Leaky Windows Drain Your Home of Heat

During cool or cold weather, the last thing you want to experience are chills caused by cold drafts inside of your home. These cold drafts could be coming from leaky windows that allow the cold air to enter your house. As a result, your residence will become uncomfortably cooler. Furthermore, these leaky windows could be putting a strain on your HVAC system. Keep reading to see if there is anything you can do to prevent cool air from entering your home through drafty windows.

What Exactly Causes Cold Drafts?

Drafts are caused by cold air that enters your house through small cracks or gaps that surround your windows. Several culprits can produce those chilly drafts you experience in one place or another within your home, but all causes ultimately involve insulation.

Gaps or cracks in the structural components of your house like in your attic, crawlspaces, and ventilation ducts, or ill-fitting or poorly sealed doors or windows affect how your home maintains heat. Most people tend to think that the cool drafts they experience when sitting close to their windows has little to no effect on their HVAC system’s heating efficiency. However, leaky windows do affect the unit’s ability to effectively heat a house and can cause the system to become overworked.

According to the United States Department of Energy, heat gain and heat loss through windows comprises 25%-30% of a home’s overall heating and cooling energy use. Not only does that adversely influence the comfort level within a house, but it also hurts the environment by expending a massive and unnecessary amount of additional energy. This is also costing you lots of money over the long term in your electric bills.

Low quality or poorly insulated windows are a tremendous detriment to the efficiency of your heating and cooling energy expenditures. This is true not only of your heating needs during the winter but also how much energy your house requires to stay cool in the summer.

Is There Anything You Can Do?

If your home suffers from leaky or drafty windows, all hope is not lost. You have a multitude of choices in fixing the problem and improving your overall energy efficiency. However, the first thing you must do is determine why your windows are letting cool air into your living space.

One consideration involves the age and condition of your house’s current windows. Depending on those factors, you will need to decide if you want to replace your windows or recondition the windows currently in place. Based on that decision, you can choose the best course of action to take to maximize energy efficiency while minimizing your financial cost.

Another consideration is that the windows installed in your residence may not be appropriate for the geographic area you live in. If you live in a cold climate, your windows may not be made from materials that can handle the extreme temperature.

Choosing to apply caulk or weather stripping around your windows may be your least expensive option in the short run. Caulk and weather stripping is available at most hardware stores and only takes a short time to apply around windows. However, if you have old windows that have large gaps around them, you might want to consider the expense of installing new windows. Not only will new windows fit properly, but you can purchase double-paned windows that ensure heat stays inside of your home.

Whether you choose to restore your old windows or install new ones, our technicians at All Temp Co., Inc Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing, & Electrical will be happy to discuss the options available to you.

There Is No Job Too Big or Too Small

The good news is that no matter what your heating and cooling needs may be, the team at All Temp Co., Inc Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing, & Electrical has got you covered. Whether you are working on a renovation, dealing with a heating emergency, or needing to have your home’s energy efficiency evaluated to reduce your energy bills, our skilled technicians can help.

We offer financing options on approved credit so that you can quickly take care of your heating and cooling needs. Serving the greater Concord area, including Harrisburg, Charlotte, Mount Pleasant, Cornelius, and the respective surrounding townships, All Temp Co., Inc Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing, & Electrical has the solution for all of your heating and cooling issues. Staffed with some of the finest professionals and technicians in the HVAC industry, we have dedicated our services to the residents of the Concord area for over 25 years. Give us a call today, and see how we can improve your heating and cooling efficiency now and in the years to come.