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Window tips: Get a clear view on energy savings
Was your house cold last winter? Energy bills high? Before the next summer comes and brings in air conditioning season, you might want to take a close look at your windows. During winter in colder climates and during the hot months in warm areas, windows can account for about one-fourth of the heat loss or gain in a typical home. About half of the houses in this country still have old single-pane windows, which are major sources of lost heat in the winter and lost cool air in summer. Replacing all your windows is likely to be an expensive proposition, but there are many other, less expensive things you can do to make them more efficient:
- Replace old, dried or loose window glazing with new glazing to ensure that your windowpanes fit tightly.
- Caulk around the outside frame of your windows, where the frame meets the home's siding. Weather-strip around the window itself to provide a tight seal when the window is closed.
- Use heat-shrink plastic, installed with a hair dryer, to provide an extra layer of insulation. This simple step can really cut heat loss and gain through the window glass.
- In cold weather, insulating shades or drapes can keep drafts out; in warm weather, they'll help keep conditioned air in and cut down on heat gain.
- During hot weather, keep shades drawn on windows that let in a lot of sunlight. In the winter, open those shades to collect heat energy from the sun. Awnings can also help deflect the sun's rays in hot weather.
- Hang white window shades or blinds, which can reduce solar heat gain by 40 to 50 percent.
- Close south- and west-facing curtains during the day, and keep the windows closed.
- Install awnings on south-facing windows where there's no roof overhang to provide shade. Canvas awnings are more expensive than window shades, but they're more pleasing to the eye, they work better, and they don't obstruct your view.
- Alternatively, hang tightly woven insect screens or bamboo shades outside windows during the summer. They'll reduce your view, but they'll stop 60 to 80 percent of the sun's heat from getting to the window.
- Plant trees or build a trellis to block out solar radiation. Deciduous (leaf-bearing) trees planted to the south, east and west of your building provide valuable shade in the summer, then drop their leaves in the winter to allow half or more of the sun's heat to warm you on clear winter days.
- Apply retrofit window films on the inside of east-, south-, and west-facing windows and glass doors.
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