Just How Much Replacing Your Home's Windows Can Lower Your Energy Bills

Posted on: 28 June 2017

If you own a home, then you are likely always looking for ways you can save money on all of the expenses that can accumulate when being a homeowner. Aside from your mortgage payment, one of your largest monthly expenses is likely your energy bills. However, keeping your thermostat at a temperature a bit higher than usual in the summer and a bit lower in the winter can lead to your family feeling uncomfortable, and keeping those window blinds shut on those sunny summer days can just lead to your family turning on more indoor lights than usual, increasing your electricity bill. 

Thankfully, there is one easy way to lower your energy bills, and that is by replacing your old windows. Read on to learn just how much energy you can save by replacing your home windows and the additional benefits of window replacement.

Replacement Windows Can Drastically Lower Your Heating, Cooling, and Lighting Bills

The United States Energy Information Administration reports that the average homeowner loses about one-third of the heated air their heating system creates through their home's windows during the winter. While the biggest cause of this home heat loss tends to be drafts around windows that are not properly sealed, even if your home's windows are not drafty, you could be losing heat due to having a window style that is just not energy efficient. 

In fact, Energystar.gov reports that the average homeowner can lower their annual home energy bills by as much as $465 when they replace single-pane windows with Energy Star-qualified windows, whether the windows are drafty or not. 

While replacement windows are an investment, they pay for themselves over time as your home heating, cooling, and even lighting bills lower after you obtain them. 

How can you choose new windows to help you save on home lighting? If you tend to keep your windows treatments shut during the day to help keep the heat that penetrates them from heating your home, and then compensate by turning on indoor lights, then choosing new windows with a very low U-factor can allow you to let natural light into your home again without worry of heat penetrating through your windows. 

A window's U-factor is a measure of its thermal conductivity, and a window with a low U-factor does not allow as much heat to pass into your home as a window with a higher U-factor. You can leave those window blinds and curtains open during the day without worry of the sun heating your home and stop turning on those unneeded indoor lights when you allow natural light to illuminate your home. 

Vinyl Window Replacement Frames Are Energy-efficient and Very Low-maintenance

If you have lived in a home with wooden window frames for many years, then you know just how much maintenance wooden frames need to stay in good shape. If you just moved into a home with wooden frames, then you likely wonder just what you will have to do to maintain them. Wooden frames need painting or sealing on a regular basis, and cleaning them without damaging the paint or sealing agent that was painstakingly applied to them can be a challenge. 

When you opt for replacement windows with vinyl frames, you will not only increase the insulation value of your frames, but you will also then have frames that require little to no maintenance. Vinyl window frames typically just need to be wiped down with water and/or a mild detergent solution if dirt or debris begin to build up on them. 

If you love the look of wooden window frames but want the benefits of vinyl frames, then the good news is that many window replacement experts offer vinyl window frames that have the appearance of wood; you can have the "best of both worlds" after your new windows are installed.

Visit this site right here or others like it as you continue your research on window replacement.

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