New Windows Help Beat the Summer Energy Hike

After several days of hot and humid temperatures it’s easy to see if your home’s cooling system is able to efficiently cool and remove the atmospheric moisture (humidity) from the inside environment. A good judge of this is how long and how often the air conditioner runs throughout the day. One sign that a unit is having difficulty keeping up with the humidity in the home is an air conditioner that continually runs.

Identifying Energy Robbers

Air leaks, visible and invisible, are a main contributor to higher energy costs in a home. These can be felt as a whisper of hot air around the baseboards, edges of flooring, junctions of the walls and ceiling, where building materials meet, and around windows and doors. While no home is free of all energy leaks, it’s estimated that the average home has enough leakage to add up to a size of two-square-feet. This is the energy equivalent of leaving a medium-sized window open day and night.

Air leakage problems such as these can be remedied in the immediate with the addition of storm windows, weather stripping and caulking around gaps where energy loss is felt. For a more permanent solution, new windows can reduce energy costs and noise transmission, and make year-round maintenance easier.

Signs it’s Time to Replace Windows

• Misty condensation signals seals on the windows have failed, allowing moist air to build up between the window panes.
• Single pane windows and those without an Energy Star-designation allow precious cool (AC) and warm (heater) air to escape through the glass to the outdoors.
• Outdoor noises should be buffered by windows. If noise transmits into the home, it’s a sign the panes are too thin to be energy efficient.
• Air conditioning bills continue to rise during the summer season and the home never feels as comfortable or cool as desired.

Window Options from Continental Siding

Weather Shield Windows – all-wood and aluminum-clad wood windows for direct-set, double-hung tilts, transom, casement and awning, and sidelets. The windows are available in a grille profile in putty-glazed or colonial to work with traditional wood windows. In order to provide improved sight lines and a clean look, Weather Shield Windows are free of cables, clips and detachable strings as well as overlapping corner cuts.

Heartland Windows – the Midwest window maker offers custom windows built to exact specifications. The windows are available with low-emissivity (low-e) window glazing. The low-e glazing regulates the gain and loss of solar heat, helping keep rooms cool in the summer and warm in the winter by controlling heat transfer. Options with Neat Naturally Clean glass include silicone dioxide to chemically break dirt down when it reacts with ultra violet rays.

ProVia Windows – a range of casement, bows, double-hung, picture and architectural-shaped options. All of the windows in the ProVia line carry the EPA’s Energy Star designation, certifying the ability to decrease home energy costs. The line’s Integra vinyl replacement windows have the SuperSpacer ComforTech Warm Edge Glazing System to provide less heat loss, warmer glass temperature, and reduced condensation between the window panes.

Call today to learn more about Continental Siding’s window options or visit one of our showrooms in Columbia, Springfield or Independence, Missouri, or on the Kansas side in Olathe or Wichita.