Storm windows are a type of window that may be affixed as an ‘add-on’ to the main windows of your home. Their core purpose is to act as a sort of additional protection to already pre-installed windows so as to improve their heat retention capacity. In winters, they may retain heat while in summers they are used to provide ventilation and prevent stuffiness without allowing ‘creepy crawlies’ ingress into your house.
Depending on homeowner preferences, they may be fixed either inside the house or outside to prevent the primary windows from being exposed to the environment.
The materials used to make these windows include:
- Hard plastic
- Flexible polymer sheets
- Glass
Moreover, another advantage of storm windows is that they may be either permanent or temporary depending both on the usage of the homeowner as well as their aesthetic appeal. Many such windows are roughly analogous to highly insulated glazed windows. I.e. windows that have gas filled spaces sandwiched between multiple layers of glass to ensure greater heat dispersion in very cold weather.
Apart from their core function of heat retention, such storm windows also help protect both the home as well as primary windows during violent snow, hail and thunderstorms.
However, this is their secondary purpose. Their main raison d’être (reason of existence) is to provide an added layer of protection against extremely cold weather. This is why such windows tend to be temporary structures that may be taken down during more balmy weather such as during the summer season. As such, they are not even remotely popular in regions that offer a moderate or tropical climate.
However, well-built storm windows have the potential of decreasing thermal heat loss by as much as fifty percent in a single home, effectively making them a highly inexpensive solution to many heat related problems. Add to that the fact that their installation is markedly less costly than actual primary windows and the fact that they can be added and removed as and when desired makes them an increasingly appealing low cost alternative for many house owners.
Inexpertly installed windows with cheap and shoddy materials have a tendency to decrease the clarity of vision of the external environment due to lack of ease in cleaning as well as condensation related issues.
Moreover, a badly placed storm window can actually mar the aesthetic appeal of the structure on which it has been mounted. Therefore, before deciding to acquire such windows, it is imperative that skilled and experienced professionals be hired to do the job.