4 Factors to Consider When Choosing Energy-Efficient Windows

Windows are essential to everyday living, as they provide light, warmth, and ventilation. But being mostly made of glass, windows can negatively impact your home’s energy efficiency. If you’re seeing increased energy consumption especially during winter and summer, then you may need to switch to energy saving windows. The following are factors you should consider when choosing replacement windows:

Energy-Efficient Windows

  1. Frame material – Homeowners today have more options when it comes to window frame materials. In addition to traditional wood frames, still favored for their durability and natural insulation, you can also choose composite, fiberglass, and vinyl. These materials have comparable levels of insulation, though insulated vinyl has the additional feature of being virtually maintenance-free.

  2. Dual-panel glass – Regardless of the framing material, windows would be ineffective without insulated glass. The solution to glass’s natural conductivity is by introducing a vacuum airspace between two glass panels. With insulating gases in the gap between the panes, heat conduction is dramatically reduced. All energy saving windows, including our own, have this feature.

  3. Low-E coatings – A second external source of heat is sunlight, or more specifically, infrared rays. Being a part of sunlight’s invisible spectrum (along with UV rays), infrared can easily get through clear glass. To counter this, low-emissivity (low-E) coatings are layered on one of the inner glass panels. This lets visible light through while reflecting UV and infrared rays so you can actually enjoy natural indoor lighting without worrying about your indoors heating up or your fabrics fading.

  4. Installation quality – Choosing the right contractor is critical to your windows’ energy efficiency, after all, even the best replacement windows won’t perform as designed if not installed properly. Finding a window contractor who offers custom size replacement windows are a good starting point; this means that they will make no modifications to your exterior walls, which could otherwise compromise its integrity. A workmanship warranty of at least two years is also important as installation errors don’t manifest themselves until much later. At Jones and Associates, we offer both, with an unparalleled 10-year workmanship warranty!

Jones and Associates serve property owners in and near Lubbock, Midland, and Odessa, TX. To know more about the benefits of energy saving windows, or our replacement window options including Simonton Platinum Prism windows, call us today at (806) 686-1380 or fill out our contact form to schedule a free in-home consultation and estimate for your next window replacement project.

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