If you are concerned about how much your windows protect — or fail to protect — your home, here is some information you might find useful.
First, your windows do actually play a big role in your comfort and safety. Obviously, they protect you from the elements. But when you begin to talk about storm protection, that’s where the qualifications begin.
Old windows, or windows that have some defect, can cost you money, and might also compromise your safety.
Replacing your windows with impact-resistant ones is costly, but if you consider the alternative, it might be worth it. In storms, for example, an old or defective window might break. If a window breaks, the building envelope will be broken as well, increasing pressure in the house that could actually lift the roof and push the walls out.
Scary? Yes.
Granted, the storm would have to be a very powerful one for that to happen, but it can happen in potent storms.
Your energy bills will be lowered. That is a great reason just on its own. Impact-resistant windows are laminated glass with Low-E coatings. This combination keeps heat and cold out, thereby reducing air-conditioning and heating bills, respectively.
You are most likely eligible for insurance discounts when you replace windows with impact-resistant ones, as most insurance companies understand the protection value these windows have. Another bonus: The resale value of your home goes up when these windows are installed. Many impact-resistant windows come with a 30-year transferable warranty.
These windows are made with layered glass and that layering helps reduce outside noise.
Impact-resistant windows also deter burglars: They can’t easily break them to get in. Oh, and the windows clean themselves. There is a coating that can be added to the windows that requires only sun and a little rain to maintain spotless, shiny windows.
Well, you do still have to clean them on the inside, but the outsides are covered.
Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of “Mystery of Color.”
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