Take a look outside your window right now; what do you see? You probably notice luscious green grass on the lawn, blossoming flowers and plants, and glorious sunshine. Such are the signs that summer is just around the corner. If you live in Toronto or the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), you’ll know that while summer is a beautiful time of year, full of outdoor adventures and late-night BBQs, it can also be scorching hot.
Toronto is in a unique geographical position. It gets hit hard with cold winters due to the polar air mass outbreaks, and the summers can be incredibly humid and sticky because of its proximity to the Great Lakes. Home air conditioning units are essential appliances for Toronto and GTA residents. Without an AC, you can quickly forget the fun times of summer. Your life becomes oppressively hot, sticky, and miserable.
We’re Casa Bella Windows in Toronto — serving the city and the GTA. We manufacture and install high-quality windows and doors. As Torontonians ourselves, we understand how critical it is to have a home air conditioner running throughout the summer. And we also know how expensive doing such a thing can be. Depending on the type of AC you have, whether it’s portable or central, the cost of running it varies. But if your unit runs every day, you risk paying into the thousands on energy bills.
Fortunately, replacing your current windows with energy efficient windows will save you from paying unnecessary and costly bills. They’ll also keep you fresh and cool. At Casa Bella, committing to energy efficiency is one of our top priorities. Not only are energy-efficient products practical for customers, but they’re also helping to heal our planet from climate change.
Let’s look at why our windows will keep you cool all summer long, help out the environment, and save you money.
How Do Energy-Efficient Windows Work?
Are you wondering how you’ll have lower energy bills with energy-efficient windows? There’s a technological method behind such windows that keep the inside air indoors and the outside air outdoors. The less heat that enters your home, the less you’ll have to turn up the AC — this means that you’re conserving energy and helping out the planet.
Here’s what makes energy-efficient windows so unique.
Low-Emissive Glass
The panes of energy-efficient windows are made with low-emissive glass (or Low-E glass) to help protect the inside of your home from harmful UV rays from the sun. Low-E glass minimizes the amount of ultraviolet and infrared light that comes through a typical window without decreasing the amount of light entering your home.
They have a microscopically thin, transparent layer of dielectric (ceramic) and silver materials, which reflects heat away from your house. Low-E panes can block up to 97% of the sun’s rays. Compared to traditional glass, which blocks about 20%, that’s a significant difference.
Better Insulation
Many traditional windows come with metal insulation. However, metal isn’t the most successful at keeping heat in or out of your house. In modern, energy-efficient window models, the metal insulation is replaced with urethane or polymer structural foams, which can insulate or expand and reduce the heat loss rate.
Other windows feature gasses such as Krypton or Argon as insulation, which are also great at expanding and reducing heat loss. With better insulation, you’ll also experience less window condensation during temperature changes.
The Benefits of Vinyl
Casa Bella offers high-quality vinyl windows in Toronto and the surrounding area. Vinyl is durable, long-lasting, and provides much better insulation than other window frame materials such as aluminum or wood. Vinyl minimizes heat transfer — keeping your house cool — while aluminum sometimes conducts heat (and cold), therefore making your windows less energy efficient. Vinyl is superior to wood because it’s long-lasting and virtually low maintenance.
However, if you want to live energy-efficiently and enjoy the beauty of wooden window frames, you should check out Uniqwood® Plus Windows — exclusive to Casa Bella. These window frames provide the durability of vinyl on the outside and the elegance of wood on the inside. You get the best of both worlds!
If you’re interested in saving money and the planet, consider the benefits of switching to energy-efficient windows. There will be an initial cost of replacing your windows, but it’s a worthwhile investment. You’ll save so much money down the road and feel good knowing that you’re doing your part to protect the environment.
