My Green Home Doors and Windows:
a Mix of Old and New
Plus Many Tubes of Caulking

When builders talk about home doors and windows, what they usually mean is new doors and windows, or replacement doors and windows.

House window replacement is BIG business and a lot of money is spent trying to persuade us that our old windows are just holes through which our hard-earned cash flies out faster than we can earn it!

Prudent consumers should take all that hype with a grain of salt. Although it's true that Energy Star windows are a wonderful invention, did you know that in terms of energy efficiency new doors and windows may not offer the best return for your investment?

When I purchased this house, one of the elements that I scrutinized was the condition of the doors and windows. I had a limited budget and didn't want a big chunk of it to go on something that wasn't that important to me. For me, a window is to open and close, and look through, not look at; and a door is for entering and exiting, and keeping the cold out.

Yes, it's possible to make old windows look new.

The result was that of the 16 existing windows, I figured that only 3 needed replacing. All the remaining 13 needed was a bit of TLC in the form of repairs and improvements – and a lot of caulking.

Right now, I'm looking into interior storm windows. I'm more and more convinced that they are the most direct route to energy efficiency. I'm looking at homemade permanent ones for my sunroom-office, where six of the windows don't open anyway, and at custom-made ones, which are designed to be removed during the warmer weather.

I will report my findings here, so keep checking back!

As to the doors, I thought they were worth reusing. Click here for a first account of my door project.

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