Jack Spicer of Preservation Chicago is on a campaign to save the venerable 'wood frame window,' like these on his Chicago home. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
Each winter presents some homeowners with a choice: whether to replace old,
wooden windows with modern, energy-efficient ones before cold winds blow
again. Each year, more homeowners choose the replacement windows, often made from vinyl or aluminum. Shawn Allee found some historical preservationists want homeowners to think twice about that:
Transcript
Each winter presents some homeowners with a choice: whether to replace old,
wooden windows with modern, energy-efficient ones before cold winds blow
again. Each year, more homeowners choose the replacement windows, often made from vinyl or aluminum. Shawn Allee found some historical preservationists want homeowners to think twice about that:
If you think century-old windows have to be rickety and leaky, Jack
Spicer would like you to come to his place.
He’s eager to show off windows on his Chicago two-flat, built in 1908.
“So, here’s an example of the way an old-fashioned wood window
looks from the outside a hundred years later. These windows are
longer-lasting and obviously better looking than any replacement window you
can find.”
It’s no surprise Spicer makes this pitch.
He’s with a group called Preservation Chicago, and he’s on a campaign
to save wood-frame windows from the onslaught of vinyl and aluminum-framed
replacements.
Spicer’s losing ground, even in his own neighborhood.
“This apartment building replaced their windows. The next building
replaced all their windows. If you look across the street at this huge
courtyard building, there’re about 48 units in there. Those windows were
fine, and those windows are now trashed. They went into a dumpster and are
now in a landfill somewhere.”
But if old wood-framed windows are so great, why do so many US homeowners
replace them?
“Somebody told them it would save them money if you put in brand-new
replacement windows. Everybody’s taught that – you read about it, you
see the ads. All the replacement window (companies) tell you, if you’re
American and you love your children, you’ll replace your windows. Well,
we’re getting over that now, I hope.”
Spicer insists replacing your windows is not an environmental slam dunk.
He says if old wood-frame windows are properly sealed and have storm
windows, they’ll hold heat almost as well as replacements.
I ask Spicer for numbers on this, and he sends me to Mike Jackson, with
Illinois’ Historic Preservation Agency.
“Several years ago, Vermont as a state did a study and they looked
at repairing windows, adding storm windows, replacing windows, and what it
really came down to was, how leaky are your windows? If they were
reasonably tight, there wasn’t a lot of savings to replacing your windows
at all.”
Jackson says a new furnace or insulation are better pay-offs, and
replacement windows often last just a few decades.
“We’re throwing away items that lasted for a hundred years with
simple technologies and replacing them with more complex things with
shorter life spans. In our line, the reason they call them replacement
windows is because you have to keep replacing them.”
Well, people in the replacement window industry don’t take kindly to
this.
One rep told me the short life span of replacement windows is overblown –
high quality ones last longer.
And he told me, if energy prices rise in the future, replacement windows
become more competitive.
So, is it worth replacing old, wooden windows?
“There’re many factors and that’s why it’s, in our opinion,
not so clear-cut.”
Christian Kohler studies window technology at the Lawrence-Berkeley
National Laboratory.
He says replacement windows are better on energy, but it could take decades
to get a good payback and by that time, you might need to replace them
again.
Anyway, Kohler says there’s an alternative.
If your wood windows are in good condition, you can add storm windows that
have what’s called a “low – E” coating.
The coating helps retain heat.
“It’s applied to glass and it’s virtually invisible. It
doesn’t have a color or anything.”
Kohler says if preservationists want to keep wood windows around on account
of their looks or long-term value, it still makes sense to crack down on
leaks and get good storm windows.
It doesn’t make sense to waste energy on account of beauty when you
don’t have to.
For The Environment Report, I’m Shawn Allee.