Portland
Oregon Real Estate - Live Green...Live Well!
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Patrick
Smith, MBA, AHWD
Eco Broker Certified
503-421-3824
Licensed in the State of Oregon
CONTACT PATRICK
4001
NE Halsey Street, Suite 100, Portland, Oregon,
97232
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Portland Real Estate Green Tip: Energy-Efficient Windows One of the best things you can do for your Portland property, your monthly heating and cooling expenses, and the environment is replace old, inefficient windows and doors with updated, more efficient products. Although capital costs can be $5000 to $10,000 or more, it still makes sound economic sense when combined with a program of debt consolidation and/or refinancing.
Significant economic savings can come from modern windows. Unless recently upgraded, your windows are likely a major source of heat loss within your Portland property. In cold climates, windows transfer heating energy out of the building through both conduction and radiation. Additionally, depending upon how weather-tight the frame and seals, windows may transfer energy by convection as well. This situation is reversed in hot climates, with windows allowing heat into a building and forcing expensive cooling systems to work overtime.
Typical walls in homes are insulated to a level of R-11 to R-19, yet a single pane of standard glass has an insulating value of about R-1. In other words, heat can leak out of, or into, a building about 11 to 19 times more easily through glass than through the wall. This is why your grandparents insisted on installing storm windows for the winter in northern climates to boost window-insulating value to R-2, or perhaps R-2.5 with a good seal and tightly trapped air between the panes.
Modern windows using specially developed E-glass are much more effective at keeping heat and cold where you want them. Most progressive window manufacturers offer several lines of energy efficient glass with R values in excess of R-4. New designs still in laboratory development promise R-values of 10 or more!
Since glass is a fixed part of the building envelope, it performs 24 hours each and every day. With energy-efficient glass, less fuel is required for a given level of comfort with corresponding cost savings and pollution savings.
Assuming the same or greater level of comfort that you are used to, you can save a lot of energy and money by eliminating heat loss or gain through windows in your Portland real estate purchase. It is common in northern climates to save 30 - 40% of annual heating costs with super-efficient windows. With a monthly heating bill of $200, this equates to an estimated savings of $60 to $80 per month! Some large homes cost as much as $600 per month to heat, and the savings for these homes could approach $240 per month.
We replaced the windows in our Portland property in 2006 and realized a 54% reduction in seasonal fuel usage the first year! We opted to go with Milgard windows for a variety of reasons:
1. Milgard is known for its quality construction and superior performance of its windows and doors.
2. Our home is a 1919 Craftsman which required some custom-designed windows in order to maintain the period look of the home. Milgard offers an array of custom-design options that other manufacturers do not.
3. We wanted to go with fiberglass windows versus vinyl windows as a matter of personal choice. Fiberglass windows are less toxic for the environment in both manufacturing and installation. Milgard offers its customers a variety of framing treatments including vinyl, fiberglass and wood options.
4. Finally, Milgard is a local, northwest company with a superior reputation.
For Energy Star window and door purchasing tips visit the U.S. EPA website.
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