Choosing window replacements for your home entails having to choose from the different types of windows that you can install in your home. Some of the window types that you can choose from include bay windows, double hung windows, awning, sliding and casement windows. You also have the option of having your windows glazed as to better manage heat transfer from the outside to your home. Picking the right window can beautify your home and provide better comfort to those who live in it. However, choices on window replacements today are not limited to the type and glazing of the window. Nowadays, it is also a good idea that you consider the type and grade of glass that will be placed on your window replacement.

Grades of glasses

In picking your windows, you also need to consider how your windows can help you improve your energy efficiency. Picking the right window can help you increase this efficiency if you know the types and grades of glasses that can help you do just that. There are four grades of glasses that are widely used in the market; these are the clear glass, the low emmissivity glass, the heat-absorbing glass and the reflective glass.

The clear glass is the most widely used glass for windows in the market. However, as homeowners become more aware of the energy saving capacity of using glazing technology on their windows, most of them opt to have these clear glass windows glazed, which can control condensation and heat transfer. The low emmissivity glass has a surface coating that reduces heat transfer by about forty to seventy percent without reducing the amount of light that passes through the window. Heat absorbing glass absorbs up to forty-five percent of solar energy, which reduces heat gain. Reflective glasses are glasses that are coated with a reflective film that enables it to reduce heat gain during hot days. However, the reflective film can reduce the passage of light to your home.

The various types of glass that can be used on windows offers homeowners more choices in their purchases of window replacements and apart from helping the homeowner be more cost efficient, the new techniques to create these types glasses also help the homeowner with his energy efficiency.