Where do you live? $4000? What do you heat with? If I was looking at a $4000 heating bill, YES, I'd be freaking out :( \
Monica

Because heat rises, I'd look at improving all insulation above this floor of your house first. That way, you'll keep heat on this floor. Don't know if your home is 1 or 2 stories, but I'd look at doing that first.

We've retrofitted doors and it can be done...pretty easily. We added double french doors ourselves - DIY. It is a 2 person job and not hard.

monikakm,

In the Northeast, heating oil is currently about 4.50/gal. I live in a modest house in Massachusetts, and I'm looking at a potential heating bill of at least $4k as well.

I'm trying NOT to freak out too much though!

We've added doors retroactively. No problem. Rather than french doors, I might consider bi-fold doors. The french doors might get in your way when they are open or else you have to allow enough wall space in one of the rooms for them to swing back 180 deg. The two bi-fold doors would just stack up against the sides of the doorway opening taking only about 6" of space.

We have french doors in one location and when not closed they end up just being halfway open because I would have to move furniture to open them up all the way so they're back against the wall.

We have one bi-fold in one other location (not a wide opening like yours, but just a regular sized door opening) and it's easy to keep open or closed - doesn't get in the way of anything when open.

Just a thought.

This is a bi-fold door for a closet, but no reason you can't use them in between rooms as well.

{{!gwi}}

Have you thought of the Victorian solution of drapes between rooms? I saw a post on here about them , last year I think. I was most interested. You can use tension rods and heavy drapes and then remove them in summer. I am going to look for the post and really am thinking of doing it . Even here in the South it is drafty and cold in our 1890 house. c

I am a little confused. Is there only one opening in the family room? It might keep the family room and kitchen, two rooms used the most at a very comfortable temperature. Instead of adding the doors would it be more economical to replace the fireplace unit with a model that has a blower? I like the idea of using a tension rod and hanging a temporary curtain.

I like the temporary solution of a heavy drape. Unless you've lived with them before, I'm not sure you'll like opening/closing a french door each time you enter the FR. If the layout of your kitchen allow it, I would look at hanging a drape so the kitchen and FR are both heated.

Check the weather stripping around all your windows and if your home is one story, check the efficiency of your insulation. Improving just those two items will have a great impact on your energy bill.

How about sliding doors? Some of them can look quite nice made with with wood and glass. They don't swing out so they don't interfer with traffic or furniture arangement.

Here is a link that might be useful: Interior Sliding Doors

In case you'd like to consider the heavy drapery suggestion, I'll share our experience. We bought a new house last winter that has a large sunroom with an open stairway to an upper landing and passage way. It's been impossible to heat or cool efficiently, and the drafts into the main part of the first floor were terrible. Being strapped for cash, I couldn't afford to hire a carpenter to case the opening and add double doors, which was my initial wish. Instead, I reused drapery hardware that dh cut down to size and hung four 108 in. long X 50 in. wide grommet top panels (bought on sale from JCP) that we had in our previous family room. The panels are back-to-back, so that you see a front side from each space. They are more than twice the width of the opening, and combined with the double thickness of fabric, they provide good insulation. When the weather was mild, I left the panels pulled open and they stacked back to about 6 in. on each side. They've held up well and haven't needed cleaning yet, although I plan take them down to clean before winter.

In a previous house, we did something similar using a shower tension rod and a very large remnant of tapestry fabric bought from the clearance table of a fabric chain store. I sewed that fabric into two double sided panels, then stitched the tops together to keep the shower rod hidden. Old doorknobs were used to hold back the panels when we wanted the doorway open.

Good luck! That potential $4k heating bill would scare me, too.

How about pocket doors?

Here is the link. They are called portieres. I really like the idea. c

Here is a link that might be useful: portieres