Air Leakage

Here at The Window Man we pride ourselves on being the Educational Window Company. We start the educational process by talking about the three Window Evils.

1 Air Infiltration 60%
2 Radiant Heat 30%
2 Conduction/Convection 10%

Today we're going to talk about air infiltration, also called or air leakage.

Air leakage is unwanted amounts of outside air entering the house through cracks and small openings. A leaky house allows moisture, dust and allergens into your home, making it unhealthy. As air pressure changes in your home, these same leaks also allow heated or cooled air to escape. These air leaks waste energy dollars! Air infiltration causes cold drafts and temperature differences within a room, which frequently causes the thermostat to be set higher or lower, so that the average temperature is at the desired level. The Window Man takes pride in only selling windows that far exceed industry standards to reduce the air infiltration into your home.

Air leakage may come from gaps and cracks around the windows and doors in your home and can account for 50% of your heating costs. By reducing air infiltration, you can use lower thermostat settings and your comfort level significantly increases.

A good analogy is to think of going outside on a cold, windy day wearing an expensive, good quality winter coat all decked out with thermal fleece and water repellent, but if you don’t zip it up, you get little of the benefits you paid for.

Choose a window that has been tested and AAMA certified for air infiltration. If a manufacturer elects to have its product tested, it cannot have more than 0.3 cfm/ft2 of air leakage per linear foot of crack space.

Vinyl is the most popular material windows are made from, but vinyl moves! Vinyl expands and contracts 10 times more then other window materials and windows are tested at normal room temperatures. Our experience shows that vinyl windows need to be tested at “.10” cfm or less, which is 3 times better than a passing grade so they don’t become drafty in the winter when they shrink.