DC and Northern Virginia Replacement Windows Buyer’s Guide – Tips for Summer/Fall Installation

As the dog-days of summer in the DC metro region fall upon us, Congress leaves this muggy, humid area for its summer recess, and air conditioners are working full tilt to keep up with the demand – it’s a great time to replace your windows. Notwithstanding quick-moving summer thunderstorms and hungry mosquitoes, this time of year is typically quite reasonable for installation of Northern Virginia replacement windows, doors and glass enclosures from Vinyl-Lite Window Factory. The heavy spring rush on home contracting has subsided a bit, summer vacations are in full swing, and you’ll likely be able to set up the schedule you want for repairing and replacing your windows – just in time for Fall rental preparations and back-to-school activities. In fact, leaving window replacement to the professional while you’re on vacation, at the beach or camping, is a great option to consider – this way valuable air conditioning isn’t lost through the open windows and doors while your Northern Virginia window replacement or repair is underway.

During this very hot Northern Virginia summer and fall season, the average Washington DC and Northern Virginia area homeowner can realize very significant savings on energy bills by replacement of old, drafty, fogging and leaky windows with new, energy-efficient vinyl ones. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that the average mid-Atlantic household spends at least 40% of its energy costs on heating and cooling bills. Extreme savings (particularly helpful during these difficult economic times) from replacement of your Northern Virginia windows or doors can be had not only on the reduction in energy bills, but also at tax time next year – by receiving Federal residential energy efficiency tax credits and green building incentives for energy conservation home improvements.

On February 17, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009. This bill extends and modifies the tax credits for windows, doors, and skylights established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Qualifying products purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 are eligible for a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the product cost. Installation is not included; be sure to obtain an itemized invoice from your retailer or installer. The maximum amount of homeowner credit for all improvements combined is $1,500 during 2009 and 2010.

Your replacement window products should carry the Department of Energy – Energy Star seal of approval. Think “Low E”, Argon Gas Fillers and Super Spacers. Look for a low U-factor and in Northern Virginia, a low Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) rating is essential – 0.30 or less is the goal (and is required to take advantage of the energy conservation tax credits for home and window improvement). U-factor measures the rate at which a window, door or other home/patio opening conducts heat or cold flow. For windows, a U-factor may be reflected in the glass or glazing alone. However, National Fenestration Rating Council U-factor ratings represent the entire window or door performance, including the frame, glass, and spacer materials. The lower the U-factor, the more energy-efficient the door, window, patio enclosure or skylight. Old windows often have U-factors over 1.0. Energy-efficient vinyl replacement windows can reduce heating and cooling costs up to 15%, depending on climate, insulation and shading, sun angle, and so on. Energy Advantage Low-E Glass is a high performance, energy efficient window glass made with an invisible coating that blocks heat flow. It is sold directly by Vinyl-Lite Window Factory, and made by Libbey-Owens Ford, a company with more than a century of experience making glass for improved living.

Older homes, especially those found throughout older areas of Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William counties, usually contain lead paint. Painted window sashes tend to rub against painted frames, and therefore windows are the most common source of lead dust in the home. It has been well documented that even tiny amounts of lead dust can cause serious health issues. Professional lead remediation is available, but complete window replacement might be both a more affordable option and as stated earlier, a much more economical solution for your total home cooling, heating and tax bill. Rubbing and flexing of older windows also creates stress that leads to frame sagging and distortions, cracking and destruction of weatherstripping, caulking, and the various fittings that may be present for security measures. Altogether, older painted wood or aluminum windows do very likely cost you much more in “nickel and dime” direct or indirect repair and maintenance costs over the years, than do long-lasting, modern and energy efficient vinyl replacement windows.

Aluminum windows in particular are subject not only to paint peeling issues, but also fading, corrosion, air and sound leakage, and rapid breakdown of their seals and fitting components. Very frequently they become both difficult to open, and hard to close completely and lock. Especially during these hot Northern Virginia summer months, the direct sun can heat your existing windows to very high temperatures, melting the silicone seals – these seals re-congeal when the temperature drop overnight. As this is repeated each day and night over the long summer and into fall, the cycle results in drafts, window fogging or condensation, and ultimately very inefficient windows. Aluminum windows also conduct heat extremely well, resulting, in effect, your windows actually becoming mini-heating units as heat is conducted through the window and radiates into the house!

