If your windows are in decent shape, start with insulation and air sealing. In most older homes, the walls, attic and hidden air leaks lose more heat than the glass does, and they cover far more of the house. If windows are rotting, leaking or fogged between the panes, replace those first. A failing window is a repair job.
This is the weekend a lot of Spokane households sit down and talk about the big projects. Maybe it is the drafty living room in a South Hill foursquare, or the bedroom in a North Spokane rambler that never warms up, or the upstairs of a Hayden home that feels like a different season than the main floor.
Windows are usually the first suspect. They are the part of the wall you can see, they feel cold to the touch and you can sometimes feel air around them. Before you commit your budget, it helps to know how windows compare to everything else in your house.
How much heat do windows really lose?
Windows matter, and the numbers say so. The U.S. Department of Energy says heat gain and heat loss through windows are responsible for 25% to 30% of residential heating and cooling energy use.
Read that figure carefully, though. It covers both seasons. Part of it is winter heat escaping through the glass, and part of it is summer sun pouring in through windows and making your air conditioner work harder. Even in a heating climate like ours, some of a window's impact shows up in July on west-facing glass, along with what it costs you in January.
That leaves the larger share of heating and cooling energy moving through everything else: the walls, the attic, the floors and the air leaks that run through all of them. And heating and cooling are a big part of the picture. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that space heating and air conditioning together made up 52% of household energy use in 2020.
Why do my windows feel so drafty if they are not the main problem?
A few reasons, and none of them mean you are imagining things.
- Glass is a cold surface. Even a good window is colder than an insulated wall. You lose warmth to cold surfaces nearby, so sitting next to a window feels chilly even without air moving.
- Cold air falls. Air next to the glass cools, gets heavier and slides down toward the floor. That falling air feels just like a draft along your ankles.
- Some leaks run around the window frame. Gaps between the window frame and the wall framing, behind the trim, are common in older homes. Air sealing and caulking can fix those without replacing the window.
- The whole house is pulling air. Warm air rises and escapes through attic gaps around lights, hatches, plumbing stacks and chimney chases. As it leaves, the house pulls cold air in through any opening it can find lower down, including the gaps around your windows.
That last point matters. In a house with a leaky attic, sealing the attic can reduce the drafts you feel at the windows, because the house is no longer pulling as hard.
When are new windows the right first move?
Windows deserve their turn, and sometimes they should go first. Replacement makes sense when a window is failing at its basic job.
- Rot or soft wood in the frame or sill. Damaged frames let water and air in and get worse with time.
- Water getting in. Leaks around or through a window can damage walls and floors, so fix them before anything else in that wall.
- Fog or condensation between the panes. In double-pane windows, that usually means the seal has failed.
- Cracked or broken glass, or sashes that will not open, close or lock. Those are safety and security problems as well as comfort ones.
- A bigger change you want anyway. Different styles, easier cleaning, better sound control or a remodel can all be good reasons.
If your windows are in good condition, the Department of Energy points out that updating them may be the most cost-effective way to improve comfort: sealing air leaks, caulking, weatherstripping, window coverings, storm windows or panels, solar control film and exterior shading. Replacement is the route when you need a bigger change.
When does insulation make more sense first?
For a lot of homes built before 1980, the answer points to the walls and attic. Insulation tends to be the better first step when several of these sound familiar:
- Your windows open, close and lock fine, with no rot, leaks or fogging.
- Exterior walls feel cold to the touch, not just the glass.
- You feel drafts at outlets, baseboards and the attic hatch, away from any window.
- The attic insulation is thin, patchy or below the top of the ceiling joists.
- Upstairs and downstairs never seem to agree on temperature.
- The furnace runs long cycles on cold days and the house still feels cool.
Surface area is the simple reason. Your walls and ceilings make up far more of the outside of your house than the glass does. An empty wall or a thin attic is losing heat across all of that area, all winter long.
ENERGY STAR estimates that 9 out of 10 homes in the U.S. are under-insulated, and that homeowners can save an average of 15% on heating and cooling costs by air sealing and adding insulation in attics, floors over crawl spaces and accessible basement rim joists. Results vary by house, but the attic and air sealing are a common place to start.
What does this look like in a Spokane or Coeur d'Alene home?
Spokane County and Kootenai County sit in Climate Zone 5 on the U.S. Department of Energy's map, the zone defined by cold winters. In a climate like ours, a house spends a long stretch of the year trying to hold heat, so the biggest leaks have time to add up.
For our zone, ENERGY STAR recommends R-60 in an uninsulated attic, or R-49 when adding to 3 to 4 inches already there. Many older homes in neighborhoods like Shadle, Hillyard, Logan and the Perry District, or around Fort Grounds and Sanders Beach in Coeur d'Alene, have attics well short of that and walls with little or nothing inside them. In those homes, new windows set into empty walls under a thin attic tend to leave homeowners wondering why the rooms still feel cold.
Plenty of homes here also have good older windows worth keeping, especially well-maintained wood windows with storm windows on the outside. Those can often be tuned up rather than replaced.
Call a pro or handle it yourself
Some of this work is a good weekend project. Some needs a professional. Here is how we would sort it.
Handle it yourself:
- Weatherstrip window sashes and doors. Fresh weatherstripping on operable windows is a simple, quick job.
- Caulk interior window trim. Sealing the gap where trim meets the wall stops small leaks around the frame.
- Add window coverings. Heavier curtains or cellular shades closed at night reduce the chill from the glass.
- Try interior window film kits on the worst windows. They are a short-term fix for a cold room this winter.
- Check your attic depth. From the hatch, with a flashlight and a tape measure, see how deep the insulation is and whether it covers the ceiling joists.
Call a pro:
- Rot, water leaks, failed seals or broken sashes. Have a window professional look at those, because they are repair and replacement jobs.
- Empty or thin exterior walls. Premium Injection Wall Foam goes in from the outside through small access holes that are plugged and patched afterward, with no removal of interior drywall or plaster.
- Sealing attic bypasses. Air Sealing around lights, stacks, chases and top plates is cramped, detailed work best done before more insulation goes down.
- Bringing the attic up to the recommended level. Blown-In Attic Insulation is a common way to reach the R-49 to R-60 range for our zone.
- Deciding what goes first. An inspection that looks at walls, attic and air leaks together can give you a clear order of work.
How do I decide where my budget goes?
Start with condition, then comfort. If any window is failing, put it at the top of the list. If the windows are sound, look at the walls and attic, because that is usually where an older home loses the most heat.
Next, think in order. Air sealing and attic insulation are often a sensible first phase. Walls can come next, or at the same time. Windows can follow when they reach the end of their life or when you want a bigger change. Doing the shell first also means that when you do replace windows, they go into a house that holds its heat.
If spreading the cost out would help, financing is available through independent lending partners, subject to lender approval.
Finally, get a look from someone who will show you what is really there. During a free in-home insulation inspection, we measure what is in your walls and attic, take photos so you can see it yourself and give you a written price. If your windows are the bigger problem, we will tell you that too.
Spend this winter's budget where it counts
Good windows and a well-insulated shell work together, and the right order depends on your house. Get a free inspection and a written plan from USA Insulation of Spokane-CDA, so you know exactly where your upgrade budget will do the most this winter.
