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Atlanta Replacement Window

When it comes to purchasing new Atlanta replacement windows for your home is your presupposition “anything is better that what I have?”  Be honest.  Don’t feel bad; as we have mentioned in previous posts, this is a prevalent, albeit fairly jeopardous, way of thinking.  After all, you’ve been living with those drafty, energy inefficient home windows for a while now right?  Today we’re going to deal with a topic that has literally fed the “bargain basement” (at least from an ADVERTISED standpoint) window dealer market in the Atlanta area.  The topic is “low e.”

“Our product has low e and is only $172, there’s has low e and it’s __________ (any higher price).  Which one are you going to buy?”   Many of our competitors have asked that question over and over again.  As a matter of fact, you may have already heard it.  And, on the surface, it’s a pretty easy answer, right?  If my spouse sends me to get a bag of sugar on the way home, and doesn’t specify a brand, I’m probably going to choose based on one thing; price.  I know I’m not planning on putting sugar on my new Atlanta replacement windows, but it’s because I, personally, look at sugar as a commodity, and the purchase of commodities are typically driven by price.

Sugar And Atlanta Replacement Windows

The difference in low e and sugar is immense, and I’m obviously not just talking usage or physical characteristics, but “commoditizing” low e can lead to a colossal waste of money, no matter what the cost of your new Atlanta replacement windows.  In many cases, the low e product on many of the so-called “economical” vinyl windows will block no more than 5-7% more of the heat and cold transfer than the current glass that you already have.  Is that the type of energy savings that you are going to invest your money in?

The major differences lie in how the idea of what low e is supposed to do has evolved; not only with time, but also as window glass manufacturers have created more climate specific products.  The original idea with low e was more about reducing absorption of heat.  For example, light concrete or asphalt doesn’t get as hot in the summer as dark.  Over the last few years, a small group of glass manufacturers have been looking at low e in a whole new “light,” especially in more of the southern climates like here in the Atlanta area.

This Comes Only In The Best

Atlanta Replacement Windows

If you go out in the summer in short sleeves and your arm gets warm in direct sunlight you have experienced “radiant” heating.  It’s all about heat that “radiates” from a source, most often the sun (but also your home’s furnace).  The most effective way to handle radiant heat is not just to slow absorption, but to reflect it back at its source.  Think about going into a mall parking lot in the summertime and seeing a lot of vehicles with something folded out in the windshield.  Almost always these “shields” have a reflective look.  If you’ve ever used one of these you know that your vehicle will not get nearly as hot on the inside as without one.  That’s because the shield is reflecting the radiant heat back towards its source.  Today’s best Atlanta replacement windows use low e products that reflect up to 99% of the sun’s heat back.  Think you’ll save some money, in both the summer and the winter?

Want to know more?  Check out some of our Atlanta replacement window reviews on Google, Kudzu, Angie’s List and BBB, and see what some of our customers say about the amazing change in not only their energy bills, but also their comfort levels after installing our climate specific, low e reflecting Atlanta replacement windows.

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Are Your Atlanta Replacement Windows Drafty

In an earlier post, we started to look at four myths concerning Atlanta replacement windows. We went over the comparative significance of two window performance factors, the SHGC (otherwise referred to as the Solar-Heat-Gain-Coefficient) and the U Factor. As we previously talked about, in accordance with energy star ratings for Atlanta’s weather, the top replacement window options for your house will need a U Factor of less than .30 and a Solar-Heat-Gain-Coefficient of less than .25 to give you the proper summer and winter defense.

In this post, we will tell you about one of the most possibly financially detrimental myths concerning Atlanta replacement windows…

    Myth # 2: If I purchase ANY kind of new Atlanta replacement windows, my issues with air leaking into and out of my home from the  windows will end.

As we previously stated, such as myth could be very expensive, and frequently one of the chief reasons why purchasers end up feeling like the money they work so hard for was wasted. That brings us back to Atlanta replacement windows, and a way of thinking that tells us that any kind of window is better than no window at all.  While that might be accurate to a point, when all is said and done and it comes to drafty windows, what is better is a comparative term. It all starts with a comprehension of the entire theory. If you were to ask the majority of homeowners, and, sadly, the majority of window engineers and their dealer agents why brand new windows develop drafts, they probably would say to you, “If you purchase just any replacement window, and you install it adequately, the new window ought to be airtight.” Regrettably, that declaration is definitely a myth.

The Dirty Little Secret About Atlanta Replacement Windows

One of the long held secrets about replacement windows and that industry is the virtual non-drafty new home windows theory. If you were to thumb through nearly every window manufacturer’s advertising information, you would probably locate references to some type of feature (such as inter-locking window sashes or weather stripping pieces), which help make any kind of window airtight. The actual evidence, however, lies within a factor that is usually absent on the window stickers, regarding U Factors and SHGC that we mentioned in an earlier post. If you were to perform a bit of research, on the NFRC site, for example, you would see that the ratings for air leaking windows (the fourth factor) is completely left to the producer’s discretion as to whether to publish it or not. As you will notice while researching, the NFRC site will list digits like .1, .2 and/or .3 on window stickers (as mentioned previously, lower numbers are best), if a window manufacturer elects to list the number. The vast majority of engineers producing windows do not opt to list that factor, which continuously poses questions, ones like, “Why would manufacturers choose not to list numbers regarding window airtightness?”

A comprehension of these details will help you a lot in the end and will assist you with cutting through all the confusion and sales pitches. Let us use the following correlation…if the tire on your automobile developed three holes but you only plugged two of them, what would be the outcome? You are correct! You would still get a FLAT TIRE! I could have the finest window framing and glass; however, if my brand new Atlanta replacement windows are not completely airtight, what type of windows do I actually end up with, especially when it comes to the money I spent on them? It is important to ask your window merchant to show you the sticker. Be sure to look for a sticker number no larger than .1, if the manufacturer publishes the number.

In our next post, we will talk about the next myth “having Atlanta replacement windows work done necessitates vast home renovations.”

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