Vinyl Windows on the other hand, are terrible conductors of heat/cold. Vinyl doesn’t get nearly as hot during the day and the seals will stay intact throughout the hot spring, summer and fall months, even as Northern Virginia temperature swings really gear up towards the end of fall. Vinyl windows do not corrode like Aluminum, and they tend to flex and conform to the natural settling or temperature-induced expansion/contractions of area homes – without interfering in the smooth operation of opening, closing and locking.

Vinyl-Lite Window Factory in Northern Virginia and Washington DC, operating out of Prince William County, is Northern Virginia’s oldest and most successful vinyl replacement window and door service provider in the area. Vinyl-Lite has won numerous awards for business and community contribution and excellence. Vinyl-Lite offers superior, expert and factory-trained assistance in designing, choosing, installing and maintaining your Northern Virginia replacement windows. Additionally, Vinyl-Lite can help you navigate the energy-efficiency tax credits available for your home renovation project, whether it includes the core windows and doors, or also includes specialty garden windows, patio enclosures, screening solutions, vinyl siding or other custom window and glass replacement or repair projects.

One other point – while replacing your windows, look also to improve overall home security with window alarm security screens – find the best at National Security Screens in Prince William County.

DC Metro and Northern Virginia Windows – Vinyl-Lite Certified to Manufacture ClimaGuard SPF RLE 71/38 Coated Energy-Efficient Windows

Northern Virginia’s Vinyl Window, Glass, Door and Patio Enclosure Factory,
Vinyl-Lite Windows Factory,is Certified to Manufacture
ClimaGuard SPF RLE 71/38 Coated Energy-Efficient Windows in Virginia

Vinyl-Lite Northern Virginia Window Factory, in Lorton, VA, has met the criteria for becoming a Certified Fabricator of the Guardian Industries RLE 71/38 coated window/glass products. Certification means that Guardian confirms Vinyl Lite Windows is capable of processing these products for its Northern Virginia, Metropolitan Washington DC and Maryland Window customers in accordance with Guardian’s professional, technical and quality standards.

Guardian Industries’ latest residential glass ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 provides energy-saving climate control combined with a uniform, neutral appearance that enhances the beauty and design of any home.The Science of Comfort Guardian’s ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 helps keep indoor temperatures comfortable regardless of outside elements. Homeowners save money on utility bills, all year long, in any climate.

Product Highlights:

• Windows with ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 that are rated and certified by the NFRC can comply with ENERGYSTAR® requirements for all climates in the country.
• Regulates environment, including keeping relative humidity at a comfortable and healthy level.
• Decreases fading transmission.
• Industry standard for color neutrality.
• Best-in-class mechanical and chemical durability, increased scratch resistance.
• First double silver low-E product with comprehensive non-edge deletion commitment.
• Fabricator support for low volume, heat-treated low-E with short lead time.
• Two heat treatable partner products for custom tempered requirements:

- HT – comparable appearance, solar and thermal performance.
- DHT – comparable appearance, where solar and thermal performance attributes are less critical.

Energy Benefits

The challenge.
Maintaining a comfortable indoor environment is a challenge when temperatures fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, throughout the day, between seasons, and across climate zones. According to U.S. Government estimates, an average household spends more than 40% of its annual energy budget on heating and cooling. This is especially challenging in the Mid-Atlantic region around Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland, where windows and doors take a beating from Spring Rains and Summer Highs, to Winter Lows.

Keeping you warm when it’s cold outside.
Choosing ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 glass can result in significantly lower heating energy costs and an improvement in insulating value by as much as 50% over standard clear glass. In cold regions, this means that windows are no longer an energy loser to be avoided – increasing glazing area with high performance windows can have little or no effect on total energy use.

Keeping you cool when it’s hot outside.
With ClimaGuard RLE 71/38, solar heat gain and damaging radiation can be significantly reduced without sacrificing clear views and daylight. ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 blocks up to 50% more unwanted solar energy than standard clear glass, and up to 40% more than even dark tinted glass resulting in lower air conditioning expenses and a more comfortable living environment. ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 also blocks nearly twice as much harmful radiation as clear glass, extending the life of woodwork, carpets and furnishings, while still allowing plenty of natural sunlight to brighten interior spaces.

