How Do Energy Efficient Windows Work? | New Braunfels, TX
Photo By runna10 at istock
A lot of environmentally conscious people are looking at ways to make their homes more energy-efficient which can, in turn, help them save money while saving the earth. That alone is a pretty compelling reason to look a little closer at energy efficient windows in Braunfels, TX, but there are a lot of other great benefits to installing new windows such as improving the appearance of your home, the value of your home, and preventing sun glare from blinding you during the summer months. However, if you have never looked at energy efficient windows before you can easily feel overwhelmed because there are a lot of options available these days.
You probably already understand the basics of how energy efficient windows work- they keep the hot air out during the summer months and the cold air out during the winter months in Braunfels, TX. At the same time, they prevent the heat or cool air inside of your home from seeping out. This results in a more controlled home that costs much less to heat or cool during seasonal months. If you want to reap all of these benefits then it may be useful to give new windows a closer look.
Huge Savings Depending on Your Current Windows
While new windows will make almost any home more energy efficient, if you have an older home in Braunfels, TX you stand to benefit the most probably. This is because older homes often have single-pane windows, and the difference between single-pane windows and the now-standard double-pane windows is intense. Double-pane windows can save homeowners as much as $500 a year if not more if you upgrade your windows. Plus, as you probably already know, they are extremely good for the environment.
By replacing your single pane windows with more energy-efficient windows you reduce the greenhouse gas emissions noticeably and be more comfortable in the process. Most likely your family will also start to feel more comfortable within your home as the temperature won’t seem to fluctuate as much as you will notice that the hot and cold spots around your home disappear. You won’t have to worry about sitting near a window or the glare making it hard to see if you sit near a window, because those problems will disappear completely once you install a new set of windows.
So How Do New Windows Make Your Home More Energy-Efficient?
If you are very energy conscious, then you have probably been interested in energy efficient windows for a while. However, the one thing you might be wondering is how this actually works. It actually baffled a lot of scientists until around the 19th century when physicists found that heat could actually produce thermal energy which in turn was released either through conduction, convection, or radiation. It was this discovery that led them to consider how windows work and how more energy efficient windows could be created to obtain better insulation within homes.
Traditional windows were built to stop the flow of heat and to help keep it in. A window on the other hand doesn’t always give heat the fee license that it should. Older windows usually had one or two panes of gas and that is the end of the process. There is literally nothing between you and the outside but a sheet of glass, but newer windows use a much more sophisticated process to create windows that are made out of gas and glass to create a shield between your home and the outdoor air. In addition, traditional windows had caulk along the cracks that made them very prone to drafting which makes it very easy for air to slip in and out.
As you might imagine, this means that single-pane windows are not energy-efficient windows. In fact, single-pane windows let 10x as much air escape a home compared to the insulated wall that sits next to them. In this case, the windows are clearly the source of your energy loss even if your insulation game is spot on. Every year about a quarter of all the heat in your home escapes through single-pane windows if you have not upgraded.
When you consider how much heat is lost through a single-pane window it is easy to see how double-pane or triple-pane windows can quickly increase the energy efficiency of your home. At this point, it probably seems that anything would be more efficient, and to some degree this is right.
What Is the Principle Behind Energy Efficient Windows?
One of the top reasons that energy efficient windows are such an improvement is because they use different glazes to help make sure that the temperature outside of your home does not seep in. Most energy efficient windows in New Braunfels, TX have a double glaze, double tint, and are then coated so that they do not emit any of the heat that comes their way. Solar resistant film that is placed inside of the window casing is also sometimes an option to help further block out the ability of heat to pass through the window. The standard double-pane window resembles something of a sandwich, although you could never tell from looking at it. This window has two panes of glass and then an open chamber in the middle of the gas panes that is filled with argon gas. The gas has an extremely high insulation power which helps the glass to perform better. If you want to really take the technology up a notch, you can even find triple-pane windows but the price tag attached to most of them for a minimal extra amount of loss prevention is typically not worth it to most people.
Ready to upgrade your home and start saving money with double-pane windows? Contact First Place Windows for your energy efficient windows of New Braunfels, TX today to get started.