You don’t realise how much heat a home loses until you deal with a proper draught. I used to think my house was just “naturally cold” until one winter, when I finally started hunting down the cold air leaks. The biggest culprit wasn’t the windows or the loft like everyone assumes—it was the gaps under and around internal doors. A tiny gap that you barely notice during summer becomes a full-on wind tunnel in January.
Draught stoppers are one of those simple fixes that feel almost too cheap to matter, but once you put the right one in the right place, the difference is ridiculous. Some work incredibly well, some are just decorative, and some only help in specific situations. After trying half of Amazon over the past few winters, here’s what actually makes a difference in a real UK home—not the sponsored rubbish or the “perfect looking” ones that don’t block anything.
If you want to look at bigger heat-loss fixes later, the full guide on how to keep a UK home warm for cheap goes into detail, but this article is all about draught stoppers and which ones genuinely stop cold air travelling through your home.
Why Draught Stoppers Matter More Than People Think
Cold air acts nothing like we expect it to. It doesn’t float around the room like warm air does. It drags itself along floors, piles up near doors, and slips underneath even the smallest gaps. When your heating is on, warm air rises, escapes through tiny leaks, and cold air replaces it from the bottom of the room. That’s why sometimes your feet feel freezing even when the room looks warm on a thermometer.
A good draught stopper forces warm air to stay where you actually want it—your living room, bedroom, office—rather than letting it escape into hallways or unheated rooms. And because your boiler doesn’t need to fight that constant airflow, the heating runs less and the house feels warmer overall.
I didn’t properly believe this until I blocked the gap under my living room door one night. The room stopped cooling down between boiler cycles, and the thermostat clicked on far less often. It was a noticeable difference that cost almost nothing to sort.
Fabric Under-Door Draught Excluders
These are the classic sausage-style ones everyone has seen. They go right across the bottom of the door and block airflow instantly. In rooms where you don’t open the door much (like bedrooms at night), they work brilliantly. They’re cheap, effective, and stop that cold sweep of air that sneaks under the door every time the wind picks up outside.
The downside? If your door gets opened a lot, someone will eventually kick it out of the way, and the draught comes straight back. They’re great for static situations, not ideal for high-traffic doorways.
Double-Sided Under-Door Stoppers
These slide under the door and stay attached even when the door opens. They have two padded tubes—one on each side of the door—so the door moves with the stopper still in place. These are genuinely clever and perfect for homes with constant airflow between warm rooms and cold hallways.
The main benefit is that once it’s installed, you never have to adjust it again. It’s the easiest way to fix an under-door draught without screws or tools.
Brush Strips (The Most Reliable Long-Term Fix)
Brush strips are the ones that screw onto the bottom of the door and create a flexible barrier. They look neat, last for years, and work even on uneven floors because the bristles bend to fit the gap. If I could only pick one type of draught stopper for the whole house, brush strips would be it.
They don’t get kicked out of the way, they don’t fall over, and they don’t make the door harder to close. Once they’re attached, you forget about them—and that’s exactly what you want from a draught stopper.
If you have a cold room that always seems to lose heat faster than the others, brush strips are almost always the fix.
Rubber Door Sweeps (Best for Large Gaps)
Rubber sweeps give a stronger seal than brush strips because the rubber blade presses against the floor or threshold. These are perfect for big gaps under doors, especially old internal doors that sit slightly higher off the ground.
The one thing to be aware of: if you install a rubber sweep too low, the door drags. Position it properly and it seals like nothing else. If your draught feels like a small breeze rather than a gentle leak, a rubber sweep is the one that makes the biggest difference instantly.
Foam Seal Strips for Gaps Around the Frame
Most people focus on the bottom of the door, but the sides and top can leak just as much warm air. A strip of self-adhesive foam around the frame creates a soft seal so the warm air stays inside the room instead of slipping around the edges.
I used to think this was unnecessary until I tested it. When I closed my living room door, I could actually see a sliver of hallway light around the frame. Once I added foam strips, the room held heat far better, especially in the evenings.
If your door doesn’t sit flush against the frame, this is the fix.
The Draught Stoppers That Look Nice but Do Nothing
There are plenty of “designer” draught stoppers that look amazing on Instagram but barely block any air. Anything too light, too thin, or filled with cheap polyester tends to slide away or lift off the floor slightly. If a draught stopper isn’t heavy enough to stay put, it’s pointless.
Also avoid ones with thin decorative fabric—they let air pass straight through them.
Which Draught Stopper Works Best Overall?
If you want the simplest answer based on real use:
Brush strips.
They’re the closest thing to a “fit and forget” solution. They last years, they work on nearly every internal door, and they block the most common kind of draught—the cold sweep along the floor.
For bedrooms at night, a fabric excluder works perfectly. For doors that get opened constantly, double-sided blockers are incredibly convenient. But for long-term efficiency across the whole home, brush strips win every time.
How This Fits Into Keeping Your Home Warm for Cheap
Draught stoppers don’t just make a room warmer—they help your heating work less. When warm air stops escaping, the boiler doesn’t have to kick in as often. It’s one of the cheapest, easiest upgrades you can make in a UK home, and it ties directly into the bigger picture of managing heat loss, which I broke down fully here: How to Keep a UK Home Warm for Cheap (Complete Guide).
For the cost of a takeaway, you can fix a problem that’s been draining heat from your home for years.
