Unless you live in a place with an endless, brutal winter, you won’t find excessive solar heat gain desirable. If you can’t control the sun from overheating your interior spaces through windows, your comfort relies on how well your air conditioner works.
For the first half of our special blog, Renewal by Andersen® of San Francisco answers the most pressing questions about solar heat gain mitigation. Here’s how a well-thought-out window replacement can help slash your cooling costs noticeably:
The heat from the sun is easier to block than to kick out. Your windows must have super energy-efficient glass to deny most of the sun’s heat energy entry into your home.
Today’s window manufacturers use either tints or coatings to reject solar heat and both techniques are effective to great effect. As technology advanced, however, fenestration has adopted spectrally selective glass. This type of glass is smart enough to reflect only solar energy but admit the visible spectrum. New-generation spectrally selective glazings have become more efficient in reducing heat gain while promoting daylighting.
SHGC, or Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, is an energy performance rating for fenestration products, like windows. It measures the ability of the unit to resist solar heat gain. Much of it depends on the type of glazing used, but other factors come into play too. For instance, the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) also considers the ability of the window to absorb heat and transmit it to the room.
Plan your windows replacement the smart way by looking for the SHGC rating. Expressed in numbers ranging from 1 to 0 (least efficient to most efficient), you’ll see it on the ENERGY STAR® label on the product.
Any product that bears the ENERGY STAR label meets the strict energy efficiency criteria of a particular regional climate. It has a map, which reveals that shaded areas where the product in question can work efficiently.
In window replacement, it matters to buy products with ENERGY STAR’s seal of approval. However, only choose those certified for the North-Central Climate Zone, not for the Southern areas.
Stay tuned for the second part of our special blog about solar heat gain. Learn why our products are perfect for the San Francisco climate. Call us today at (866) 609-5033. Renewal by Andersen of San Francisco will be happy to schedule your free, in-home consultation at your convenience.
Previously, we talked about everything you need to know about mitigating solar heat gain through windows. Now, we want to discuss heat gain’s greatest foe: our revolutionary High-Performance™ Low-E4® SmartSun™ glass.
How can our most well-rounded glass package keep solar heat gain in check? Here’s why you should choose it for your windows replacement:
The window that blocks 100% of the sun’s undesirable invisible radiation doesn’t exist yet, but our SmartSun glass is the closest thing: it lets in just 28% of the total infrared energy that touches it. This among the lowest Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) rating you could find in the industry.
To put things into perspective, a single-pane unit with clear glass allows 86% of solar heat transmittance through its center. That could still go down with an energy-efficient frame and sash material, but it wouldn’t still be on par with our SmartSun glass solution.
In addition to its exceptional SHGC, the SmartSun glass makes our replacement windows a formidable barrier against solar damage. It only lets a meager 5% of the total ultraviolet light that tries to pass through it.
In other words, the SmartSun glass keeps your valuables from fading fast. Your drapes, carpets, floor materials, and furniture pieces would still turn dull eventually, but it delays evident discoloration for years, if not decades.
Our SmartSun glass proves that excellent solar heat resistance and poor visible light transmittance are not mutually exclusive. Unlike many efficient glass solutions on the market, its reflective power has virtually no effect on the clarity or color of natural light. Its remarkable ability to thwart attempts of infrared and ultraviolet rays to come inside wouldn’t deprive your room of adequate daylighting and clear view.
Our replacement windows come with stellar warranties. We provide industry-leading, 20-year coverage on SmartSun glass, which should give you peace of mind it would perform as expected for many years.
Learn more on how we can work on window replacement projects in San Francisco, CA. To schedule your free, in-home consultation and get a no-obligation estimate, call Renewal by Andersen of San Francisco now at (866) 609-5033. We’ll be happy to meet with you at your convenience. be sure to check the first part of our blog to learn about the effects of solar heat gain on homes and ways you can measure your windows’ SHGC.
