Performance Data
Performance and Comfort
American vinyl windows are designed to conserve energy and reduce your home heating and cooling costs. The combination of vinyl’s excellent insulation properties and specially designed insulating air chambers makes vinyl frames a formidable barrier to heat transfer. Plus, combining Warm Edge 3/4″ insulating glass with Low-E coating and Argon gas will maximize energy performance. It is this combination of technologies that effectively decreases heating and cooling costs while at the same time minimizes sound transmission. Low-E also blocks up to 75% of the harmful ultraviolet rays which can fade carpets, draperies and artwork. In addition, Argon gas is six times more dense than air, and greatly reduces the transfer of hot and cold – adding even more thermal efficiency.
Tests performed to the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) method demonstrates the superiority of vinyl windows versus alternative framing materials. Vinyl windows keep the warm air in during the winter and the cool air in during the summer. In fact, using conservative national averages, upgrading to double glazed, energy efficient all-vinyl windows could save a homeowner more than *32% a year during the coldest part of the winter or the hottest part of the summer.
Warm Edge Technology
The warm edge spacer is an important part of the American window. Warm Edge technology is used to reduce heat loss and condensation build-up. This is accomplished by interrupting the heat transfer pathway at the glazing edge between the two glazing layers.
Low-E Insulating Glass Coatings
Low-E (low emissivity) Insulated Glass Coatings – Few things enhance the beauty of a home as dramatically as windows. For those who demand more from their windows – enhanced style, great versatility and high performance – there’s American vinyl windows with Low-E insulated glass. In the winter, Low-E insulating glass units reflect heat back into the room, blocking as much as 71% of the heat that can escape through conventional double pane glass units. Low-E coatings also allow free solar heat to enter from the outside. The result is greater comfort at less energy cost. In the summer, Low-E insulated glass units block 65% of the radiated solar heat from entering the home, while the special coating reduces direct summer sun rays by as much as 13%. This reduces total heat gain, making it easier to cool the home in the summer which helps reduce summer cooling costs. American vinyl windows with Warm Edge Low-E insulated glass units can reduce sun damage and fading by up to 75% protecting furnishings, carpets, paint and artwork. Additionally these well-insulated windows resist condensation and drafting, ensuring greater comfort.
Argon Gas Filled Windows
Argon is a safe, colorless, odorless non-toxic, inert atmospheric gas which dramatically improves a window’s insulating ability, particularly when used in conjunction with Low-E (low emissivity) glass. Warm Edge Insulating Glass with Low-E and Argon Gas have a 89% higher R-Value than conventional double pane insulating glass units. Argon gas filled glass units also reduce sound transmission by 3-4 decibels making American windows more efficient at noise reduction.
R-Value
An R-Value measures a material’s resistance to heat loss. The higher the R-Value, the greater the energy efficiency of the glass unit, and therefore the window. American Double Hung windows have an R-Value as high as 3.23.
U-Value
The U-Value is a measure of how well heat flows through an object. The lower the U-Value, the better the insulation value of the material. American Double Hung windows have a U-Value as low as 0.31.
NFRC Certified
All American windows have the NFRC label to insure that they have been independently tested and certified to meet your energy needs and qualify for the ENERGY STAR program.
ENERGY STAR® Qualified
American vinyl windows are 40% more efficient than the products required under the most common national building codes. An average household spends over 40% of its annual energy budget on heating and cooling costs. Installing ENERGY STAR windows can reduce those energy bills by up to 32%.
- Northern region must have a U-Value of 0.35 or below.
- Central region must have a U-Value of 0.40 or below.
- Southern region must have a U-Value of 0.75 or below.
American Double Hung windows with Warm Edge insulating glass and Low-E with argon have a U-Value of 0.34 which is better than the lowest ENERGY STAR requirements.
In Conclusion
In choosing American windows you can be assured that you have chosen a product that will save energy on your heating and cooling costs. You can also be assured that American windows will fit your lifestyle, beautify your home and increase your comfort level.
*All data is from the “Residential Windows” second edition. All U-Value and R-Value data is from Architectural Testing an independent testing lab.
