Home About Writers Categories Recent Issues Subscribe Contact File Transfer





Bob Crager
Bob Crager of Lewis Street Glass is a 26 year veteran in the glass business. Lewis Street Glass is a leading Wichita Glass company, serving the entire Wichita/Sedgwick County area since 1919. They do anything and everything having to do with glass, both residential and commercial. They also do Auto glass. They are located at 743 South Market, facing Kellogg on the South, and you can reach them by phone at (316) 263-8259. You can email Bob Crager at bcrager@lewisstreetglass.com
Glass
2005-01-01 08:51:00
Window leaks mean higher bills
:  It’s been said we waste more energy than we use.  How can we avoid doing this as much in the home?
ANSWER:  It’s not secret... when the thermometer goes down, the heating bill usually goes right through the roof.  Most folks begin to crank down that thermostat in an attempt to cut that bill for next month. This method can cause a condition known as “the shivers”, or “the chatters”…and normally isn’t the fix for the problem.Take a match and go to the windows in your home when the wind is blowing outside. Strike the match and hold it just inside those windows, taking care not to catch the curtains on fire in the process. If the air movement inside your home by your windows is such that it blows that match out, or begins to move that flame around, your problem more than likely isn’t going to be resolved by turning down your thermostat. It’s the windows, and they don’t have to be that old for them to be the problem.Thermopane technology wasn’t up to speed until the 1990’s, and lots of windows installed in the 1980’s and before are a real problem. They leaked, lost their seals, and suffered a lot of dry rot from all of the moisture that stayed on the window frames and sills due to sometimes nothing but bad designs. Dry rot or wet rot, in wood that is exposed to the elements every day, year after year, will eventually end up as serious problems unless they are seriously maintained. This requires a homeowner to periodically assess the condition of the windows of the home, and take preventative measures to stop these types of things from getting out of hand. Sometimes, in older homes, there are still single pane windows. A homeowner with single pane windows will lose heat and air conditioning right through those glass surfaces 24/7, year after year. That’s unnecessary, and very costly!  It is much more cost effective to have those windows upgraded to multi-pane glass as soon as possible. And when selling that home, these are the kinds of problems that are going to be turned up in an inspection, which will normally require the Seller to have the repairs made as a condition of sale. So it might make more sense to go ahead and do the repairs so that you can enjoy them, as well as the new owner after you've sold the home.Your glass professional can evaluate your situation, and estimate the cost of adding panes of glass to your existing glass surfaces, and/or whether your windows should be totally replaced. Whether you take action right now, or whether you don’t, you’ll be paying for it either way. But, if you get those energy wasting window panes corrected right away, you’ll only pay for this problem short term, rather than paying for your inaction from now on…You decide. More next month…
 
The Q & A Times Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.Materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Thank you.
 
Wildcard SSL Certificates