Atlanta Area Window and Door

In my previous post I talked about why it’s so important to get away from single paned windows: The energy factor.

Today I’ll discus one other major reason that homeowners are calling us to replace their windows.

Wood rot is an issue many homeowners deal with and if not addressed soon enough, the problems can become exponential.

However, when you replace your rotted wood windows you can end up with a two fold solution. Non rot windows as well as a Lifetime Warranty.

The non rot windows you can have installed come either in PVC or vinyl. Now basically speaking, PVC and vinyl are the same type of material but you want to be sure you’re getting either paintable PVC or vinyl. A paintable PVC window will never rot yet still provides you the option to change colors later on if you’d like. With a vinyl window, you get a window that is both non rot, never needs paint and comes with a lifetime warranty.

Most window replacement specialist will not only provide you with a new non rot window sash but either cap or replace the trim wood on the outside of the window unit (ie. “brickmold” “sills” and “nosing”) so that those elements too will never rot again. Furthermore, a window good company will be sure to provide you with a full lifetime warranty to ensure that you not only have non rot windows but that additionally you will never experience sill damage or seal failure.

Of course I believe there are many reasons to replace your windows and I’m sure as a homeowner you’ve found plenty yourself… that’s why you’re here.

However, I’m going to start breaking down some common and even uncommon reasons (that we’ll learn about as we go) for turning to replacement windows for your home.

The first replacement reason that we will explore is a problem many homeowners in Atlanta face: Single Pane Windows.

A Single Pane Window Provides No Insulation

Now if you’re looking at this blog, chances are you’ve already become fed up with your single pane windows. Today, we’ll look at one major reason why you would want to get these windows out of your home.

Insulation

If there is no other reason to replace your windows, I would suggest that this in itself is enough to prompt a a change. Single pane windows provide minimal insulation for your home from the elements outside. They are great to see out of, providing maximum visibility, but one layer of glass will not cut down on the massive heat gain you experience in the summer or the great heat loss in the winter.

The Switch to Double Pane

Double pane windows on the other hand provide so much more than just another layer of glass. Here’s a breakdown of what you get when you replace the single pane energy eaters to energy saving vinyl double pane windows.

• The vinyl frame and sash components are much more thermal than what you will find on a wood or aluminum window (which is what every single pane window employs). Often times, vinyl window manufacturers will even fill their windows’ frames and sashes with an insulated foam to further reduce heat loss/gain.
• Glass thickness is much greater in double pane windows thus slowing down heat transference.
• The space between the two panes of glass in a double pane vinyl window is filled with a dense, inert, gas (usually either argon or the much denser krypton) to slow down heat as either enters or leaves your home. Don’t be fooled, even with double pane insulated vinyl windows, you will still gain or lose heat, (just as you still will in every other area of your home… heat is active!). But the point is to reduce the rate at which heat is gained and lost in your home every year and a dense gas between the panes reduces that rate by large margins.
• Low-e and spacer systems. Both of these elements are also common in a vinyl double pane window. Low-e (low emissivity) is a coating that actually goes on the glass in the windows to reflect heat back to its warmer side or its source. A spacer system, simply put, is the material that is between the two panes of glass that also reduces heat transference and heat loss because of it’s non-conductive properties. On that note, make sure you avoid spacers that are metallic, particularly aluminum. Though they do not rust,  they are one of the most conductive substances you can have in a window. “Warm-edge” spacers are used in vinyl windows and some recognizable, reliable names are Super Spacer, Intercept, Dura-Seal.