Window shopping – your favorite pastime? How about shopping for real windows?
At the risk of sounding like Tom Hanks’ character in Forrest Gump, describing every imaginable shrimp dish on earth, there is a huge variety of window types out there. There are windows with metal, wood, vinyl, fiberglass, and composite frames. They can come with single-pane, double-pane, or triple pane glass, and feature gas fills, tints, and special coatings.
Now on to window education. Each type of window allows heat, light, and air to pass through in varying amounts, which affects how comfortable your house is in both winter and summer. This, of course, can affect your utility costs as well. To make sure you are buying a new home with the appropriate type of windows, you have to match your needs with the different features available. This can include the ability to keep heat in the winter, block out the sun's heat in the summer, prevent fading of fabrics, furniture and cabinets, or provide an ample amount of natural light without glare.
First, check out what direction your windows will face; in other words, let the sun be your guide. South-facing windows get the most direct sunlight overall, but this "solar gain" differs in summer and winter. The dramatic differences in exposure and heat gain can mean that the right window on one side of your house may not be appropriate for the other. Compensating factors for this may be the size of the windows, trees, shading devices, overhangs and other buildings blocking sunlight.
The many new window technologies on the market are important scientific advancements, but the terminology and ratings can be confusing to understand. The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) has developed a rating system and energy information labels to help consumers better analyze their choices. These NFRC ratings are always available for the whole window, including the frame.
"Low -e" (low emittance) coatings are an incredible phenomenon in window technology and energy efficiency, making their debut within the last decade in the homebuilding industry. Windows with these applications are like outfitting your new home with a pair of sunglasses year round. The coating is a clear, microscopic layer of metal oxide installed on one of the glass surfaces of a window to reflect radiant heat. The most common low-e windows are designed for winter comfort, as they let in light and heat from the sun, but reflect long-wavelength radiation (heat energy from the home and its occupants) back into the house. Manufacturers routinely offer low-e windows specifically for hot climates as well, and homebuilders are now required by code to use them in many areas. These reflect solar heat back outside. Some may be slightly tinted, but most have done away with the obviously blue and green coating you may have seen.
Window frames are a close second in importance to the window itself, as they can account for about 15% of the energy loss through a window. Many new production homes now feature vinyl or fiberglass framed windows (wood framed are the most costly) instead of the old aluminum frames, which are known to be less insulating unless they contain a strip of urethane through the metal.
California leads the way in requirements and implementation of energy efficient windows and products, with standards already in place that practically guarantee an energy efficient house when newly constructed. Their "Title 24" code specifies a formula used in new homes that is upgraded on a regular basis to ensure a continuum of improvement in energy efficiency. They have developed elaborate rebate programs for builders, free shade tree programs for buyers, and even "energy efficient mortgages" for lenders to be able to offer higher loan amounts to buyers of homes that save on buyer's utility bills.
Next time you tour a model home park, check out the brochure features list and ask the sales person about the new homes' energy efficiency and the types of windows being used. It would be difficult to glean an "average" energy bill amount from him, since everyone's lifestyle varies so much from household to household. But you can study the efficiency of the window package the new home includes, and decide for yourself if that builder has gone the extra mile and made sure you have the latest in energy efficient window technology.
Dena Kouremetis is a veteran freelance real estate consumer journalist and California real estate broker. She may be reached by email at REritr@aol.com.
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