Looking Through The Window to Eco Friendly Living

To some people living green is a catchphrase.  It’s trendy and everyone wants to be green or at least be perceived as being green.  Recently the biggest place to be reminded of green living is in the checkout aisle of the supermarket. It seems everyone has reusable cloth bags.  Some have the store name; others promote cancer research or some other
cause. If you actually buy a reusable shopping bag, you might even think about being green later on at home.  As you unpack your groceries you look out the window and think…what is green?

Windows are probably the biggest contributor to energy loss and cost, making them probably the least green feature of the house.  Windows transmit heat readily, which means that in the winter; heat is literally sucked out of the house.  Even if the windows seal well and have no drafts, windows will be significantly colder than the surrounding walls.  And the more windows the more heat loss.

In the summer, there can be two issues.  First, the windows will bring heat in to the house (heat always goes from hot to cold). Second, infrared heat from the sun can pass through the windows to heat objects in the room and thus heat up the room.

Probably the easiest way to combat heat loss or gain through the windows is simple window treatments.  A thin, semi transparent curtain called a shear can create an air space between the window and the room, mitigating heat loss.  Like the reusable cloth shopping bag, a little cloth can address a big environmental problem.

Newer houses usually have double pane glass, which have two layers of glass with an air space or vacuum.  This can allow you to not have a window treatment while not loosing heat, although even double pane glass looses more heat than an insulated wall, so cloth shears can still help you to have eco friendly living.

If you have an old house, it will cost a bit more to truly get green and eco friendly windows. There are several ways to improve your windows and they vary in cost.  The cheapest is to put poly film over the outside of the windows in the wintertime.  Thin plastic film can be put up with double face tape and or staples. By having the film on the
outside, it helps to seal drafts as well.

The second least costly way is to put storms and screens on your windows.  Storm windows are a single pane glass that goes over the outside of your windows, much like the film. These are mounted on made to order frames and attached to the house.  Most also come with a provision for screens, allowing them to be opened up for natural cooling in the summer.

Finally if you really want to have the best and most eco friendly windows, you can put in replacement windows.  This will replace your old fashioned windows with modern insulated double pane glass windows.  If you are going to do this you are probably the person who doesn’t buy just any reusable shopping bag, but an organic cotton bag! These
windows can have a payback time of 5 years or so, but represent the greenest option.

Go look out your window, then look at your window and ask, can I be greener?