Replacement Windows | US Home Improvement

At last sighting, Santa was headed safely home to the North Pole, leaving tons of happy children in his wake — and plenty of parents saying, “Now how are we going to handle 2009?”

 Many homeowners are resolving to go green in 2009, combining environmental-aware building strategies with the need to save money in a tight economy.  Home replacement windows, particularly vinyl home replacement windows, can play a pivotal role in making your home greener — while helping you keep some green in your wallet!

It’s important to understand why home replacement windows, particularly vinyl home replacemetn windows, are a green choice.  At first glance, many would-be environmentalists shy away from vinyl windows, not realizing that the cutting edge manufacturing techniques employed by today’s leading vinyl window manufacturers, such as Alside, Champion, Harvey and more, actually use less energy, create less waste, and have less of an impact upon the environment than one might expect.  In fact, if you look for home replacement windows that have an Energy Star seal, you can actually make a positive impact upon the environment.

Sometimes we’re told that repairing or refurbishing old windows is preferable to installing home replacement windows.  However, many original construction windows used in new construction within the last decade or so were never well made, and all the repairing or refurbishing in the world won’t bring them up to the energy efficiency offered by todays home construction windows.

 If you have quality older windows, repair and refurbishment may be a viable option — but this really needs to be decided on a case by case basis.  Ideally, you want an insulated window, featuring double or even triple pane glass, installed in such a fashion as to minimize air and moisture penetration.  Insulating gas pockets featuring gasses such as argon and krypton can help keep cold air out and warm air in — which makes it far easier to control those home heating bills!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Whether you’re hanging Christmas lights around every double hung window or carefully arranging a holiday village in a bay window, your replacement windows can help you welcome the holidays — not to mention enjoy them in comfort!

Vinyl replacement windows offer several features which come in particularly handy during the holiday season.  The tilt-in styling of many quality vinyl replacement windows does make cleaning easier — which is great, because you want to have sparkling windows when the family gathers for the holiday season!  But this tilt-in feature is also awesome if you’re decorating: it’s far, far easier to decorate when you’re standing securely inside your home than teetering on a ladder outside — particularly if you happen to be in a part of the world where ladder climbing is not a recommended December activity!

We’ve just come through one massive series of snow storms in this part of the world, and we’re gearing up for another: that’s when we’re really thankful for the energy efficiency vinyl replacement windows offer.  When that winter wind is howling, you want to know that your home replacement windows are durable enough to keep the sleet, snow, and freezing rain outside where it belongs.  The quality construction, insulated frames, triple pane glass, and insulating gas pockets of vinyl replacement windows stop air and moisture from entering the home: this means a warm, comfortable environment for you and your loved ones as you gather for Christmas.

Happy Holidays to all of our regular readers!  May you have a warm, safe, delightful holiday season!

The kitchen, now more than ever, is the new heart of the home.  Families gather there to prepare and share meals, children doing homework while Mom and Dad get dinner together.  On weekends, friends stop by to share morning coffee.

 The windows in your kitchen can set the entire tone of the room.  Selecting the right replacement windows for your kitchen means considering three criteria.  Every family is different, and every family uses their kitchen differently, which means there’s a unique replacement window solution for each family.

 Criteria #1: Functionality

You want your replacement windows in your kitchen to work!  It’s essential that you have replacement windows that open and close easily.  Too often, original construction windows are flimsy and don’t open easily –if at all!  That’s not great news — what happens when you burn dinner and want to air the room out?  What happens if your honey is happily frying fish and you can’t stand the smell?  Vinyl replacement windows open easily, allowing you to let fresh air in when you want it!

Don’t forget, having functional windows — replacement windows that open and shut easily! — is a safety issue.  More fires start in the kitchen than in any other room of the house.  If you ever need to exit your kitchen quickly and the doorways are blocked, it’s essential that your replacement windows open!

Criteria #2: Energy Efficiency

Energy costs are spiralling ever higher, making it more expensive than ever to heat and warm your home.  Leaky kitchen windows can let all that heat escape into the great outdoors, where it doesn’t do you any good.  Select replacement windows for your kitchen with an eye to energy efficiency.  Vinyl home replacement windows offer the most bang for the buck, with triple pane glass, insulating gas pockets, insulated frames, and low e-coatings.

