If the seal around a window in your home is broken or is leaking, you will be able to tell very easily. Condensation and fog will begin to form that you cannot wipe away because it actually is trapped between the panes of glass on the inside. Not only does it look aesthetically annoying, it can reduce energy efficiency inside the home too. Regardless if the seal was damaged or it has been deteriorating over time, you need to decide of you want to get it repaired or consider other alternatives.
Here are a few things that you can do when the window seals break in your home:
Checking the Warranty on Your Home Windows
Double and triple-pane glass windows come with a factory seal that goes around the perimeter to keep air from getting in or out of the space between the glass. The seal is responsible for keeping the glass apart from one another, working like a frame that holds the window sandwich together. One of the least expensive ways to repair the window is check to see if they are still under warranty. When you bought your home, you most likely were handed over a bag of warranty documents for appliances throughout the house. Go through the bag to see if the window warranty information is available. If not, check the windows for a tag with manufacturer contact information and the serial number.
If the windows have a premature seal failure, this constitutes and defective product and should be covered by the warranty and cost you nothing to have repaired. Some manufacturers guarantee their windows will not experience issues with obstruction of vision for twenty (20) years from date of purchase.
Fixing the Condensation Issue But Not the Seal
Short of forking out the money for a brand new window, one alternative is to simply address the condensation but not he seal. Now that the seal in the window has failed, you can clear the condensation or get a new window, so here is how you improve the field of vision on a budget. Local glass repair companies are now getting in the business of offering defogging services too. With the defogging process, the window isn’t removed or even replaced, in fact, everything stays exactly how it is. The defogging company will drill a pin hole in the glass to expel the fog and condensation until the space between the glass panels is dry. An anti-fog solution is pumped into the space, then a seal in the pin hole to eliminate this from occurring in the near future. Liquid sealant is applied to sure up the weakened seal.
Not only does this help to keep the windows from filling up the local landfill, it will increase your visibility instantly. The only issue is that the seal may fail in other areas over time, so the condensation may return in months or years. The homeowner can consider the cost of these treatments to a new window and make the cost-effective decision.
Simply Leaving the Window Alone
Perhaps you cannot find the warranty for the home windows and the cost to defog the glass isn’t in your budget, another thing you can do when a seal breaks is to simply leave it alone. If you reside in a part of the country where the weather is mild most of the year, then you really do not reap all the benefits of the double or triple-pane windows. If you live in a house with twenty or more windows, and only one is having issues with condensation obstructing your view, it isn’t really going to have that much of an impact on your utility bills.
Once the gas between the window pane escapes, the window actually still has a decent R-value with just air in its place. The air-filled window units have R-values of 2, half of a double-pane with gas, yet still effective.
Although the broken seal will reduce energy efficiency, it is important to consider that one window in a house of two dozen or more won’t show a considerable increase in your home heating and cooling bills.
