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From an energy perspective, fiberglass is far preferable to aluminum.Īluminum windows are highly conductive since they don’t insulate as well as vinyl, wood, or fiberglass frames, they are rarely appropriate for an energy-efficient house. In recent decades, window manufacturers have begun using more rot-resistant materials, including aluminum, vinyl, pultruded fiberglass, or some combination of these materials.įiberglass and aluminum are likely to be the most durable choices.
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If you don’t like the look of exterior cladding, design a home with generous roof overhangs and be prepared for a regular maintenance schedule that includes scraping and painting. While most aluminum-clad windows are actually made of wood, new composite materials sometimes hide behind aluminum or vinyl cladding. (Once a window has been protected with aluminum cladding, it’s sometimes hard to tell what the sash or frame is made of. If your heart is set on wood windows, it’s probably best to choose those that have an vinyl or aluminum cladding. Some newer wood windows, however, are made from materials that rot faster, such as finger-jointed pine. Wood windows can last for decades, especially if they are protected from the weather and regularly painted. Older wood windows were usually made from rot-resistant wood - often heartwood from slow-growing trees. Until World War II, almost all residential windows were made from wood. Wood windows require periodic maintenance Look to all three elements of a window for high performance. And spacer performance is important in controlling condensation as well. Glazing and frame performance are important, but so is the spacerĪs the thermal performance of the frame and glazing improves, the performance of the spacer (with thermal effects that can extend out up to more than 2 inches into the glazing) becomes more important. Frame materials include wood, fiberglass, vinyl, aluminum, and both vinyl- and aluminum-clad substrates. They are an important part of a window’s overall thermal performance, and the type of frame helps dictate how much maintenance the window will need over its lifetime. Window frames do more than hold the glass in place and allow the window to open and close. Their number, total area, and orientation to the sun can make or break the energy efficiency of a high-performance home. In addition to the important architectural contribution they make, windows have far-reaching energy consequences. Windows are among the most complex building components in a house, and at several hundred dollars or more apiece, also among the most expensive. Choose frames and glazing for energy performance