Letter box insulation options

[Jolo]

We had a new front door installed earlier this year -- lovely 65mm thick thing with insulation inside, triple glazing in the frame as the side and above. A big improvement over the rotten old plank of wood with single-glazed windows we had before!

 

One thing we pondered was the letter box. One option was to not have a letter box in the door, but instead have a lockable letter box outside. We decided against this partly because it didn't feel very secure (especially if we're away) and also because to get the post we'd have to open the door fully and go outside to open the external box -- which, while brief, would probably let in more cold winter air than a well-sealed letterbox in the door would! (Also didn't fancy having to go outside in my dressing gown every morning.)

 

So we opted instead for a letterbox in the door, which we discovered has the strongest springs known to mankind. It really slaps itself shut!

 

But this led to a problem, our postie will lift the outside flap, and push the letters in -- but the post isn't strong enough to open the inside flap, so the letters instead get left trapped dangling from the outside flap for anyone to take. (Call me paranoid...)

 

While visiting friends earlier this year, I noticed that they had a new door too -- with the exact same letterbox! I asked them if they'd had problems with the postie leaving letters dangling and sure enough they had. So it must be a common letterbox that's causing issues wherever it's installed!

 

As our new door was fitted in the spring, my temporary solution was just to remove the internal plate. But now that October is here I'm pondering better solutions.

 

One option is to buy one of those letterboxes that has thick flaps (!) with insulation in them, but I wonder if we'll still have the problem with dangling letters. Another option is to add a post catcher on the inside, which I could even make myself and insulate well enough. (A third option is to tell the postie off, this is what our friends in England did! But I suspect the problem would just occur again every time a new postie did this route.)

 

So, before I break out the wood and unfold the workbench, are there any ideas about how best to mitigate my letterbox problem?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Pocster]

Parcel bin . I have Lora sensor on it and cctv . I have no friends so rarely get mail / male . But when an opening arrives I jump right in .

[Jolo]

13 hours ago, Pocster said:

Parcel bin . I have Lora sensor on it and cctv . I have no friends so rarely get mail / male . But when an opening arrives I jump right in .

 

I guess that's outside the house?

[Pocster]

8 minutes ago, Jolo said:

 

I guess that's outside the house?

It is .

i did initially suffer the conundrum of a letter box on our front door . But it’s triple glazed super insulated- couldn’t live with the fact it would cause a draft . 

[Jolo]

16 minutes ago, Pocster said:

It is .

i did initially suffer the conundrum of a letter box on our front door . But it’s triple glazed super insulated- couldn’t live with the fact it would cause a draft . 

 

We went through the same conundrum here! But decided to go the other way, thinking we'd buy an insulated letterbox, something like the one in the photo. It claims a U-value of 1,23 W/m2, has a thick insulated front plate, and is supposed to be draught-free.

 

It's not cheap though (about 150 - 200 quid) and if the inside plate has a strong spring on it we might still have the same dangling letters problem! Though having spent that amount of money on it, I think I'd definitely have a word with our postie...

Edited Sunday at 08:53 by Jolo

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, Jolo said:

 

We went through the same conundrum here! But decided to go the other way, thinking we'd buy an insulated letterbox, something like the one in the photo. It claims a U-value of 1,23 W/m2, has a thick insulated front plate, and is supposed to be draught-free.

 

It's not cheap though (about 150 - 200 quid) and if the inside plate has a strong spring on it we might still have the same dangling letters problem! Though having spent that amount of money on it, I think I'd definitely have a word with our postie...

Funny isn’t it how such a simple thing to decide on becomes a much larger thing . I do know someone with a tight letterbox ( not a euphemism ) - and you do have to fight to get anything past its Arnie tight grip .