Replacement Windows - Tips

Anyone who has done any checking into replacement windows has heard all the hype from all the window manufactures about how good their windows are and how much money they will save if they replace their windows with a particular brand with such and such type of E glass, so on and so forth. But how much of that is pure hype and how much if any truth is there in it.

Strangely there is a large amount of truth in what people have to say about replacement windows for you home or business. But there is also an element of; well it’s not exactly deception, more like a willful skirting of real life scenario information.

If someone tells you that new windows will pay for themselves in energy savings, there is truth in that statement. What they don’t tell you is how long it will take to save that much on your heating and cooling bills to cover the cost of the replacement windows. The average time is about 13 years to recoup the money invested in new window. Really, you say how can that be? Well let’s do the math shall we.

For the median size home, the average cost of having replacement windows installed is around $8,500 fit and finished. Some may be more, some less, but for the average home with average design windows; the median range is between 7 and 10 thousand dollars to complete the job. Please keep in mind that these figures will vary with each application and location. Some markets may be higher or lower.

So if a homeowner spends $8,500 replacing windows we now have a base to work from. If we speculate that the average cost for heating and cooling the average American home is $350 per month and the annual cost would be somewhere around $4,200 a year.

With all the best features replacement windows have to offer the boast is they can save you from 20 to 30% on your annual heating and cooling costs. For our purposes we will take the low end average as we feel this is a more realistic figure unless you live in a very extreme climate and curtains fly two feet from the wall when the wind blows. Using the 20% figure, the savings for the example we set would be around $840. Slightly less then the 13 year average of recuperation of cost, but still you can see that the return on money invested is quite lengthy.

 

Don’t get me wrong, this is a very good thing, but it miffs me just a bit that a vast amount of dealers in the market try to hype the return to make it sound as if your investment will be recouped in no time at all.

Beyond that, replacement windows have value that adds up in ways other then energy savings. The Curb appeal of your home, in your mind and those of prospective buyers might be greatly increase with the addition of any of the many readily available replacement window styles. Come sale time, those dollars invested can have a substantial return.

Even if you don’t plan to sell your home, the added comfort, ease of cleaning with most new models, the added security as well as the energy savings should do a lot to leave you with a warm feeling during cold weather.