Energy efficiency should be a priority in every home, as being on top of your energy usage not only keeps your home more comfortable and your energy spending down, but also helps protect the environment. But what does energy efficiency have to do with replacement doors and replacement windows in Fair Oaks, CA?
It may be surprising, but your doors have a massive impact on your home’s energy efficiency. After all, doors are just big holes in your home’s insulation. If you want to make sure your home is as energy efficient as possible, you need energy efficient doors. How do you find energy efficient doors?
Luckily, Energy Star and other organizations try to help you by offering different ratings and measurements that quantify a door or window’s energy efficiency. You can use these measurements for quantifiable and comparable information to guide you to choosing the best doors and windows for your home. From U-values and solar heat gain coefficients, these measurements are important. But one of the most important ones is R-value.
R-value is the resistance to heat flow through a door or a window. Heat always moves from warmer to cooler areas because of the laws of physics. Therefore, when there is a large temperature difference between the outdoors and inside your home, your doors’ R-value is very important. If it’s a chilly Benicia winter day, the warm air inside your home will naturally escape through your doors. If it’s a super-hot summer day, the outside heat will try and move through your doors into the air-conditioned indoors.
This phenomenon means that inefficient doors will allow more heat flow, making your heating and cooling systems work overtime to maintain your ideal indoor temperature. The harder your heaters and air conditioners work, the higher your energy usage and bills. When shopping for fiberglass replacement doors, look for those with a higher R-value. A fiberglass replacement door with an R-value of 5 is 50% more efficient than a window with an R-value of only 3.3.
A replacement door or replacement window with a high R-value will definitely help reduce heat loss and gain in your home, making it easier to keep warm or cool. High R-value doors offer lots of other benefits for your home, including:
- More consistent temperatures all around the home
- Higher overall home resale value
- Lowered energy usage
- Lowered heating and cooling energy costs
It’s important that you find the most energy efficient replacement doors and replacement windows for your home, and The Window and Door Shop, Inc. can help. We have years of experience in the Fair Oaks, CA replacement window and door industry, and would love to use that experience to help you find the best doors for your home in terms of style, function, energy efficiency and more. If you have more questions about energy efficiency and doors, or about replacement windows and doors in general, we are here for you. Please pay us a visit, or give us a call for more information.