Criteria #3: Style

 When we look good, we feel good — and when our homes look good, we feel good too!  Selecting replacement windows for your kitchen means selecting replacement windows that honor your personal style with the unique needs of the kitchen environment.  Frame a great view with a picture style window, or go old-school with classic colonial or country lines.  Vinyl replacement windows are available in a wide range of styles, with colors and finishes to enhance any decor.

As you can imagine, we here at US Home Windows keep a pretty good eye on what’s going on on the internet about replacement windows.  A home replacement window specialist has to be in the know, after all!

 This morning, we stumbled across a blog article about replacement windows as a gift to the homeowner.  It was a great article, but it missed a great point: Vinyl replacement windows can be a fantastic gift to give someone you love.  Vinyl replacement windows are particularly valuable to our older loved ones — and when times are tight, you want to make sure that every gift you give truly improves the recipients’ lives.  This makes vinyl replacement windows the ideal gift! 

If you’re among that select group of people who have parents that are getting older, pay attention!  Finding gifts for Mom and Dad is tricky most of the time anyway.  This year, you may want to consider giving them vinyl replacement windows as a gift — a gift for them and a gift for you!

Your parents will appreciate the clean look of home replacement windows — particularly if they haven’t been able to do an upgrade in a while. The easy tilt-in feature makes cleaning a snap — and it means you don’t have to worry about Mom or Dad standing on a ladder, washing windows!  Same thing for maintenance: vinyl home replacement windows never need painting, so Dad doesn’t have to drag out the paint and brushes every spring.  That’s one less job he has to do — and more time he can spend enjoying himself.

 Finally, giving your parents vinyl replacement windows, such as the Alside Excalibur line, can be a financial gift.  The energy efficiency vinyl replacement windows offer, including the ability to keep warmed air in and cool air out, help control heating costs.  Additionally, because your parents will not be exposed to chilly breezes and drafts once vinyl replacement windows are installed, they’ll be healthier — which saves money and more importantly, gives  you more time to enjoy with them.  It’s a gift for everyone!

As the scent of turkey starts to waft through the air, and we find ourselves hankering after some cranberry sauce, we thought we’d revisit one of our favorite blog posts ever:

Happy Thanksgiving from the US Home Improvement Team. On this special day, we’d like to express our gratitude to our customers, the manufacturers we work with, and of course, the readers of this blog!

All this week, the economic news has been bad.  Wall Street’s been in a free fall.  The news on the weather page isn’t much better: unseasonably cold temperatures are already starting to arrive, heralding winter’s arrival.  Homeowners who are already pinching pennies have one worried eye on the thermostat: how are they going to stay home this winter?

 Vinyl home replacement windows are part of the answer.  By installing high quality vinyl replacement windows, the average homeowner can save almost $500 a year — especially if the vinyl replacement windows are installed in place of leaky, single pane windows.  The double and triple-pane glass, insulating gas pockets, and low e coatings of today’s vinyl replacement windows offer tremendous energy efficiency to the homeowner. 

 As much as 40 percent of  a home’s energy can be lost through leaky windows and doors.  That’s literally cash escaping from your home: it costs money to warm interior air, and as that warm air escapes, it must be replaced.  The leakier your home is, the harder your heating system has to work.   Reduce that workload, and save wear and tear on your furnace.  That’s an additional savings!

Bear in mind that tax credits and other incentives can result in substantial savings — if you have your replacement windows installed before the cut off deadline.  Check with your tax advisor to find out what incentives are available in your region.  It may work out that you can’t afford NOT to install vinyl home replacement windows!

As our economy twists and turns, one thing is for certain: the number of small and home based businesses is on the rise.  Buildings that were once our residences — retreats after a long day in the office — have now become our workplace as well!

Considering the home workplace, vinyl replacement windows come to mind.  Home offices have some unique requirements: they must serve as professional space.  This means allowing in enough natural lighting for maximum health benefits: especially in the gray and cloudy Northeast, access to natural light is critical.  Vinyl replacement windows, particularly Alside Excalibur Viny replacement windows, do a great job permitting natural light to come in while keeping cold drafts and breezes out.

 Home offices need to be comfortable spaces: you can not do good work if you’re too hot or too cold — or if you’re worried about valuable heat energy escaping through leaky, drafty windows.  Experts tell us that up to forty percent of a home’s heat energy can be lost through leaky windows — not something that you want to think about when you’re working so hard to ensure there’s money to pay for the heat in the first place!

