Finding The Best Window For Your Home

If you've ever looked at an early 1900s window

, you'd notice ripples in the single pane of glass set into a wooden frame - a big difference from the most energy-efficient, double-paned, vinyl framed windows of today.

Although window glass has steadily improved through the decades, insulated windows - two or more pieces of glass with dead air between them - made their first appearance in the 1970s. The windows limited the temperature change and cut down on condensation by providing dead air space.

A decade later, low-e glass was introduced. To prevent heat and ultra-violet (UV) rays from coming through , low-e coatings, which are extremely thin layers of metallic oxide, are bonded to the surface of the window's glass. Because of this, windows are more effective at keeping heat in during winter and out during summer.

We cannot see infrared or UV rays but they makeup most of the sun's energy. While we know UV rays can cause sunburns, they can also fade furnishings and finishes inside the home. Infrared rays heat up the asphalt outside and even your flooring and furniture indoors. This heat is retained and released as the air around them cools, meaning infrared heat can still affect your home after the sun sets, if you let it in.

Low-e coated glass, however, reflects selected portions of the light spectrum back out through the windows, meaning the inside of the home stays cooler, not only during the sunny part of the day, but later as well.

You can choose from either hard coat or soft coat low-e glass, which are both being offered today. To make hard coat, tin is applied directly to the molten glass. A thin layer of silver is applied to the glass in a vacuum in the case of the soft coat. Always sandwiched with another piece of glass, soft coat low-e glass is easily damaged. Argon gas is often used between panes to prevent oxidation and also acts as an additional insulator.

A heat mirror, which includes a thin polyester sheet suspended between the two panes of a dual pane window is the third type of low-e glass. Making it possibly the best option for extreme climates is the coating which reflects radiant heat and the sheet decreases heat loss. These films block as much as 99.5 percent of UV light and increase insulation by as much as 100 percent.

Be certain that the kind of windows you want are a match for the climate in which you live in before buying them. For that, you will need to look for the Energy Star or National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) label. The U-value and the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) for the window should be included in the NFRC label. To comply with Energy Star standards, in the hottest areas, windows should have an SHGC rating of .4 or lower and a U-factor of .75 or lower; in the colder areas the U-factor should be .35 or less, but there is no SHGC requirement because solar heat gain is not an issue.

by: Brett Lamb

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