This Winter, Triple-Glazed Windows Can Take a Bite out of Your Heating Bill
How do you keep your home warm in the winter months? For many, this is accomplished by a forced-air heating system or heat pump. Others use a stove or fireplace as a source of heat, though typically not exclusively. Radiant floor heating is another option, and is becoming more and more popular. Over the next few months, you’re going to spend a pretty penny keeping the chill out of your home and making it cozy and habitable. It’s a worthwhile investment, but what if you could take a good chunk out of those costs—for this year, and many more after it—by simply using energy-efficient windows? Would you take the opportunity?
Old Homes, Old Windows
Of course, there are a number of places from which your home could be leaking heat—and the number goes up the older your house is! And when heat leaks from your home, the result is that you end up paying more money for less overall warmth in your home. Sounds like a pretty unfair deal, right? The best way to fix this is by finding leaks—places from which the warm air is escaping—and sealing them up. If those leaks happen to be old or damaged windows, then it’s time to replace them. Buying energy-efficient windows may seem like an expensive fix, but the money it will save over the course of its lifespan will far outweigh the cost of purchase and installation.
Choosing Triple-Glazed Windows
Older windows used a single pane, or glaze, of glass. More recently, two has become the norm, but three is the magic number if you really want to keep that cold out. What makes triple-glazed windows special isn’t actually the use of three panes, though; it’s the existence of the spaces between them. These spaces are filled with an inert gas such as argon, effectively turning it into a barrier that impedes temperature transfer. With two such spaces, these energy-efficient windows keep warm air in and cool air out—unless, of course, it’s summer, when they help you accomplish the reverse!
Other Features
By choosing windows that are made with low-emissivity glass, insulated spacers, and frames that stand up to use without wearing down and becoming loose, you can protect the heat in your home. Which means you can run the thermostat or fireplace for less time, and ultimately, save hundreds of dollars each year in heating (and also cooling) your home. And with the money you’ll save, not only will you recoup the costs of your new triple-glazed windows in no time, but you can put some back into your home in other ways—or into your annual Christmas or vacation fund!