Because vinyl replacement windows are highly energy efficient, with double or triple pane glass, insulating pockets of inert gas, and high quality rigid construction, they are often an ideal choice for the home office.  Installing vinyl replacement windows in the home office helps lower costs associated with your business, enhancing your profitability.  Think of what you could do with the money you’re currently wasting on lost heat energy!  This could make a real difference in your business: how many more sales would you have in a month, for example, if you had the money you’re currently spending on lost heat on marketing or promotion?

At last the election is over — after the longest campaign in recent memory, we have a new president.  No matter what your political viewpoints are, we’re all in the same boat: it’s time to look forward!

Consider the future of your home, as you look into the future.  Do you have a great view of what lies ahead?  Enhance your view and your home’s aesthetics by installing vinyl replacement windows.  Available in a wide range of styles, including the Alside Excalibur vinyl replacement window,  vinyl replacement windows offer a number of features that make the future look bright.

First and foremost, vinyl replacement windows are energy efficient.  This is a huge consideration: with an uncertain economic climate and war continuing in the Middle East, every dollar counts and fuel prices are fluctuating wildly.  Old, leaky windows can let your valuable heated air out: installing vinyl replacement windows — or wood replacement windows, which offer energy efficiency at a much higher price tag, or fiberglass home replacement windows — helps keep that warm air in.  This means your furnace runs less, and you save money.

There is no doubt that environmental awareness is going to be a cornerstone of the new administration.  With that in mind, homeowners will be looking for ways to green their homes, either to qualify for tax incentives or to help the planet.  Vinyl home replacement windows are one of the best options out there.  It’s important to realize that the manufacturing of vinyl home replacement windows has minimal environmental impact: in fact, many vinyl home replacement window manufacturers have received LEED certification,  pinpointing them as a green option.  Vinyl home replacement windows incorporate recycled and scrap vinyl into new windows, a sensible, environmentally sensitive option.

A man’s home — or a woman’s home! — is supposed to be their castle, safe and secure from the harms and hazards of the world. A retreat from a sometimes overwhelming and hostile environment, where we can be comfortable and safe.

Yet our homes can make us sick. Often, especially in older homes, the same windows that let in the morning sunlight can also be the bearer of bad tidings, delivering environmental allergens, facilitating the arrival of mold and mildew, and worse.

Vinyl home replacement windows can eliminate some common health hazards, and significantly minimize others. Here’s how:

Vinyl home replacement windows, like fiberglass home replacement windows and wood replacement windows, are manufactured without any lead. Older windows, especially those which have been in place for more than forty years, may have at some point been painted with lead-based paint. Small children have an inexplicable fascination with windowsills and have been known to ingest this paint, with serious health consequences. While lead based paint can be ‘painted over’, the ideal solution is to remove it entirely from the household. Replacing older windows with vinyl home replacement windows completely eliminates the potential lead poisoning issues.

Asthma and other respiratory disorders are often triggered by exposure to environmental allergens, such as pollen, dust, and airborne particulates. Leaky windows let these triggers right into your home. Vinyl replacement windows, such as the Alside Excalibur line of windows, provide an effective barrier: keeping warm, comfortable air inside, and cold, drafty air laden with allergy triggers out! Double or triple pane glass windows help minimize the entry of anything but sunlight — exactly what the doctor ordered!

An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure. So the saying goes — and when we’re considering the state of our wallets, vinyl home replacement windows may very well serve as the ounce of preparation!

Winter’s coming early this year. Snow’s already fallen in some parts of the country, and chances are if you go outside right now, you’ll discover it’s chillier than you expected. In a home with leaky, old, inefficient single pane windows, that cold air sneaks into your living space, while expensive warm air escapes right out.
Vinyl home replacement windows offer one of the best solutions possible to the problem! Vinyl home replacement windows, like the Alside Excalibur line, combine energy efficiency, rigid, insulated frames, low e coatings, and insulating gas pockets to combat the all-too-common situation of wasted energy.

If your home heating bill is too high and you’re still uncomfortable in your own living space, you may want to look at your windows and doors. Experts tell us that as much as 40% of a homes’ energy can be lost through these leaky portals. Upgrading with high quality vinyl replacement windows and replacement doors can help you save energy and money — and enjoy a more comfortable home!

Vinyl home replacement windows are often the best option because they offer the style and quality construction of wood replacement windows at a fraction of the price. When every dollar counts, you want to make sure that every improvement you make to your home will pay for itself! Vinyl home replacement windows do exactly that — and should you be in the market to sell your home, having high quality vinyl replacement windows in place makes your property more attractive to buyers!