Improve your windows without replacing them.
Retrofit windows include ways to cut energy loss and save money without changing your existing windows.
What Are Retrofit Windows?
Hero Images / Getty Images
Retrofit windows are modifications to existing windows that improve the windows' energy-saving capabilities.
Retrofit window solutions can include modifications such as storm windows, interior window panels, and interior thermal blinds.
Retrofits provide cost and energy savings whenreplacing windowsis not a viable option.
Exterior Storm WindowU.S. Department of Energy
The problem is not so much the storm windows as the approach to purchasing and installing the storm windows.
Some homeowners may purchase poor-quality storm windows that permit air leakage.
Or they may install them with little care.
Interior Storm WindowU.S. Department of Energy
More than anything, relying on storm windows alone to fix bad windows is never a solution.
The highest value storm window is a low-e single-clear operable exterior storm; aluminum triple-track frame.
Interior storm windows are similar to shrink-fit window film insulation that attaches to window trim with double-sided tape.
By contrast, shrink-fit window film only lasts one season, if that.
Some cellular blinds install at the top of the window frame, much like mini-blinds.
Better cellular blinds run along weather-stripped edge tracks to keep the blinds in place and the cold out.
Equally effective are quilted window blinds.
These are made of thick, quilted fabric that rolls up and down.
One obvious downside of using thermal blinds as your retrofit window solution is that they are not transparent.
In more northern-situated cities, the sun sets even earlier: 4:19 p.m. in Seattle.
But to maximize the most benefits, choose Energy Star and AERC-rated products.
Windows that are broken, cracked, leaky, orfoggedand cant be fixed, should be replaced.
10 Things You Should Know About Retrofitting Historic Windows.The National Trust For Historic Preservation.
Energy Saver, U.S. Department of Energy.
Energy Efficient Window Coverings.
Energy Saver, U.S. Department of Energy.
Interior Storm Windows and Panels.
Building America Solution Center, U.S. Department of Energy.
