longer have any carpet in the house except in the downstairs family room. I can tell you that it seems to stay along the door, unlike the towels, so I don't trip over it -- also like the towels.

A few more people reported that it didn’t hold up. (There were a few reviews though that cited having the same one, still working, more than two years later.) I can’t attest to that either. I can tell you that if the thing wears out, I’ll go buy another one. And for now, anyway, the towels can stay in the linen closet!

6 comments:

C&C said...

Hey - we got one of those too! And while I fuss and cuss about the door being a pain to open & close - NO DRAFT. So I guess it works!

MonkeyGirl said...

Ohhhh - I have to know how they work in the long run. I have a door or two that could use those!

Jayne said...

Thanks for the review! I was thinking about getting these for a couple doors in my house, but wasn't sure they were worth the money.

Jamie said...

I used to have a couple of those. We're down to one, which is on our door between the basement and garage. It seems to fit that door & it's been on there forever, it seems. Anytime my cats get locked in the garage they scratch at the draft guard and it is basically shredded to bits on the one side. I don't honestly know where the other ones went, but we do need a few more. I'm doing the rug / towel thing on the front door, which like you said is a pain.

I'll agree.... def worth it!

NV said...

C&C -- You know, we're almost through the first week and the door is already easier to close!

MG -- I'd say get some. It really did get a workout a couple nights last week and made a very appreciable difference in the comfort level of the livingroom.

Jayne -- IMHO, they're worth every penny. I know some folks say they don't fit every door but we've been lucky so far. I need to get a couple more!

Jamie -- Yeah. These things will not hold up to the rigors of a cat, that's for sure! It's encouraging to see that others had or are getting good rsults, too!

George said...

I had a terrible experience with this outfit. I ordered one draft guard, but was billed for two--a few hours after I had placed the order.

They told me I'd receive it in four weeks I told them of the error, but they insisted on sending me two, even tho the order had just ben mad, and they had plenty time (4 weeks!) to change.

When it arrved I found the two of them useless- a piece of garbage. Big mistake to get involved with this outfit.