Energy and Cost Savings

Energy efficient replacement windows are designed so that heat is kept inside the home in the winter and outside the home in the summer. This reduces heating and cool­ing costs, minimizes energy consumption that impacts the environment and limits the size of the HVAC equipment required for keeping the home comfort­able.

Improved Comfort

Improved Winter Comfort
Energy-efficient windows improve comfort within homes by providing a warmer interior surface during the cold winter months, preventing the living space near windows from getting uncomfortably cold. Air adjacent to inefficient windows is cooled and floats to the ground. This feels like a cold draft, even though the windows may not be leaky at all.

Improved Summer Comfort
By reducing the need for air conditioning, windows that control solar heat gain also reduce the risk of possible health effects from air conditioning—for instance, the overuse of air conditioning can cause headaches or ag­gravate the effects of arthritis and neuritis.

Less Condensation
High-performance windows with warm edge technology and insulating frames have warmer interior surfaces, so that the likelihood of condensation is significantly reduced under all climate and humidity conditions.

Increased Light and View
Daylight and view are two fundamental attributes of a window. Unfortunately, windows are also the source of significant solar heat gain during times when it is unwanted. Traditional solutions to reduc­ing solar heat gain, such as tinted glazing or shades, mean that the amount of light is reduced as well. New glazings with low-solar-gain low-E (spectrally selective) coatings can provide better solar heat gain reduction than tinted glass, with a minimal loss of visible light. This also means that views can be clearer and unobstructed.

Greater Protection from UV Fading
Many organic materials, such as carpet, fabrics, paper, artwork, paints, and wood may fade upon ex­posure to sunlight. Window selection can influence the type and intensity of transmitted radiation. The most harmful radiation in sunlight are ultraviolet (UV) rays, which are the most likely to break chemical bonds, leading to fading and degradation. Glass blocks all UV radiation below 300 nm, but transmits UV from 300–380 nm. Coatings on glass can reduce the transmis­sion of UV radiation by up to 75%. UV absorbers can also be incorporated into thin plastic films in multilayer windows or as an interlayer in laminated glass. In both cases, the UV transmission can be reduced to less than 1%. However, it is important to note that the remaining visible light that is transmitted can still cause fading in some materials. But low-E coated glass or plastic films reduce fading to a minimum for many modern interior furnishings.