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So, after I got all excited about the money we saved because we replaced our front door, I started looking into replacing our windows as well. Our windows are original to the house, which means that they’re 27 year old ugly, heat-conducting, aluminum single pane windows. At some point the previous owners installed some storm windows as well (very unusual for our area) which are also single pane. Between the two sets of windows we kinda sorta have almost-dual pane windows. Although, did I mention that two of our windows are actually just plastic on the inside? Yeah. So we really need to replace at least two of them (out of seven, plus an oversized sliding door).

We had our first estimate last night, and the total was painful: nearly $7500. The sliding door alone came to about $2700. Obviously we’ll be getting more estimates, and most likely doing the sliding door last. But this is something I would like to get done within the next year if at all possible, so that we can take advantage of the federal tax credits for energy efficiency being offered until December 31, 2007. And I’m glad we got the estimate now, so that we’ll have time to save up first and do it in stages if necessary.

The fellow who gave us the estimate did a demonstration that was very effective. He put a heat lamp behind the various types of glass they offered and a BTU meter on the other side to measure heat output. Naturally the more energy-efficient the glass, the less heat that made it through. Less heat making it into our house certainly sounds appealing, because that also means less air conditioning escaping out, and less money being spent. While he was busy with something else I played with the BTU meter, holding it up to a compact fluorescent light, and then putting it next to the normal light that was right next to it. The difference was shocking. The meter shot up for the normal light, and barely budged for the CFL. Funny how an estimate on new windows also sold me even more on CFLs.

At any rate, new windows are definitely on the agenda at some point. If any of you have replaced your windows, please share your experiences. Did it make a big difference energy-wise? Dollar-wise?

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