“I still can’t believe it,” Marlene DuBois said. “Normally, I have to have my fuel tank refilled three times during the winter. Last year — the truck only had to come twice. We saved almost $1,000 — and the only thing we changed was replacing the windows in the house.
DuBois’ daughter, Sophia, is an ardent environmentalist. “It just made me nuts to see how much energy was being wasted in Mom’s house. Did you know how much heat just escapes through older windows? Practically half! And that means she’s got to run the furnace more…and what kind of impact does all that lost heat have on the environment? When you’re talking about global warming and losing ozone, we just can’t afford to ignore that!”
Together, Sophia and Marlene selected 12 replacement windows. “We went with Alside Excalibur Vinyl replacement windows,” Marlene said, “because they offered the highest quality for the price, and they require very little maintenance.”
“Mom’s getting too old to be climbing a ladder and washing windows,” Sophia added. “These windows tilt in, so she can clean them from inside the house. And the vinyl frames don’t fade, so we don’t have to worry about painting them ever.”
Marlene, like many homeowners, is growing older every year. Aging homeowners share a number of concerns which make the savings and energy efficiency offered by replacement windows increasingly attractive.
First, many older homeowners are extremely concerned about their financial situation. The recent economic meltdown has played havoc in retirement funds: there are fewer dollars available for retirement, and they have to go further than ever before. Spending money on home heating is a necessity — but spending money on home heating to have that warmed air escape through leaky, inefficient windows is foolishness at best. Consider the $1,000 Marlene saved. What would an extra $1,000 buy? Those funds could be used for any number of things: food, medicine, traveling to see grandchildren, and more…
Second, there’s the safety issue. There comes a certain point where climbing up rickety ladders to scrub windows isn’t a viable decision. Tilt-in cleaning is safer. Additionally, fully functional windows — such as those offered by Alside — allow the homeowner rapid, easy egress from the home in case of fire or other emergency.