Ecoflap Review

I'm lucky to have been given the chance to review the Ecoflap from The Letterplate - http://www.lowcarboneconomy.com/marketplace/_organisation/990/The_Letter_Plate_-_Ecotech_Ltd_ . I've been given one of the three pre-production models in existence in order to test it out at home and provide an independent review.

So, first of all the installation - I'm not too bad with a drill and screwdriver, and didn't have any problems with installing the Ecoflap. However, I had to rely on my phone's camera for the photos, so the photo's not the best.

I had to take our old (useless) draught excluder off the door which left some ugly naked wood around the letterbox hole, but it won't be a problem to give that a lick of paint at some point.

The Ecoflap comes with a hole in each corner for a screw, and a handy lip on the inside that locates neatly into the letterbox hole to ensure you've placed it level and in line. Then it's just a case of drilling some pilot holes in the door and screwing the Ecoflap in. It only took me five minutes start to finish, and the result is pictured.

This is a pre-production model, so it hasn't got the finishing touches that the production unit will include such as a rubber seal to ensure a tight fit to the door. Something I hope that the manufacturers will include on the final retail product is a template for drilling the pilot holes in the door - and hopefully they'll find a neat way to do this as part of the packaging without resorting to creating extra waste.

Nevertheless, I can confirm that the Ecoflap does stop draughts. It was a particularly windy weekend in Brighton last weekend, and I had the opportunity to do a fairly immediate 'before and after' comparison. With our somewhat flimsy brass external letterbox flapping in the wind, there had been strong draughts before the Ecoflap was installed. Afterwards, I couldn't feel a whisper on the inside, despite equally windy conditions.

I left a note for my postman explaining that we'd installed the Ecoflap, and I'm going to try to interview him tomorrow to see what impact (if any) it has had on his ability to deliver our mail. So, here ends the first part of my review with an endorsement - the product works as advertised. Once I've lived with the product for a few weeks, I'll update this post with my findings.

Update - 10th December

So, we've been living with the Ecoflap installed for about a month now.

We've had a wide range of letters and other mail through our letterbox and all of it has got through fine. I've spoken with our postman to check that he hasn't been inconvenienced by it and I can report that the Ecoflap works as advertised. It doesn't impede the function of our letterbox and it works very effectively as a draught excluder.

The weather's been pretty nasty over the last few weeks with wind, frost and rain, and I've been very impressed at how none of that weather gets through the Ecoflap. It's definitely helped keep our house warmer and hopefully saved some £££ along the way.

If you already have a letterbox that is effective at draught exclusion, this product isn't for you. If you put the back of your hand to your letter box and you can feel a draught, I'd recommend this straight away. It's made me realise where the other draughts in our house come from and motivated me to block some of those up too!

I believe the Ecoflap is currently still pre-production but will post a further update here when they're available to buy. Meanwhile, visit The Letterplate's organisation profile and click through to their website to pre-order yours today.

http://www.lowcarboneconomy.com/marketplace/_organisation/990/The_Letter_Plate_-_Ecotech_Ltd_

Added By: David Lockie