Going Green A Top Resolution: Replacement Windows Make It Happen

Going Green A Top Resolution: Replacement Windows Make It Happen

It’s that time of year again, when well-intentioned people make promises: promises that they’ll lose weight, stop smoking, get out of debt — and increasingly, to go green. Making lifestyle changes and purchasing decisions to reduce one’s carbon footprint — the impact that one’s life has upon the planet — is being cited as one of the most popular resolutions people are making for 2008.

Home replacement windows can help make the resolution to go green a reality. If you really want to improve your overall home energy efficiency, vinyl home replacement windows, fiberglass home replacement windows, and wood home replacement windows can play a pivotal role in making it happen.

Going green has two components: using less energy, and making the most out of the energy you do consume. Let’s look at the latter first, and see how replacement windows can help you save the planet.

Consider the average American home, fitted with single pane windows. Even if these older windows are in good repair, they still lose a tremendous amount of heat energy. Through a combination of conduction and convection, as much as 40% of your home’s heat can escape through windows and doors to the great outdoors.

Installing thermal replacement windows — particularly those fitted with triple pane glass — cuts down dramatically on this heat loss. Because there are three panes of glass in triple pane windows, with insulating pockets of inert gas between them, the heat loss that can be attributed to conduction is reduced.

It’s also important to note that the superior construction of modern replacement windows, such as vinyl replacement windows, fiberglass replacement windows and wood replacement windows, reduces some of the hidden ways windows lose heat, namely air penetration. Faulty seals, loose glazing, and cracks and holes in the frame are all problems associated with older windows. New modern replacement windows have none of these issues. Superior construction methodologies virtually eliminate air penetration issues, making cold drafts yesterday’s problem.

Retaining all of this warmth inside your home makes it easier to maintain a comfortable interior temperature. This allows the heating system to run less. No matter how you heat your home, the less you run the system, the less fuel you use. This has obvious positive environmental effects. At the same time, the less the heating system runs, the less waste the system generates, resulting in less carbon monoxide and other emissions to be concerned about.

If you have resolved to go green in 2008, you have a number of choices in front of you. Going green can be accomplished with numerous small steps — or you can make some larger changes and start realizing a positive benefit right away. Installing home replacement windows will immediately reduce your home heating fuel consumption. This is a fairly unique phenomenon: many of the ways to reduce your carbon footprint are small changes that result in incremental reduction over the course of time. If you’re truly committed to living a greener life, you may want to consider having home replacement windows installed.