From controlling solar heat gain indoors, to maintaining your home’s thermal envelope, windows play an integral role in keeping your home as efficient as possible. This means that choosing replacement windows can either strengthen or sabotage your energy efficiency. But how exactly do you find what type of window best suits your needs?

With years of experience serving our local area, our experts at Renewal by Andersen® of Sacramento offer these practical window selection tips.

NFRC Labels

If you’re shopping for energy-efficient windows, it helps to pay attention to its NFRC label. The ratings shown on these labels can give you a good idea about the particulars of a window’s energy efficiency.

U-Factor

The U-factor rating is present in many home remodeling products. In a nutshell, U-factor numbers show how good the product is as an insulator. The lower this number is, the better it is at resisting heat from penetrating your home. As far as windows are concerned, you always want to look for low U-factor ratings, especially if you live in a heating-dominated climate.

R-values are the inverse of U-factors. If the window you’re considering is showing R-values, then you want this to be as high as possible.

SHGC

SHGC stands for Solar Heat Gain Coefficient and it shows you a measure of how much of the sun’s heat a window will transmit indoors. Many factors can affect a window’s SHGC, but the biggest one is perhaps the type of glazing it carries. With Renewal by Andersen windows, we only use High-Performance™ Low-E4® glass, tested to have the lowest SHGC numbers compared to other products.

Renewal by Andersen of Sacramento is your leading provider of high-quality replacement doors, windows, and other home remodeling products and services. Give us a call at (916) 226-3359 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free in-home consultation and request a no-obligation quote today. We serve homeowners in Sacramento, CA.