10 Reasons to Repair Your Old Windows
Replacement Windows: It's All in the Name
Replacement windows are called “replacement” for a reason. Manufacturers often offer lifetime warrantees for their windows. What they don’t make clear is that 30% of the time, a replacement window will be replaced within ten years.
Rypkema, 2006
Don't Blame the Windows
More heat is typically lost though your roof and un-insulated walls than through your windows. Adding just three and 1/2 inches of insulation in your attic can save more energy than replacing your windows, and will likely cost less.
Rypkema, 2006
Materials Matter
If your wood windows are 60 years old or older, chances are the wood that they are made of is old growth, which is dense and durable wood that is now scarce. Even high-quality new wood windows, except for mahogany, won't last as long as historic wood windows.
Equals in Efficiency
Recent studies have demonstrated that a historic wood window – when properly maintained and weather stripped, and with a storm window – can be just as energy efficient as a new replacement window.
Sedovic, 2005
Don't Make More Debris
Each year, Americans demolish 200,000 buildings. That is 124 million tons of debris, or enough waste to construct a wall 30 feet high and 30 feet thick around the U.S. coastline. Every window that goes into the dump adds to this problem.
Hadley, 2006
Who Likes a Long Wait?
Replacing your windows and looking for payback? Don't hold your breath. According to some studies, it can take up to 240 years to recoup enough money in energy savings to equal the cost of installing replacement windows.
Calculations by Keith Heberern
Do the Green Thing
Replacement windows that contain vinyl or polyvinyl chloride are toxic to produce and create toxic by-products. Installing these in your house is not a "green" approach. However, investing in and restoring what you already have is.
Sedovic, 2005
It's a Matter of Character
Your original windows are an important part of what gives your older or historic home its character and charm. Swapping them with mass-produced replacements will take away from the special story of your house by homogenizing one of its most eye-catching architectural components.
Practice Makes Perfect
With just a little bit of practice, it can be easy – not to mention relatively inexpensive – to repair and maintain your home's original historic windows. Caulking and weather stripping are two low-cost projects that will really go a long way in improving the efficiency of your windows.
Spend Local
Not a DIY-er? There are people near you who can do it for you. Hiring a local skilled tradesperson to repair your original historic windows fuels the local economy and provides jobs.
Rypkema, 2006
Do you love your older and historic windows? Share that love with the world by uploading pictures to our special photo group on Flickr.
