Convection doors

Convection door (also known as Lev door) is a floor-to-ceiling (full height) internal door, consisting of a standard door leaf and an upper leaf (often standard door leaf cut in half) in place of the usual header wall.^[1][2][3] The leaves may or may not be separated by a transom.

Convection door with perforated bottom panel

In cold climate, the doors enable effective convection of warm air through buildings from central heat sources, such as fireplaces or air conditioning units, avoiding expensive ducting or forced ventilation. In warm climate, the doors enable free passage of cooling cross-breezes when the main door leaf is shut. Privacy and air circulation may be controlled independently using this design.^[4]

Transom doors are similar in function, however convection doors are significantly more economical to construct due to their simplicity, while also allowing greater passage of air through their larger unobstructed opening. Dutch doors are similar in configuration, but they differ in design, proportions, hardware and function, being used externally for ventilation, security and exclusion of livestock, while convection doors are used internally for improved energy efficiency in sustainable architecture.

Features

• Effective convection of warm air through buildings
• Free passage of cooling cross-breezes
• Independent control of privacy and air circulation in buildings
• Simplicity and very low construction costs, about equal to standard door and wall above
• More seamless, open-plan like connection between rooms

The door may not be suitable in some situations due to poor acoustic privacy with upper leaf open. It is also not suitable for bathrooms, kitchens due to transfer of odours. Operation of the upper panel by people of shorter reach requires additional hardware.

History

Vertically divided doors have been in use for centuries, such as Dutch or Irish doors, transom doors, however those were typically external, serving a different purpose of ventilation and security.

The doors first appeared as unique design feature^[5] in buildings by Australian architect Jiri Lev, who coined the term convection door.^[1]

How Convection doors work

Lev door (convection door) function

In buildings warmed air rises and progressively spreads from the heat source across the ceiling. As it reaches walls and cools down, it begins to descend and return to the heat source, to fill space created there by more heated air risen. Typical door openings do not reach above 0.5 to 1m below ceilings, thus allowing only limited amount of warm air to pass through into other rooms. Lev doors, like other floor-to-ceiling doors, span the full height of the room, enabling warm air to freely continue through.

Measurements indicate temperatures in secondary rooms with typical doors approximately 2-3 °C (3.6-5.4 °F) below those in primary rooms (rooms where heat source is located). Temperatures in secondary rooms with convection doors are typically equal to those in primary rooms.^[6]

Where the lower panel of the door is often kept in the closed position, the full performance of the door can be maintained by a gap or screened opening in the panel close to the floor.

See also

• Dutch doors
• Ranma (architecture)
• Transom
• Other types of doors