The most energy efficient windows are foam filled vinyl windows. With foam insulation filling the frame core, it gives the windows an R7 energy rating, which greatly helps with a home’s energy efficiency.

The glass your windows use is critical to efficiency as well. Older windows have single pane glass, which allows cold and heat to easily transmit from one side to another. New windows have double pane glass with argon gas in between the panes for insulation.

When selecting new windows, be sure to look over the energy efficiency test ratings listed on a sticker attached to the window. These numbers tell you how well the window blocks heat and cold from transferring, how well it blocks UV rays from the sun, how well it restricts air passing through, and how well it allows natural light to pass through. Each of these items is critical to improving your home’s overall energy efficiency.

Metal Clad Are Not the Most Energy Efficient Windows

Metal clad wood windows are not highly efficient when it comes to reducing air flow. They allow air leakage. In climates like those we have in Kansas City, we have hot, humid summers. These can cause wood to expand. Then the winter comes and it’s cold and wet. This causes the wood to contract.

This expansion and contraction, combined with the moisture, causes wood rot and ends up allowing too much air to flow through the windows. The air conditioner must work harder in summer because outside hot air is creeping in, and the furnace must work harder in the winter because cold air is seeping in.

There’s no way to insulate inside the wood either, so air temps transfer in and out easily too.

Aluminum Windows Are Good for Some Climates

Aluminum windows are generally a great product. But they’re great for a limited area of the country. Since aluminum readily transmits temperatures from the inside to out and vice versa, they tend to work best for desert-like climates that have dry, arid conditions.

Vinyl Are the Most Energy Efficient Windows

There are two types of vinyl windows. The cheaper ones are referred to as builder’s grade, and those are not very efficient because they have a hollow frame. They may also be prone to sagging and warping with the weather, because they’re not reinforced.

The best vinyl windows are often filled with some type of thermal insulation. When a product can be filled with insulation, it creates an R value that increases the energy efficiency. That insulation adds a thermal break inside the frame that keeps air from transferring inside out and vice versa.

Modern vinyl windows are constructed to be airtight on the tracks, along the sashes, and so on as well. These types of vinyl windows are probably the highest rated energy efficient window you can use in your home.

Energy Pro works with two high quality vinyl window manufacturers: Sunrise and Joyce. The windows from these outfits are structurally reinforced to ensure they stay square and flush. The windows are also filled with polyfoam that creates an R7 efficiency rating.

These vinyl windows are such high quality, they’re guaranteed for life. Not for your life, but for the life of the home. So if you move sometime in the future, your guarantee can pass to the new owner.

Energy Pro has been working in the Kansas City area since 2003. We specialize in installing windows and siding that not only makes your house energy efficient, it makes it look beautiful too.

Contact us to discuss our most energy efficient windows today.