Picking Out Your New Home Windows

When you set out to choose new home windows there are two distinct factors that you want to consider:  style and efficiency. While the style is what will be most pleasing to the eye, the efficiency of the windows is what will be most pleasing to your wallet over the long haul.

When it comes to style, there are basically three types of windows that you can choose from. Here are the three styles of windows you can choose for your new home:

Casement: These are the most energy efficient windows. Casement windows open from a hinge by way of a crank operation. This enables the sash of the window to stay tight and let very little air though.

Double Hung: A double hung window has a lower panel of glass and an upper panel of glass and will open from the bottom by sliding the lower panel up. The drawback to these windows is that over time the weather seal usually gets damaged from opening and closing the window and this allows for more air to get through.

Sliding: Sliding windows are much like the double hung; only they open by sliding one panel to the side of the other. The same weather seal problem that plagues double hung windows usually persists with the sliding windows as well.

After you have chosen the style of windows for your new home, you then need to consider how efficient those windows will be. There are two efficiency guides that can help you choose the best window efficiency wise for you, these guides are:

R-Value: This measures how much heat loss your windows are capable of losing. This is important to the overall efficiency of the windows so you will want to go with windows that have at least an R-3 rating or better. Of course the higher the rating, the higher the efficiency, but also the higher the price.

U-Factor: This is a measure of how well the windows will prevent air from coming in the windows. U-Factors that are less than 0.35 are desirable and considered efficient. This factor is especial important during the hottest and coldest times of the year.

There are also different types of glass treatments that affect the overall efficiency of the windows you will select for your new home. A regular panel of glass will not offer any protection and will therefore be the least efficient for windows.

You can also get glass that is treated with a glaze either on one side or both. The glass with one side glazed will be a little less efficient versus the glass with both sides glazed and this will again affect price.

The cream of the crop in window glass is Low-e window glass. These windows feature two panes of glass per panel and in-between the glass there is an invisible gas, such as argon, that keeps heat in or out depending on what you want. While these windows have the tops in glass they also carry the top price.

In the end it is all up to you and you have to weigh the overall savings due to the efficiency of the windows to the overall cost of the windows. A good rule of thumb when selecting new home windows is to go with ones that are as efficient as possible, but that still fit in your budget.

Sunsational Solutions uses line of best window films; we carry some of the best window tinting films on the market today. We have a patented line called select; this film actually has gold and silver in between the layers of film, giving it unmatched properties to protect your home and a film that is virtually clear. Contact us for a free estimate and a demonstration of our line of window films.

Ideas Why You Must Choose Window Film

Choosing Home Window Tinting Film can be a very important decision for your home’s interior health. Window Film helps keep the sun's damaging rays from entering your home and damaging wood, fabrics, carpets and even furnishings and artwork. Window Tinting also keeps your home cooler and reduces glare caused by the sun.

The new homes built today are filled with windows giving a feeling of spaciousness and beauty, unfortunately with all that glass comes the task of keeping the sun damaging rays out. You really only have three choices:

1. Do nothing, leave your windows wide open and enjoy the beautiful views of the outdoors, plus have all natural lighting throughout your home; your home looks and feels bright. But unfortunately with unprotected windows the suns damaging effects will cost the homeowner a great deal of money in replacement furnishings and even replacement or refinishing of wood and wall coverings.

2. Put up window treatments, this seems like a logical choice but with large great rooms and floor to ceiling windows, window treatments would be the worst choice to keep the sun out. Plus window treatments would have to be raised and lowered during the day; no one wants to live in a dark home, why put in all that glass if you are just going to cover it.

3. Use Window Tinting Film, this is becoming the best choice amongst the bunch. You still can enjoy your beautiful views and you still can have natural lighting throughout your home. The best thing about home window tinting is that you can cut the sun's damaging UV rays by up to 99.9% and reduce the heat entering your home by up to 15 degrees.

The choice is clear, home window film is the best all-around choice to protect your home interior.

Sunsational Solutions uses line of best window films; we carry some of the best window tinting films on the market today. We have a patented line called select; this film actually has gold and silver in between the layers of film, giving it unmatched properties to protect your home and a film that is virtually clear. Contact us for a free estimate and a demonstration of our line of window films.