Keeping you comfortable in any climate.
In mild climates or in climates that enjoy mild seasons, southern and western elevations of a home can be exposed to significant unwanted solar heat gain. The result is a higher temperature in rooms that are exposed to the sun, while the rest of your home and the air outside remain at a comfortable level. ClimaGuard RLE 71/38 greatly reduces this effect and helps maintain a uniform comfort level throughout the house.

Find out more about this Energy-Efficient Northern Virginia Window product and manufacturer.

Security Screens, Alarm Screens and Virginia Home Security Systems – National Security Screens

Searching for “security screens” and “alarm screens” used to be fairly straightforward – the terms usually meant having to do with replacement window screens for homeowners or businesses, that both protected against intruders and bugs, but continued to let air and light through. Security Screen or Alarm Screen features from leading security screen manufacturing and installation companies like Northern Virginia’s own National Security Screens (NSS) manufacture, ship and/or install the traditional window screen security products.

Features include:

• Detection of screen removal, tilting or destruction with high-output audible siren
• Can be converted by utilizing your existing screens or customized NSS-built screen frames
• Consists of special alarm mesh interwoven into screens for security and protection
• Private, on-site detection device, with no special monthly monitoring fees
• Professional and experienced manufacture, installation assistance, and customer care
• Comes with manufacturer’s warranty

Now there’s a proliferation of products utilizing the same “security screens” term; those screens, blinds or additional barriers for homes and businesses that are essentially additional, physical guards – using metal, aluminum or other high-strength material for physical protection from intruders. The products are sold sometimes as additional options along with Northern Virginia replacement vinyl windows.

These barriers, however, aren’t in the same family of products nor offer similar kinds of multi-feature security functions and benefits as traditional alarm screens and security screens. For alarm installers, security companies and home builders, security screens and alarm screens from National Security Screens come pre-wired for greater home/business owner or customer security and easier alarm installation. For homeowners, when it comes to investing in your family’s safety, National Security Screens offers the valuable protection you want.. and need.. with ScreenAlert. ScreenAlert’s home window alarm screen detection device protects from break-ins, even when your home’s windows are open. ScreenAlert provides an effective barrier over window openings and detects intruders, while still allowing a free flow of light and air into your home with unobstructed views.

Late Spring/Early Summer is the Best Time to Consider Energy-Saving Replacement Windows for Northern Virginia

The Northern Virginia and Metropolitan Washington DC area is a region of significant temperature and weather variations, though not typically to utterly unreasonable extremes. Springtime weather may change from very hot and humid to cold and rainy in a single day, while mid-winter temperatures in the 70’s (for January!) tend to occur every few years. Therefore, your choice and options for replacement windows in Northern Virginia should take into account the rapid changes and variations of weather, without necessarily focusing solely on seasonal averages. Your new or replacement windows should assist your overall energy conservation goals by effectively separating warm from cold air at all times, whether the cold air is outside the window, or inside the home. These objectives are relevant for any kind of window, from vinyl windows to wooden, from double-hung to single-pane patio doors or enclosures, and from home windows to commercial siding.

This time of year (late spring) is an especially good time to have your Northern Virginia windows examined, repaired and/or replaced. (Note that window repair should be considered for any type of window scratch, crack, stain or other factor that would decrease the effectiveness of heat transfer or reflectivity). Long rain events occur with decreasing frequency, thunderstorms are not yet into their summer cycle, temperatures are moderate and both heating and air conditioners are likely not being utilized as much. Installing during the time will allow you to set a baseline from which your energy cost savings resulting from installation of new, energy-efficient windows can be more accurately measured over the coming years.

Energy Advantage Low-E Glass is a high performance, energy efficient window glass made with an invisible coating that blocks heat flow.  It was invented by Roy Gordon, a Harvard University “Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of Chemistry”, in the 1970’s, with full-scale manufacturing and production started in 1989 by Libbey-Owens Ford, a company with more than a century of experience making glass.  Low-E glass is manufactured with a microscopically thin and transparent layer of metal or metal oxide that reflects infrared “heat” energy back into the home, greatly enhancing the thermal performance of the window. “Low-E” refers to “emissivity”, which is a measure of the ability of a surface to absorb or reflect heat. As an energy efficient glazing technology, Low Emissivity (or Low-E) glass is a poor absorber of heat.

