Comfort Counts: Seniors and Replacement Windows

Medicare reform, vacation homes, and pictures of the grandchildren: these seem to be the topics of most interest to seniors. However, there are certain topics that are a little closer to home — namely, how comfortable are seniors in their own homes? Replacement windows can play a role in that comfort level.

Here are the top five reasons home replacement windows could be important to senior citizens:

Savings on Home Heating & Cooling Bills

If you’re a fixed income, you know that every dollar counts. One more dollar spent on heating your home means one less dollar to spend on food, medicine — or on a lighter note, toys for the grandkids.

Installing home replacement windows helps retain energy: warmed air stays inside in the winter, while frigid winds remain outside. The situation reverses in the summer: air conditioned, chilled air — critical during blazing hot summer days where overheating poses a very real health risk to seniors — stays indoors where it’s needed.

Reduce Cold Drafts

Double and triple pane glass home replacement windows help reduce air infiltration. Couple this with vastly improved frame technology, insulating gas pockets, and other advances in window technology, and cold drafts are minimized or eliminated.

This increases the comfort of the home. Seniors have a particularly difficult time maintaining their body temperature. Continually exposure to chilly drafts and cold outdoor air can make the situation worse. Home replacement windows, by reducing air penetration, can play a pivotal role in keeping seniors warm.

Easy to Open

Some windows are flat out difficult to open, no matter how old you are! Poor construction, warped or damaged frames, and the weight of the windows themselves mean that some windows stay closed far more than they get opened.

Modern home replacement windows are easy to open. Specially designed hardware means that casement windows, awning windows, and even double hung windows stay open exactly to the degree you’d like them open. No worries about windows slamming shut or being impossible to open.

Windows that open and close are a basic safety issue. You never know when a fire or other emergency will require you to leave your home by alternate means. Should the windows be difficult or impossible to open, you may be trapped with no route out — terrifying at any age.

Easy Maintenance

Home replacement windows, whether they’re vinyl home replacement windows, fiberglass home replacement windows, or wood replacement windows, are all easier to maintain than the single pane windows of yesteryear. Vinyl home replacement windows are particularly easy to maintain: vinyl replacement window frames never need painting.

Tilt in designs make window washing a snap. Cleaning windows can be accomplished from inside the home: far safer and easier than teetering on a rickety ladder, especially if the windows are on the second or third floor.

Additionally, some replacement windows feature blinds encased between dual panes of glass — another cumbersome housekeeping task eliminated. Imagine never having to dust the blinds again! This is great for the senior who takes pride in their home’s appearance yet doesn’t have the energy to keep up all of the housekeeping they used to do.

Environmentally Friendly

Many, many seniors are concerned about the future of the planet we call home. Home replacement windows help conserve energy, reducing the use of fossil fuels. This has an obvious positive benefit for the environment, a big plus for those seniors concerned with reducing their carbon footprint.