In a Fog? Understanding Replacement Windows and Condensation
One of the most common concerns about installing replacement windows, whether they’re vinyl replacement windows, fiberglass replacement windows, or wood replacement windows, has to do with humidity. Homeowners who had normally had crystal clear windows, no matter what the weather was, are sometimes surprised by a fog or interior condensation that occurs after replacement windows are installed.
Why does this happen? Is fog to be expected when one has replacement windows installed? The answer is both yes — and not necessarily!
One of the advantages of having replacement windows installed is that they tighten the building envelope. That’s a term that gets bandied around a lot, but you really have to understand what it means in order to see where the condensation issue comes from. Generally, older or original construction windows leak. They leak a lot, letting warm, moist interior air spill out, through leaks, cracks, and crevices you might not even see. In fact, if you have single pane windows, that heat could be leaving your home right through the glass. Removing these older, grossly inefficient windows and replacing them with highly efficient, attractive vinyl home replacement windows, for example, is one way to stop the air leakage.
It’s important to remember that along with the air that was leaking out of your home, moisture escaped. Your home would reach a given level of humidity based upon how much air and moisture was lost, due to inefficient windows. When those windows are replaced with home replacement windows, the warm air stays inside — and so does the moisture. The leaks that you weren’t even aware of let excess moisture out. Now, that moisture can’t escape, so you get condensation and even fog on the inside of your windows.
This problem is easily remedied by ensuring your home has adequate fresh air exchange — something that’s absolutely integral to overall good health! While this may have been a passive benefit of inefficient windows, many homeowners find they need to be slightly more proactive about ensuring adequate fresh air exchange once replacement windows are installed. This is especially pertinent in areas that are likely to have particularly moist air, such as a kitchen and bathroom. Luckily, the solution is often as simple as flicking on the exhaust fan or vent.
Sprucing Up For Springtime: Replacement Windows
After a long, slow, snowy winter, the first signs of spring are starting to arrive here in the Northeast — and you know what that means? It’s time to plan remodeling projects. For some homeowners, remodeling is done with an eye toward selling the house, while others remodel to enhance the appearance, comfort, and energy efficiency of their home.
No matter what your reasoning is, replacement windows can be an attractive remodelling project that pays off handsomely. Let’s look at those homeowners who are sprucing up the place in the hopes of selling their home first.
Replacement windows, whether they’re vinyl replacement windows, wood replacement windows, or fiberglass replacment windows, enhance the appearance of your home. This is a critical consideration: curb appeal, or how a house looks, is cited by many realty experts as the make-it-or-break-it factor in selling a home. Consider the fact that many would be buyers ‘pre-shop’ online, making the initial judgement whether or not to look further into your home based upon the pictures they see on their computers. Windows help determine the aesthetic value of your home: replacing older, substandard windows or flawed original construction windows with high quality replacement windows, such as Alside Excalibur windows, can help make your home attractive enough to prompt buyers to take a second look.
The Top Questions To Ask When Shopping For Replacement Windows at a Home Show
It’s that time of year again, when building associations and contracting groups across the nation stage their annual home show events. By gathering contractors, roofers, electricians, and other service providers in one location with retailers who offer everything from lighting to flooring to the hottest kitchen gadgets, home shows are designed to inspire dreams and infect shoppers with what is lovingly known as “Renovation Fever”.
Without fail, a home show will feature one or more exhibitors selling replacement windows. You’ll find displays with vinyl replacement windows, fiberglass replacement windows, and wood replacement windows — often from leading manufacturers like Alside, Pella, Harvey and Champion. Side by side with these reputable, well established companies, you’ll find exhibits from ‘discount’ replacement window vendors who promise you that they can provide top notch replacement windows at a fraction of the price.
Quality matters when you’re considering replacement windows. This is one area where you truly get what you pay for: opting for the cheap, discounted replacement window may wind up costing you additional money in the long run, due to excessive energy loss, moisture and cold air penetration, and inferior construction requiring costly repair.
Do your due diligence. Here are some questions you may want to ask vendors selling replacement windows:
- What type of guarantee do these windows carry?
- Do you stand behind your work?
- What about the installation?
- Do you do your own installation or subcontract the job to a third party?
- What kind of guarantees do you offer on the installation?
- Explain to me how this window will help me save energy here, in this area?
- What are the leading features I should know about this window?
- What kind of maintenance does this window require?
- How long has the manufacturer been in business? Are they in good financial health? Will they be around if I need help with these windows five, ten, or twenty years down the line?
- What about your company — have you been in business long? Do you belong to the Chamber of Commerce?
- Can I have references from five satisfied customers?
- How long would it take, from your initial visit to completion, to get new windows in my house?
New Tax Stimulus Means the Time for Replacement Windows is Now
Here at US Home Improvement, we’ve long known that replacement windows, particularly vinyl replacement windows, offer superior value, enhance the appearance and comfort level of a home, and help save energy. That’s why we were particularly happy to hear a story on 90.3 WCPN talking about the impact of the new tax stimulus package will have on homeowner’s ability to enjoy the multiple benefits replacement windows offer.
Under the new stimulus package, homeowners can get 30% off the cost of new, qualifying windows: a value of up to $1500-far more than previous government incentives for window-buyers. This savings is delivered as a tax credit, which can result in a significant savings at tax time. This can mean some extra dollars in your tax refund check, or a reduction of the amount of tax you have to pay. Either way, it’s a real benefit to homeowners.
This is especially pertinent, as many homeowners are discovering that selling their homes may not be an option. With a soft market, sticking it out in your existing home may be the best financial decision — so why not be comfortable. Installing vinyl home replacement windows, particularly vinyl home replacement windows from a leading manufacturer like Alside, can make a real difference in the enjoyment and comfort one experiences inside their home. By eliminating drafts and minimizing moisture penetration — which can lead to allergy-triggering mold and mildew — vinyl home replacement windows can positively impact your health. And of course, the superior energy efficiency home replacement windows offer means saving money heating and cooling one’s home.
Home replacement windows are a home improvement that hold their value. This is a critical consideration for homeowners who plan to sell eventually, but are reconciling themselves to living in their homes for now. You want to invest your dollars in the upgrades that will pay off when the market improves. That means that while redoing your kitchen to suit your personal dream vision may be tempting, there’s no guarantee that the potential buyers down the road will value — or be willing to pay for — the same culinary battery you’re enamoured of. Everyone, however, likes to be warm, dray, and to save money while looking good. That means that replacement windows is the way to go — and the sweet tax incentives don’t hurt either!