Low E film coating
The beauty of vinyl windows, that are manufactured with Low “E” film coatings and have argon gas filled sealed units, is that when you have as many sunny winter days as we are enjoying this year your replacement windows are lowering your energy costs in 2 ways. Obviously professionally installed windows will keep out the cold, but they can also provide you with passive solar radiated warmth.
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Not only do these windows look beautiful but they will actively retain the heat from the suns rays. The combination of low E film and argon gas reduce the emissivity of your indoor heat. The right coating of low E film can allow some of the suns energy to enter your home in the winter while still reducing the effect of the sun in the summer.
Windows manufactured with low-E coatings typically cost about 10–15% more than regular windows, but they reduce energy loss by as much as 30–50%.
A low-E coating is a microscopically thin, virtually invisible, metal or metallic oxide layer deposited directly on the surface of one or more of the panes of glass. The low-E coating reduces the infrared radiation from a warm pane of glass to a cooler pane, thereby lowering the U-factor of the window. Different types of low-E coatings have been designed to allow for high solar gain, moderate solar gain, or low solar gain. A low-E coating can also reduce a window’s visible transmittance unless you use one that’s spectrally selective.
To keep the sun’s heat out of the house (for hot climates, east and west-facing windows, and unshaded south-facing windows), the low-E coating should be applied to the outside pane of glass. If the windows are designed to provide heat energy in the winter and keep heat inside the house (typical of cold climates), the Low-E coating should be applied to the inside pane of glass.
Low-emissivity (Low-E) consists of a thin layer of metal oxide applied to the exterior face of the interior glazing in a double-glazed window. This coating allows sunlight to pass through, but blocks heat from escaping. A double-glazed Low-E window provides similar insulation value to that of a triple-glazed unit, but costs less and weighs less. Low-E glazing filters out the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays, which can fade furnishings, and can reduce condensation on the window by keeping the indoor surface of the glass and frame warmer.
Tags: approved contractors, certified installers, energy efficiency, energy reduction, Energy Star Windows, high performance windows, moisture on windows, SAWDAC, window installation, window replacement, Window Wise
