How Can Replacement Windows Keep Your Home Cool This Summer?
Summer may already be in full swing in most parts of this country, but there’s still time for you to realize an energy savings and to keep your home cooler, by implementing advantageous types of replacement windows. When summer gets its warmest, you can bet your air conditioner is going to get a severe workout, and that will probably be reflected in your monthly utility bills.
You may not have been aware of this, but if your windows are outdated or worn down, it can cause your cooling system to work much harder, thereby increasing your utility bills. Here are some types of replacement windows which could be highly beneficial for you, in terms of keeping the interior cooler and saving on energy costs.
Vinyl Frames Which Provide Insulation
With regard to energy-efficient windows, vinyl has become one of most popular materials used, and there’s a very good reason for this. The chambers of a vinyl window are filled with extra insulation which increases the seal on the window, and reduces the possibility for outside air to come in, or for conditioned air from the interior to escape to the outside.
Some people prefer the retro look of natural wood, but it’s true that wood does does require much more maintenance than vinyl windows. When you purchase vinyl windows, you get all the benefits of better insulation, as well as superior aesthetic appeal which will last for a very long time.
Energy-Efficient Glass Options
In any given household, approximately 40% of the annual energy budget is allocated to the cooling and heating systems, and this makes it extremely important that you choose the best energy-saving windows when you’re thinking about replacements. Of course, you’ll also want to get your money’s worth when you’re investing hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars on new energy-saving windows, so there are a few things you can do to ensure you’re getting the best deal.
First of all, you should look for the energy star symbol, because you can be confident that these will be at least twice as energy-efficient as windows produced even 10 years ago. These kinds of windows will be high-performance products which can dramatically lower heating and cooling costs, significantly reduce ultraviolet damage, keep your home a little more comfortable, and they’re also friendly to the environment.
In the last decade or so, there have been major advancements in the types of coatings applied to glass, spacer systems, and general window technology. This means that there are now some precision-engineered designs, as well as a number of different glass systems that can help keep your home cooler and more comfortable during summer.
Low-E Glass Coating
Low-E glass is glass which has low emissivity, and this kind of glass was created in order to reduce the amount of infrared and ultraviolet light which can penetrate through your window, without reducing the volume of light coming into your home. Low-E glass windows have been coated with a very thin coating that is transparent, but is capable of reflecting heat. This means that no matter how hot it gets outdoors, that outdoor temperature won’t be impacting your interior comfort.
By the same token, all conditioned air on the interior cannot escape outside, so that you won’t lose any cooling, and your air conditioner won’t have to work so hard. When you’re thinking of purchasing low-E glass replacement windows, you can either go with the passive low-E coatings, or the solar control-E coatings, which are more of a soft coat product.
The difference between the two is in the way they are manufactured, with the passive low-E coating (or hard coat), being fused to a hot glass surface to create a very strong and durable bond. The solar control coating is applied to pre-cut glass in a vacuum chamber at ordinary room temperature, and it offers superior solar control performance. Either of these two low-E glass types will help to keep your interior cooler during the summer by retaining conditioned air, and excluding hot air from the outside.
