You may have noticed that certain glass windows in your home or commercial property are providing you with a distorted, cloudy view, no matter how many times you wipe the glass. This can be frustrating and horrible to look at but what causes this fog to develop in your window? Read on to find out.
Insulation and the R-value
As many experts agree, your windows and doors are the primary sources of thermal energy wastage in the home, which is why it is important to ensure that your home and windows are well insulated.
Single-pane glass (and glass in general) is not a great insulator. Instead, insulated, or double-pane glass is used to make glass windows and doors more energy efficient. The efficiency or insulation properties of your windows are measured according to the R-value (a materials measured ability to halt the flow of heat) of the glass. What makes insulated windows have a higher R-value is because air or gas is sealed between two panes of glass, thus improving their efficiency. Additional gasses (krypton and argon are becoming increasingly popular), coatings, and glass panes can also be used to drastically improve the R-value of your windows.
Not only do windows with higher R-values provide a more comfortable environment (that is warmer and causes less frost and condensation to form on your windows) but they can also take a burden off your energy bills from heating and cooling costs.
What are foggy windows and how does it occur?
Windows and doors take a lot of use and abuse and, therefore, have to be flexible enough to withstand daily use and weather condition, but also have to be durable enough to withstand the test of time.
Usually insulated or thermal window glass fogs as a result of condensation and moisture build-up between the actual window panes themselves. The primary contributing factors that cause a window to fail and become foggy are:
- Seals.
Often identified as the main reason why windows become foggy, ruptured seals allow water to infiltrate the windows and distort the view. It is important to make sure that any windows you install have proper safeguards to prevent water from pooling on the surface and breaking down the seals.
- Excess heat.
Ruptured seals are often only part of the reason why your window seals failed. Temperature and pressure fluctuations are the truly destructive factors, caused by the sun and other factors, which causes the glass panes to expand and contract over the course of the day which will create wear and tear on the glass and on the seals (softening and weakening them until they crack and allow moisture in) – leading to condensation and causing permanent damage, quashing the insulation properties of the windows.
Although moisture circulation and the evaporation cycle are natural and unavoidable, as time and weathering will eventually cause the seal to fail, but it is important that you install modern, high-quality windows that include a secondary sea and have an extended, guaranteed, lifespan.
Apex Window Werks is home window repair, replace and insulated glass repair company that services the following states: Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio. For more details about the company, visit their website.