There are basically two kinds of Low-E glass. Low-E glass with a low Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) reflects and keeps much of the Sun’s heat energy out of the home. This is the best choice in climates dominated by cooling. Low-e glass with a high Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) allows the Sun’s heat energy into the home; this is the best choice in climates dominated by heating or for south facing windows in climates with a mix of cooling and heating requirements. Northern Virginia qualifies as a “North/Central” region (according to Energy Star), with a profile of both “heating and cooling” home requirements, the emphasis being on heating costs vs. cooling. This profile also means you’re your home’s windows, doors and siding in Northern Virginia should be routinely monitored and considered for replacement, due to the constantly changing weather conditions, temperature-change induced stress, and widely-varying energy consumption cycles.

How Does It Work?

Ordinary clear glass allows heat to pass through it. Since hot air always flows towards cold (in the absence of other factors influencing air currents, like fans), during the winter heat from inside your home will try to flow to the outdoors.  In the summer, heat from the outside flows through your windows into the cooler interior. The special coating on Energy Advantage Low-E glass is 2 ½ times more effective at helping separate heat from cold; in the winter heat stays inside, where you need it to keep your family warm, with the opposite happening in the summer. Savings in energy costs can be tremendous, especially when replacing not only older, energy-inefficient windows in Northern Virginia, but also replacing and properly sealing window frames, doors and siding. This is especially relevant in homes and commercial properties with very large windows, patio enclosures, exposed garden windows or any large surface areas devoted to glass.

Northern Virginia’s premier window factory and manufacturer experienced in this area (in the fast-growing Lorton and Newington areas of Prince William County, also serving Fairfax County, Arlington County, Loudoun County and the Dulles South Region, and areas of Washington DC and suburban Maryland) will be able to provide the best consultation regarding overall window installation, plus evaluating and selecting the appropriate Energy Advantage Low-E glass specifications for your Northern Virginia window requirements. Vinyl-Lite Northern Virginia Window Factory is the local manufacturer to consult over large chains like Lowe’s or Home Depot – local, Northern Virginia window installation and replacement experts like Vinyl-Lite will have the most up to date information, experience and customer results to share from the local neighborhoods and commercial centers.  

Patuxent River Naval Air Station area – PAXRiverOnline.com

New from St. Mary’s County, Maryland – a site devoted to businesses, news and organizations near the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (PAX), in St. Mary’s County, Southern Maryland (SOMD). www.PAXRiverOnline.com will begin showcasing local businesses, organizations and news – for example Cherry Cove, providing everything from PAX River NAS apartments, PAX River hotels, Naval Air Station PAX River homes and construction, Southern Maryland Conference Centers, Office rental and storage facilities, and many other businesses serving the PAX River NAS area in Lexington Park, MD.

Northern Virginia Windows, Siding and Doors – Vinyl-Lite

At Vinyl-Lite Window Factory, we are specialists in the Northern Virginia window and patio door segment of the home improvement industry. We’ve seen and heard just about every question, concern, thought and idea, from customers and experts alike. We continually incorporate the acquired information into all facets of our custom window operation, from sales and service to manufacturing and installation, making our products and services as complete as any in the marketplace. If it’s for residential real estate home improvement, business, churches, commercial, construction or contractors – we have your new or replacement windows, doors or patio enclosures and a plan for all your needs at the best prices.

Vinyl Lite Northern Virginia Window Factory – 8815 Telegraph Road - Lorton, Virginia 22079
(Phone) 703-550-7766  (Fax) 703-550-5659

Northern Virginia Landscaping – Grow Landscaping of Falls Church, VA

Grow Landscapes has been proudly serving Northern Virginia landscaping, Fairfax landscaping and Loudoun landscaping clients in Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC since 1992. We provide complete landscape design, garden design, patio design and backyard landscaping installation and maintenance services for residential and commercial landscaping customers, from our Falls Church 22042 landscaping and gardening headquarters.

To schedule an appointment, please contact Grow Landscapes Northern Virginia Landscaping Design and Maintenance or call 703-536-0412.