Single pane window energy loss...

[iwrock]

Anyone have experience with reducing the energy lost through single pane windows? I'm in the final stages of buying a house, and it's got a wall of glass which is all single pane. I'm afraid that when summer rolls around, these windows are going to do a poor job of insulating us from the summer sun and drive my energy bill up...

Does anyone have experience in reducing the energy lost through these windows, short of replacing the glass? I've seen some interior storm window inserts which may work, but figured I'd ask if anyone actually has any experience.

Here's the wall in question:



Thanks!

[Mike D]

North facing? South? Not a whole lot you can with single-pane other than using light reflecting sheeting. Any HOA restrictions in your neighborhood?

The exposed ceilings might be your bigger problem. What is above the wood slats? Tile roof?

I tried many different things here in Tucson to reduce heat gain but none of them worked. Finally ended up biting the bullet and had new windows installed.

[iwrock]

Originally Posted by Mike D

North facing? South? Not a whole lot you can with single-pane other than using light reflecting sheeting. Any HOA restrictions in your neighborhood?

The exposed ceilings might be your bigger problem. What is above the wood slats? Tile roof?

I tried many different things here in Tucson to reduce heat gain but none of them worked. Finally ended up biting the bullet and had new windows installed.

No HOA, and if the only way I can fix is to replace, so be it. They are on the east side so direct light is only a concern in the morning. I'm thinking of a storm window on the outside to cut down on conductive loss with an air gap.

Comp shingle above the roof. Was told it was 2" cedar with an insulating layer up there, but haven't been able to verify. Guess I'll just bite the bullet and pony up for the utility bill.

[tbomachines]

Limo tint.

[P.C.]

Just don't tint the driver's windows and you should be fine.

[my83300cd]

If the window frames are deep enough you might be able remove the glass stops and install an insulated glass unit with low e coating. The structure needs to be able to take the weight of the added glass however. If you go for an exterior storm, you want to add weather stripping at the perimeter, as the loss through the edges draft wise is usually worse than that of the glass. Again, the structure has to be able to carry the weight, which is why an IGU replacement would be a better watch to go. I'd be more concerned about insulation in the roof above the T&G decking.

[Diseasel300]

I live in a 1959 ranch-style house with the original windows. They're the aluminum frame with single-pane glass and very poor weatherstripping. When I moved here, there was maybe r4 batt style insulation in the attic. The first winter I was here, I had heating bills nearing $500 every month. That spring I had loose fill blown in the attic to a depth of 24". It made such a profound difference that the A/C was massively oversized in the summer. The following winter, my energy bill dropped by 2/3 of what it was the previous year. A couple years ago I had the HVAC system replaced and went from a 5 ton unit to a 3 ton (which is still oversized) and halved the bill yet again.

To summarize: I'd be far more worried about the roof insulation rather than the windows.

The attic insulation was relatively cheap and made a profound enough difference in the energy bill that it isn't cost effective to replace the windows. My utility bills are already low enough that I'd never recover any cost, or if I did, it would be over such a long period of time that I probably wouldn't live to see the break-even point.

[davidmash]

Our house was built in '68. Same issues as 300 above. We blew in new insulation to R60 and we also replaced the windows. The aluminum single pains we had were either hot or cold to the touch depending upon out side weather. The new windows can be in direct sun and I do not feel the heat radiating through them.

Cost of dual pane is quite high and I suspect for the windows in that house they will be crazy money. Something you may wish to consider as a stop gap/alternative is solar shades. We put it on our sun room and the difference was significant. They can reduce 80%+ of the heat gain.

[t walgamuth]

But he has no attic to blow insulation into.

Glazing is the second biggest heat gain/loss after infiltration losses....loss due to cracks letting air in or out.

Storm windows will help nearly as much as true insulated but will be hard to seal enough to prevent dirt building up in between the glass. Those big glass areas are lovely but big heat losers/gainers.

Depending on how much insulation is there now, adding good levels of insulation and going to storms or true insulated glass should cut your energy consumption in half.

If you have a couple inches of urethane between the decking and shingles you are pretty good there.