Frosted Window Film to Large Sized Windows

If you are thinking about applying some frosted window film to large windows you will probably need to plan on spending an afternoon doing so. You will also need some help, at least at certain times during the application, as it can be quite cumbersome trying to manage large sheets of window film on your own. In fact, it is not really recommended that you try as there is a very good chance that you will end up wasting a lot of the film.

There are different types of window film available. Some is self-adhesive; these types can usually be used in any room of the house or on any plain smooth surface. The downside of using self-adhesive film is that it can sometimes wrap around and stick to it and once that happens, it is virtually impossible to separate it. It can also be a little difficult to take off again.

Static cling window film works well on most smooth surfaces as well. This type of film also works well in bathrooms as it is not affected at all by steam, heat or water. The plus with it is that it is also very easy to take off again, an important factor if you are renting a home only or if you often like to redecorate.

Regular window film is also fairly easy to work with, although it does take a bit of preparation work before actually placing it on a window and you need to follow the instructions carefully while applying it.

While it is fairly easy to apply window film for smaller sized windows or glass panes on doors it can get a little tricky applying it to patio doors or large windows, especially if the window is high enough up from the ground that you will need to use a ladder to reach the top of it. If you have not applied window film before you should 'practice' using smaller pieces beforehand until you are sure you know the procedure for applying it and you feel comfortable handling it? It is also helpful to arrange to have help from someone who has had experience at this type of thing before, as they will not only know all the secrets to doing a good job but they will know exactly which steps come first.

If you have a very large surface to cover you may be better off hiring a contractor or a window film installer to do the job for you. There are a couple of reasons why this may be a good idea. Firstly, they are experienced and can have the window film up in next to no time whereas you may find it takes you a long time to even do some of the simple steps. Secondly, if you have invested money in buying quite a lot of film to cover a large area, you do not want to risk doing something that would render the film unusable or that would cause it to fold onto itself, thereby wasting the money you spent on the film.

Use Opaque Window Films For More Privacy

One of the main concerns among home owners is peeking eyes from uninvited visitors. They would want to have some windows to have protection from the view outside. Sometimes, they would also like to block off some external views from being seen inside.

The easiest way to do this is to apply opaque window films. Window tints were introduced into the automobile industry decades ago, but it was only in the last ten years or so it found its application in residential homes. Now, almost every house has some window tint films installed on them.

There are many types of vinyl films that can turn your windows opaque. You may use frosted window films, etched glass films or stained glass films. The latest addition to the window tint industry is the colored window films.

You use frosted glass films or those that are lightly frosted to have a fully opaque or semi-opaque windows. Etched glass films are used when you wanted to have some form of decorative elements to the windows. Stained glass films will transform your windows to look like actual ones with a general feel of the medieval era design.

Window tints are made of vinyl material and most of the modern designs are developed as self-adhesive. This means that you will not need a group of professionals to install them for you as the material will stick to the glass surface by itself without any necessity for glue. If you want to remove them, you just need to peel it off.

One of the areas that many owners would want to add more privacy to is the bathroom and the shower enclosures. Frosted glass films are very popularly used on this area and if you want to be more adventurous, you may also use stained glass films. Window films can withstand both heat and moisture and these properties make them excellent to be applied in bathrooms.

Opaque glass films are also excellent if you want to apply them on cabinet glass doors. If you want to install them on sliding door, you just need to find a merchandiser who sells them in very large format. They are also creatively added to a side door that leads to a private garden and on storm doors too.

Besides adding privacy, there are many benefits of installing this product in your homes. You can use it to prevent heat gain and to reduce glare. In the event of breaking of glass during a heavy storm, the window film will hold all the broken glasses together.

Installing glass films on your own is very easy. All you need is just a spray bottle filled with soapy solution, a measurement tape to measure the size of your windows, and utility knife to cut off excess films and a squeegee to install them. The time taken to install window tints on a piece of window is between fifteen and thirty minutes.

You may purchase opaque window film conveniently from many locations. These include hardware stores, DIY mall and online store. When buying window films, always check on the reputation of the seller.