I have a client with a 1935 built colonial style home in a historic district of downtown, Boise, ID. They have the old style metal framed storm windows that have release catches on the lower part of the frame so the can be slid up and down or removed. The are ugly and as you know, a pain the butt to clean. In an attempt to keep the house looking right for the period it was built, my client is thinking of removing them and replacing with nice matching mesh screens. That will leave the original windows and they are single pane divided light windows. The question is, do the old storm offer any real insulation from cold and heat. They are not air tight of course and the winters here and mild compared to many parts of the country. We do get snow and temps in the low teens. He cannot afford to replace the windows with dual panes and he is wondering if he will loose alot of heat and cold with the single panes. So, do the old style storm windows save any heat or cold?
If this is confusing, feel free to call me (208)-965-9035.
Depending on how old they are the weather seals could be deteriorated allowing even more cold air in. They may help with the wind but maybe not much more.
PS. They would be necessary if the main window’s glass is cracked and or broken.
buddyo is correct, and it’s costing more to clean them then any savings. In fact the customer may save cooling costs by have the windows open and sharing the breaze.
Dale
We talked to an inspector who made an interesting point. Basically, no matter the type of window, you still have a hole in the wall. So your old windows may be an R1 rating. Even the best most energy efficient windows are only maybe an R4. Now,
Compare that with your attic insulation, which is more like an R30, and you see the windows may not have a huge impact overall.
Not sure that was relevant, but I hope it was interesting
Phil, Tell your customer to try an experiment next winter. This will tell him how much of a difference taking the storm windows off will make. On an average cold day, have him pay attention to how long his heating system runs over say a 3 hour period. Then have him open all the storm windows and see how much longer the heating system runs over the next 3 hours. If the times are pretty close, it will not make much difference in his comfort to remove them. If it a big increase in run time, then he will have to weigh the additional heating and posibly cooling costs to decide if it is worth it.
