Trends in Energy Efficient Windows
When it comes to making your home more energy efficient and cost efficient, there is one place you may have overlooked that you shouldn’t; your windows. Believe it or not, old windows can severely rack up your energy bills and you might not even be aware of how much cool air you are letting in/out or how much hot air you are letting in/out. When it comes to green home remodeling in phoenix, people usually say to rip the windows out entirely if they are old, but sometimes people just don't have $1000 available to rip them all out and put new energy star energy efficient ones in. If you do, awesome. If not, keep reading to find out how you can make your home more efficient with the windows you have right now. Also included are reasons why you would benefit from energy efficient windows.
Energy Audit
If you want a really great way to see which windows are energy suckers and where cool/hot air is getting in, you absolutely need to get an energy audit. Ultimately, this is an excellent way to see where loss of energy is coming from; have it be heat loss in the winter or heat gain in the summer. The audit is done by an Audit Inspector using tools like thermal imaging cameras and infrared photos to find where blue leaks are (cold spots) and where yellow and orange leaks are (warm spots). If this seems like something really expensive, it’s actually not. In fact, if you consider the cost of putting in all brand new windows and how much energy you may be losing now, a measly $450 is well worth it when it comes to your home and saving on energy bills. This type of audit usually takes around 2 hours to complete and the inspector will need to view all areas of your house. Once the inspection is done, you will usually receive a report in the mail a few weeks later letting you know how to improve the efficiency and where you seem to be having the most problems so you can take care of it.
Drafty Windows
Air from the outdoors coming into your home is one of the basics when it comes to heat loss or cooling losses. Thankfully, all of these fixes can be done DIY and you shouldn’t need to have anyone come in, unless you have a nice big budget to do so. Some things to take a look at are drafty rabbets, cracks and space between the moldings on the window and the frames. You also need to take a close look at meeting rails, sash cord pulleys and the trim on the outside of the house - especially important if you have an old house and really old windows! Two of your best friends when it comes to fixing drafts are weather strips and putty - use wood putty when necessary for wooded sections. And make sure that when it comes to the outside of the window on the outside of the home, that you use caulk around the trim of the window. This should help cut down on energy loss in a major way.
Energy Efficient Windows
When people start talking about green home remodeling and energy efficient windows, they think it’s just about energy efficient, but there are really a whole slew of benefits when it comes to these types of windows. So if you got an audit and you decided that it’s going to be better to just spend the money for specialized windows or you just don’t want to putty the heck out of a window, here are a few benefits besides energy efficiency that comes from energy efficient windows.
- Reduce Frost and Condensation: New high performance and energy efficient windows can reduce frost and condensation on the inside of a window. This creates a warmer interior glass which, yes, can make your home in the general vicinity a lot warmer.
- Lower HVAC costs: Quality energy efficient windows not only allow you to have a smaller energy bill at the end of the month, but it also helps with peak cooling as well as heating loads. For example, right now with old windows that are drafty, you may use a big HVAC system - a bigger one than you actually need to heat or cool your entire house. Energy efficient windows can lighten the size of your HVAC system by 1/2! This might not seem like a big deal, but once you realize it and you get a smaller one installed, you will see the differences in your bills.
- No tinting: Unlike regular windows that are older, they may need a tint in order to keep sunlight out and keep your carpets from fading or keep your view from the window clearer. With energy efficient windows, you don’t need to worry about tinting. Also, energy efficient windows have been known to help keep carpets and floors from color fading, which is always beneficial.
- Cut the noise out: If you have older windows, you know that the panes tend to be much thinner than a regular window. When it comes to energy efficient windows, the opposite is in effect. In fact, most all energy efficient windows reduce the noise from outside because the glass panes are not only thicket, but they also are usually insulated which helps minimize outside sounds.
Energy Audit
If you want a really great way to see which windows are energy suckers and where cool/hot air is getting in, you absolutely need to get an energy audit. Ultimately, this is an excellent way to see where loss of energy is coming from; have it be heat loss in the winter or heat gain in the summer. The audit is done by an Audit Inspector using tools like thermal imaging cameras and infrared photos to find where blue leaks are (cold spots) and where yellow and orange leaks are (warm spots). If this seems like something really expensive, it’s actually not. In fact, if you consider the cost of putting in all brand new windows and how much energy you may be losing now, a measly $450 is well worth it when it comes to your home and saving on energy bills. This type of audit usually takes around 2 hours to complete and the inspector will need to view all areas of your house. Once the inspection is done, you will usually receive a report in the mail a few weeks later letting you know how to improve the efficiency and where you seem to be having the most problems so you can take care of it.
Drafty Windows
Air from the outdoors coming into your home is one of the basics when it comes to heat loss or cooling losses. Thankfully, all of these fixes can be done DIY and you shouldn’t need to have anyone come in, unless you have a nice big budget to do so. Some things to take a look at are drafty rabbets, cracks and space between the moldings on the window and the frames. You also need to take a close look at meeting rails, sash cord pulleys and the trim on the outside of the house - especially important if you have an old house and really old windows! Two of your best friends when it comes to fixing drafts are weather strips and putty - use wood putty when necessary for wooded sections. And make sure that when it comes to the outside of the window on the outside of the home, that you use caulk around the trim of the window. This should help cut down on energy loss in a major way.
Energy Efficient Windows
When people start talking about green home remodeling and energy efficient windows, they think it’s just about energy efficient, but there are really a whole slew of benefits when it comes to these types of windows. So if you got an audit and you decided that it’s going to be better to just spend the money for specialized windows or you just don’t want to putty the heck out of a window, here are a few benefits besides energy efficiency that comes from energy efficient windows.
- Reduce Frost and Condensation: New high performance and energy efficient windows can reduce frost and condensation on the inside of a window. This creates a warmer interior glass which, yes, can make your home in the general vicinity a lot warmer.
- Lower HVAC costs: Quality energy efficient windows not only allow you to have a smaller energy bill at the end of the month, but it also helps with peak cooling as well as heating loads. For example, right now with old windows that are drafty, you may use a big HVAC system - a bigger one than you actually need to heat or cool your entire house. Energy efficient windows can lighten the size of your HVAC system by 1/2! This might not seem like a big deal, but once you realize it and you get a smaller one installed, you will see the differences in your bills.
- No tinting: Unlike regular windows that are older, they may need a tint in order to keep sunlight out and keep your carpets from fading or keep your view from the window clearer. With energy efficient windows, you don’t need to worry about tinting. Also, energy efficient windows have been known to help keep carpets and floors from color fading, which is always beneficial.
- Cut the noise out: If you have older windows, you know that the panes tend to be much thinner than a regular window. When it comes to energy efficient windows, the opposite is in effect. In fact, most all energy efficient windows reduce the noise from outside because the glass panes are not only thicket, but they also are usually insulated which helps minimize outside sounds.