The weatherstripping on our front door consists of folded strips of metal:
It doesn’t do a great job of keeping out cold. Should it be replaced?—or can something be added to improve insulation?
Janet
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It shall be improved by being replaced.
Much depends on how much gap is available to work with.
The best stuff I have ever used is at http://www.conservationtechnology.com/building_weatherseals_components.html.
Less elaborate is a vinyl strip that folds into a 'V" and adheres with double stick tape if you have a small gap. If the gap is larger, there are foam strips that will fill those gaps, at least for a while. The folded vinyl lasts for 5-10 years in Chicago, it works better if you attach it with a staple gun instead of relying on the tape. Find this stuff at any good hardware store.
I tore out the worn out vinyl V product and replaced it with a product from the above link.
BTW, nice drawing.
Good luck.
There are a number of different weatherstripping schemes, but the only one that I know works is a steel door with magnetic weatherstripping.
The next step down from that are several vinyl weatherstripping schemes.
Spring brass works moderately well if very carefully fit. But it hardly ever is.
The door is not steel
It's a wooden door, possibly original to the house (1932). The metal strip on the door is nailed in place.
Janet
The problem with wooden doors is that they're not dimensionally stable. If you use one with compression gaskets, for instance, the constant pressure from the gaskets bows the door until they no longer seal. And spring brass weatherstripping depends on an exceptionally close and consistent fit which can't be maintained as a wood door shrinks and swells with seasonal changes.
There's not really a good solution. About the best you can do is visit a big box and pick out whatever gasket looks like it might work, then try to make it work.
(But the scheme shown in your diagram is probably pretty good, if it's fitting well. Might be best to try to make it work a bit better, vs removing it and trying something else.)