All-Season Energy Savings – Five Simple Ideas

You may not be aware of it yet, but you can save on your utility bills through a home remodeling activity you might have done, or are about to do – replacing your windows and doors. Today’s consumers, unfortunately, find themselves floored by the wide variety of purportedly energy-efficient, yet overrated technological discoveries.

Homeowners need to be armed with accurate information in order to make the best choices about the many available options. That’s especially true as energy costs continue to climb. The EPA, as you may know, has a program called Energy Star ™ which has its own line of specially approved Energy Star ™ windows, and they estimate savings of about $125 to $340 for the average household by using their windows and not single-pane windows.

Being that this is the time of the year when most homeowners are assimilating home remodeling projects, this is probably the best time for us to discuss these five simple ideas for selecting energy efficient windows and doors.

Use Low-E glass. Stay warm in the winter without heat loss and save energy all year round with Low-E glass windows that can control the heat that passes through your windows.

Take the technological plunge. Replace older single-pane windows with dual-pane units, which insulate the home from both cold and hot weather. Using both Low-E glass and insulating glass units will reduce home energy costs.

Consider how they’re made. Today’s doors are now able to trammel the two-way switching of energy through sills, frames and cores with energy-efficient features. Dual-pane, Low-E glass helps ensure that they will be weathertight and energy efficient. For example, studies show that over time, steel doors made with polystyrene maintain energy ratings better than doors made with polyurethane.

Be aware of the benchmark figures. Efficiency ratings are based on U-factor, which is the amount of heat flow through a product. The lower the U-factor, the more efficient the product. The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), on the other hand, is a product or appliance’s capacity to block heat that is generated from the sun. Better to have lower SHGC for better efficiency. The last figure analyzed by experts would be the Visible Light Transmission, which is a percentage figure of sunlight that is able to permeate an glass surface, say, a window. Naturally, higher percentages mean more light penetration.

Efficiency is not measured through fancy doohickeys. There are many ways to skin a cat, and companies have their own ways to achieve efficiency. Regardless of how an item is manufactured, a lot of people overlook that it is infinitely more simple to look for the Energy Star ™ label as a surefire sign of the product’s efficiency.

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