here is a myriad of considerations you need to have in mind to ensure your comfort and satisfaction when installing windows for your home. Some of these considerations include the style of windows you would like to have for your home, the efficiency of the windows, as well as the quality of the materials used in the manufacture of the windows.
The decision you make on whether you will choose single or double pane windows will eventually make all the difference. Some factors, including the amount of sunlight you would like to enter through the window and your energy bills, have to be carefully considered. In addition, the beauty and appearance of your home as well as the level of comfort are very important details.
So, here are some of the major factors to consider when choosing between single and double pane windows for your home.
Cost and Energy Efficiency
Single pane windows are friendlier to your pocket than double pane windows when it comes to purchasing them, especially when you are buying quite a large number of them for your home.
Nevertheless, they usually increase your energy bills in the long run. Since glass is a good conductor of heat, single pane windows enable faster passage of heat through when the exterior and interior temperatures vary. Therefore, when it is cold, a large amount of heat will be lost through the single pane window, which will at the end raise your heating bills.
Double pane windows on the other hand have a ½ - ¾ inch space between the glass panes, which holds inert gas. This in turn enables minimum loss of heat from the interior of your home to the outside environment through insulation. Manufacturers are making dual panes able to reflect light because they are coated with Low E, which also reflects dangerous sun rays away from the window therefore preventing them from entering the house. At the same time, the new technology enables the passage of ‘good’ warmth into the home. Of course this will eventually have a positive impact on your energy bills by reducing them considerably.
However, careful consideration has to be taken when insulating other parts of the house. Even if you install dual pane windows, and you have not properly insulated other areas in the interior of your home, heat will still be lost and there will be no much difference in the cost of energy you use to replace the lost heat.
Noise Transmission
Another major difference between single and double pane windows is the amount of noise transmitted from outside into your house. If you are the kind of person who doesn’t like too much noise, then you should go for double-pane windows.
Single pane windows are much more likely to allow noise to pass through them than double pane ones. Again, the absence of the layer of inert gas present in between double pane windows serve to prevent the amplifying of noise from the exterior of your house to the interior.
Style of the Home
Old homes designed in a particular architectural style and have single pane windows have a certain beauty and attractiveness of their own. Changing the type of windows might, therefore, damage the style and rub away the beauty of the home, as well as remove the original creativity of the architecture. Double pane windows are therefore best left out of your window installationplans in spite of their energy and cost efficiency.
Moreover, it is easier to get rid of fog with single pane windows, since you just wipe it off. It is a difficult task to do the same with double pane windows.
Installation
The efficiency of the windows will be highly affected by the way in which you install your windows, whether single or dual pane.
When your windows installer does a bad job, the energy efficiency of your home will still be low. To begin with, incorrectly installed windows allows moisture to get into the house, damaging the interior and jeopardizing your air conditioning by allowing loss of heat and cooled air.
If dual panes are installed wrongly, the space between the panes will become foggy since there will be condensation. However, dual panes are easier to install than single panes, whether newly installing or replacing.
If your budget does not allow you to purchase dual pane windows, you can still make your home comfortable and manage to slice your energy bills with single pane windows.
You can caulk around the inside and outside of the single pane, thus restricting draft from passing through them. Coating the pane will help keep warmth and sunlight in the house and reduce the amount of harmful sunlight entering the house, while still allowing for entrance of beneficial heat and light into the house.
