A Guide to Choosing the Best Kind of Material for Windows of Your Home

About 35% of all the heat that leaves your home escapes via windows. This means that the choice of your home’s windows is detrimental to your home’s energy efficiency. While standard glass is often used for your home, the material of the frame can determine how tightly sealed the windows are, how hard it is to keep up with their maintenance, and how good they look. This is why choosing the window frame for your home is not an easy decision to make. With that in mind, here’s a brief guide on what different material types have to offer.

Fiberglass

Fiberglass windows are incredibly durable. In fact, according to some estimates, they’re eight times stronger than frames made out of vinyl. They are also quite weather resistant, seeing as how they won’t rust or rot. Even more importantly, they won’t fade, which means that the exterior of your home might be protected for years to come.

One of the things that often gets overlooked is the low thermal expansion of fiberglass. This means that it won’t shrink and expand during extreme temperature circumstances. The cost of fiberglass is not that expensive. However, it’s not the cheapest option either. Vinyl, for instance, is significantly less costly, which is why it would be fair to describe fiberglass as moderately priced.

According to experts behind Summit Construction Group, fiberglass comes in all shapes and sizes. This means that you can pick the color that fits your home’s palette. It’s also worth mentioning that you can find fiberglass that looks like natural wood (which is far more expensive). This way, you get your cake and eat it too.

Wood

There’s a reason why wood windows are still a standard across the globe, as well as why they were the most popular option for centuries. First of all, they perform extremely well in both hot and cold weather. Now, some people are afraid of the fact that the wood will rot. However, what they fail to realize is that these frames are properly sealed, which makes them resistant to both rotting and cracking.

Second, wood provides incredible insulation. According to some estimates, the insulation provided by wood is up to 1,800 times better than that of vinyl. In other words, if energy efficiency is a priority and cost is not that big of an issue, you just can’t go wrong with wood. If you plan to go for solar power and make your home zero energy, this is probably the way to go.

These windows are also highly customizable, seeing as how they can be painted in any color imaginable. If you want to go for an even more expensive option, you can get them carved especially. The cost is quite high, however, taking into consideration the aesthetics and thermal properties, it would probably be wiser for you to focus on cost-efficiency.

Vinyl

When it comes to vinyl, it’s the go-to option when it comes to cost efficiency. Sure, when comparing individual properties of vinyl against some other entries on this list, it may turn out a bit inferior. However, when you think about cost-efficiency (the value that you get for your investment), this is really where vinyl shines.

In other words, vinyl is affordable, low-maintenance, and comes in the biggest number of different varieties. You can take brown vinyl that looks exactly like wood, and from afar, no one would be able to tell the difference. The key thing to bear in mind is that there are no real downsides to picking vinyl. Even if it cracks (eventually), you can just replace it with a new window and still be ahead from a financial standpoint.

The downside of vinyl, however, is that customization costs can be a bit on the expensive side. A standard (white) color is incredibly frugal. However, this won’t necessarily be the case with other variants.

Aluminum

Aluminum is also one of the cheapest options for new windows, with vinyl being the only one that even comes close to its cost. Same as with vinyl, it gives you great value for the money invested. As you would have expected, aluminum is far more durable than the majority of its counterparts, which means that when you stretch the cost over its useful life, you get an amazing ROI.

The next thing you need to keep in mind is the importance of maintenance. Now, if you plan to go for aluminum windows with an anodized or baked-on finish, you’ll never have to repaint them. in other words, you get a much longer effect than if you bought the most expensive wood finish. This is why a lot of people choose to go with aluminum instead of just focusing on the price.

The disadvantage of aluminum is that it’s not the best when it comes to insulation and heat conduction. In other words, the majority of items on the list fare better in this department. Also, corrosion and condensation are worth taking into consideration.

Composite

Composite windows are perhaps the most interesting entry on this list. First of all, they are quite energy-efficient and can reduce heat loss in your home by as much as 10%. In general, they’re seen as durable, dependable, and provide decent insulation.

The biggest problem with evaluating composite windows is their price. Why? Well, for starters, a composite window can mean some things. This is why they may cost between $300 and $1,200, which is a huge gap. So, are they cheaper than wood? Well, some of them are. On average, however, they’re most comparable to fiberglass.

Their cons, however, are the fact that their production is not exactly energy-friendly and that they have a fairly low resale value.

Wrap Up

In the end, each of the options had its pros and cons, so you might want to put this to paper. For instance, you might want to consider the following:

• How big is your budget?
• How much is your monthly power bill?
• Are durability and longevity huge factors?
• Where does eco-friendliness come from your list of priorities?

Once you consider all of this, you’ll know exactly what kind of windows you’re looking for.