Triple-track storm windows or dedicated storm windows?
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| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
My almost-40-year-old house has aluminum triple-track storm windows (likely installed when the house was new) on top of the original wooden single-pane windows. Would using dedicated wooden storm windows in the winter offer better insulation in the winter? Thanks. Regards, Bob
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Replies
Bob,
Wooden storms might perform slightly better -- if they were new, unwarped, and had a good weatherstripping and attachment system.
Wooden storms might also perform worse -- if they were warped, for example, or were not secured evenly on all sides.
Here's the bottom line: storm windows won't do you any good at all if they aren't attached to your house. Experience shows that homeowners don't like the task of putting up wooden storm windows every fall and taking them down every spring. (Triple-tracks provide ventilation in the summer; old-fashioned wooden storm windows don't.)
All of us age, and you will eventually reach an age where you don't want to do this task. Then your wooden storm windows will perform very poorly indeed, because they will be leaning against the back wall of your garage all winter.
Mr. Holladay: Thank you very much for your answer. Regards, Bob Kozma