It May Not Be Your Windows — It May Be Your Glass

There is an interesting trend taking place as it relates to newer homes built during the last housing bubble.

Replacement window sales are on the rise and increasing substantially. As those who live in them know, most production homes do not contain the best windows on the market.

If the home was built before 2004, chances are very good that your windows do not utilize high performance glass (Low-E as it is commonly referred to).

There is also a high probability the windows are starting to experience seal failures (moisture, fogging, hazing or discoloration between he panes). Unfortunately, quality control for glass assemblies in the last housing boon was usually average at best. So whether you have cold windows or seal failures, it is important for you to know that you do have some options.

First, let's deal with seal failures.

In our market we are seeing large-scale failures and the prescribed remedy is frequently the total replacement of all of the windows in the home, often running the owners from $8K to $15K depending on the size of the home and the type of windows.

In one case, a client had 7 seal failures and a quote for $8K to replace all of the windows in the home. they were generally happy with the windows xcept or the foggy glass isue, so they were not very excited about spending $8K on replacing them. Instead they chose to have only the bad thermal pane glass assemblies replaced, in other words, just the bad glass. $1400 later and the problem was solved.  That's a savings of $6600!

Second, let's talk about cold and drafty windows. There are two reasons a window can feel drafty. One reason is that the window is in fact allowing higher than normal air incursion.

There are ways to deal with this problem including replacing or augmenting the existing weather-stripping. But sometimes there is no cure for a bad design. Understand however, that the most of the modern vinyl and wood windows on the market test well below (better than) the allowable air infiltration level of .30 cf/min per l.f. at 25 mph (ASTM E283), so you hould be careful where you set your expectations.

The second possibility for the cold/drafty effect is that the thermal exchange rate at the glass is so rapid that the chilling of the air at the glass is creating or enhancing the "drafty" and cold feeling.

If you are otherwise happy with the windows and don't want to have your house torn apart for full window replacements, then upgrading the glass to high-performance glass is a solution that most people do not know is available.

A total house conversion will typically run about a 33-40% of the cost of a total window replacement package and the results can have a profound affect on your heating and cooling costs, and also on the overall comfort of your home.

Again, a very nice savings (approx. $5K - $9K), plus the annual energy savings (approx. $300 - $700).  Some caveats apply; for instance wood windows are not very cost effective for glass replacements and neither are patio doors.

So next time you are faced with issues involving just the glass in your windows or you are getting tired of throwing your heating and cooling dollars "out the window", remember that the glass is an independent component of your home, and that there are separate solutions specifically for your glass problems. 

That infromation can save you a lot of time, money and inconvenience!