It’s a common and rational choice many homeowners make — they choose windows that are in their preferred style, and cost the least amount of money.

This isn’t a wrong notion — the initial cost of your windows is a very important factor — but it ignores the long-term costs associated with windows that could mean that by buying cheaper, less-efficient windows, you’ll actually be paying much more money than you expect.

Basically, buying energy efficient windows could actually save you much more money than you think.

If you want to dive further into the scientific reasoning behind this, you can look at this great article FineHomeBuilding wrote explaining the details. However, the general notion can be summed up in their opening paragraph:

A respected builder I know told me how he learned the true value of energy-efficient windows. In the course of his business, he installed a builder’s line of windows from a well-known manufacturer in every house he built. He felt good about his choice; he purchased the windows from a manufacturer with a reputation for quality, but they cost 10% less than the same manufacturer’s standard line of low-E, argon-filled windows, saving him about $600 per house. He even put them in his own new home. The first winter he lived there, though, he noticed that the windows seemed cold. Only then did he compare the U-values with the same manufacturer’s standard windows. He did some math and concluded that his windows were costing him about $150 a year. By his estimation, the low-E windows would have paid for themselves in four years and made his home more comfortable for their entire life span.

In Pennsylvania, this can be especially true. That’s why at Exterior Specialties of PA, we make sure to take energy-efficiency into consideration during the window installation process. If you want us to take a look at your current windows and see if you’re losing energy, give us a call today for a free estimate!