The Petsafe "Extreme Weather" Pet Door
appears to be a response to the increasing number of "high performance" pet doors in recent years from the worlds largest pet door company, Radio Systems. ("Petsafe" is one of their trademark brand names).
This pet door is unique in that it is the first ever to include three flaps. The inside and outside are the same: a traditional vinyl flap, translucent rather than clear and fastened across the top with screws. There is accordion pleating on the edges of these two flap to help maintain a seal as the flap contracts in cold weather. There are no additional weather-stripping or magnets along the flap sides. At the bottom, the flaps include a magnet running the full width of the flap. These magnets attract a "floating" threshold which is, itself, a magnet that is free to move up and down approximately 1/16".
A nice touch is that the flap screws are in slots. This allows the user to position the flap for best height in relation to the threshold at the bottom.
The unique third, or middle, flap is unusual. It appears to be a very strong (perhaps nylon), gold colored hollow envelope which contains some kind of insulating material.
Again, it is fastened rigidly across the top with screws. While this fastening method is inherently a problem for the vinyl flaps (repeated flexing will cause them to eventually fail and need replacing), the flexible material used in this middle flap is inherently flexible and one senses that repeated flexing will not be a problem for it.
Again, however, there is no additional weather stripping or magnets on the edges to help preserve a seal at those locations.
The locking cover, referred to be Petsafe as a "snap-on weather shield", loads from the front (it does "snap-on") so that there are no problems with overhead door knobs, etc, interfering with its use as would be the case with a "top-load" type locking cover.
The self-framing adjustment range is 11/2"- 2". Frame color is white only. Both frame and locking cover are injection molded plastic.
Hot Tip Be careful in using graphics from most manufactures as a guide in pet door installation. The photo here of the Petsafe Large Extreme Weather has the same problem that you'll find with many other graphics on our site and at others: Photographers don't know how to install pet doors! Here, as you can see, the pet door is positioned much higher off the ground that it should be. The top of the flap should be much lower; just at the top of the dogs shoulders. And the step-over should be correspondingly lower.
Petsafe products may not be shipped outside the USA.
