From Guest Blogger Lizzie Weakly: How to Optimize Your Home Windows and Create Energy Efficiency

While many homeowners are concerned about potential “energy sinks” in their homes, like appliances and electronics, not all of them take passive energy sinks into account. Things like old, sagging insulation, leaking roofs, or poorly-insulated windows can end up making energy efficiency nearly impossible. Fortunately, there are ways you can optimize your windows to help keep them from putting a drain on your home.

Fix existing windows
There are a few easy ways to tell if your windows are hurting your home’s energy efficiency. Light a match or stick of incense and hold them near closed windows to detect drafts. Look along the edges of the glass panes for gaps. Fortunately, there are still plenty of things you can do to optimize old windows. To start with, apply rope caulk to any gaps or cracks in them. Glass tends to contract with age, leaving open, drafty spaces where the panes meet the frame. According to Moncada Windows Doors & Siding, it’s also possible to install shrink films that help improve how well old glass insulates.

Choose the right window frames
If your old windows are beyond fixing, though, it’s important to consider your options when it comes to window frames. Aluminum frames don’t offer the best resistance to heat transfer, but may be the only option for hurricane-prone or very humid areas. Vinyl is roughly in the middle, being more resistant to heat transfer than aluminum. Wood or wood-clad windows are the best insulators, but may not be the most practical choice in terms of maintenance– especially in wet areas where wood may rot.

Choose the right glass
The next step is to choose energy-efficient double-paned windows filled with an inert gas, like argon. These won’t allow heat to easily pass through them the way single-paned windows, or windows filled with air, would. It’s also good to look for low-e glass– this glass has been given a very fine coating that allows it to reflect heat without sacrificing visibility, which helps keep heat where it belongs year-round.

Gaining and losing heat through old, poorly-insulated windows contributes directly to higher energy bills and a greater consumption of fuel. It leaves homes colder in winter and hotter in summer, and creates uncomfortable, draft, unevenly-heated areas. Don’t sacrifice your comfort or your home’s energy efficiency to old windows– apply optimizing fixes to existing windows, or replace windows and frames with new energy-efficient models for a more permanent fix.