3 Secrets Geeks Know About Heat Transfer & Energy Efficiency at Home
Sep 26, 2022Windows are responsible for as much as 30% of your home’s energy loss. Learn how to make your home more energy efficient by Understanding heat transfer.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, windows are responsible as much as 30% of your home’s energy loss. Building science experts at the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) add that drafty windows can negatively impact energy efficiency at home. Energy loss caused by heat transfer and air infiltration has a major impact on what it costs to keep your home comfortable during cold winter and hot summers.
of your Home’s Energy Loss
3 Secrets of Hidden Energy Loss – and How to Stop It
Energy-efficiency pros, including the teams that designed Improveit’s Performax54 windows, know something that many homeowners don’t: energy loss comes in three forms and all of them are invisible. Let’s expose these three energy loss secrets so you can better understand heat transfer and learn how to make your home more energy efficient:
Secret #1
Smart Window Glass Works with Your HVAC System
Radiation, or radiant heat, is the heat we feel directly from the sun, and moves in electromagnetic waves. When radiant heat waves pass through clear glass, they raise indoor air temperature and cause your air conditioner to work harder – costing you more.
To prevent this heat transfer into homes, many newer windows feature one or two layers of low-emissivity (Low-E) coatings. These coatings reflect radiant heat to keep it from entering the home. The secret homeowners need to know is that smart Thermostat glass can make your windows – and your home – even more efficient! Thermostat glass uses three Low-E layers for 50% more protection against radiant heat during the summer months. But in the winter, Thermostat glass allows low-angle sunlight to pass through the glass, passively warming your home and reducing the load on your furnace.
Secret #2
Metal Makes Bad Windows
While radiant heat moves in waves, conduction is heat transferred through contact with a surface, like a pan on a hot stove. With windows, conduction happens when heat inside or outside the home warms and moves through the surface of the window frame or sash. Window glass can also conduct heat, especially at the edges where it’s enclosed by the sash. Here, spacer separate the glass panes and create an air gap to help prevent conduction through the glass.
The secret here is that any metal window parts work entirely against your energy efficiency at home. Metal is an excellent conductor of heat, so aluminum windows will allow heated air inside your home to escape in the winter, or outdoor heat could make its way inside on a hot day. Either way, your HVAC works overtime to compensate. Metal spacers, used on most replacement windows, provide yet another path for heat to enter or escape your home. Knowing this, always choose insulated vinyl replacement windows with non-metal spacers to help eliminate heat transfer by conduction.
Secret #3
You Have a Giant Invisible Hole in the Side of Your House
Air infiltration is the third cause of energy loss to address, and old windows transfer a lot of air. As homes settle and windows warp or twist with age, gaps and cracks develop around the window frame. Even the smallest fissures can cause uncomfortable drafts and add up to a much bigger problem. A 1/16-inch gap around a standard window is equivalent to a hole the size of a brick. Multiply that by 12 windows in an average house, and you might as well leave a window open all year long.
Drafty windows sabotage your home’s energy efficiency by letting all your conditioned air escape. Solve the problem – and stop paying for lost energy – by replacing your windows and insisting on air-tight installation. When installers add spray foam insulation and air seal around gaps and cracks, you can easily close that invisible hole in the side of your house.
Close the Window on Heat Transfer & Energy Loss
If you spent the summer trying to lower your air conditioning bills, or you’re dreading the another cold, drafty winter, it’s time to take a close look at your windows. They’re the likely culprit of what’s leaving you uncomfortable in your own home.
Upgrading to energy-efficient Performax54 vinyl replacement windows is your ideal solution to regain your home’s energy efficiency. The Improveit team is ready to help! No matter what color, grid style, or window style you choose all Performax54 windows come with expert air-tight installation and a lifetime warranty so you know they’ll be the last windows your home will ever need.
