Windows & Doors

Windows & Doors in Los Angeles

Windows are the one energy upgrade where the national marketing numbers do not survive contact with Los Angeles. ENERGY STAR's own city table puts the annual saving here at around $70, against a national headline of more than $500, because our climate is mild and our heating season is short. That does not make new windows a bad buy. It makes the reason to buy them different. West-facing rooms that are unusable at four in the afternoon, street noise, furniture and flooring bleached by UV, and old aluminium frames that sweat in winter are real problems, and dual-pane Low-E glass solves them.

What this saves you

• Electricity
• Comfort

Real gains in comfort, glare and noise. A modest gain on the bill, and we would rather you heard that from us.

• ENERGY STAR's own city-level estimate for Los Angeles is about $70 a year from replacing single-pane windows, against a national average above $500. Inland cities such as Fresno and Bakersfield see three times the Los Angeles figure.

  Source: ENERGY STAR

• LADWP pays $2.00 per square foot on qualifying replacement windows, which for most homes is worth considerably more than the first several years of energy saving. Units must hit U-factor 0.30 or lower and SHGC 0.25 or lower.

  Source: LADWP Consumer Rebate Program

• Low solar heat gain glass is the specification that matters in our climate, because the problem in Los Angeles is afternoon sun coming in, not warmth leaking out.

  Source: ENERGY STAR

The straight answer

If your budget only stretches to one project this year and your goal is a lower bill, windows are not where we would send you first. Attic insulation and the HVAC system will both do more per dollar in this climate. We will say so at the estimate, and if you want the windows anyway for comfort and noise, that is a perfectly good reason to buy them.

Works best with: Attic Insulation HVAC & Air Conditioning Cool Life Paint

Savings depend on your house, your equipment and how you use it. We will not quote you a guaranteed number, and neither should anyone else. See the rebates currently available

Specifying glass for a Los Angeles house

The number that matters here is solar heat gain coefficient, not U-factor, because our problem is heat coming in through west and south glass on an August afternoon. We specify Low-E coatings tuned for solar control, argon fill, and warm-edge spacers, and we hit the LADWP thresholds of U-factor 0.30 and SHGC 0.25 so the rebate is available. For the worst west elevations we will also talk about exterior shading, which frequently outperforms upgrading the glass again.

Installation is where windows fail

A correctly specified window installed badly leaks air and water, and in stucco construction the flashing detail at the head and sill is what decides whether it does. We flash to the weather-resistive barrier, foam the perimeter with low-expansion foam rather than stuffing it with fibreglass, and seal to the interior finish. Retrofit and full-frame replacement both have their place and we will explain which one your stucco condition calls for.

Doors, patio sliders and entries

Sliding and French patio doors, fibreglass and steel entry doors with thermally broken frames, and multi-point hardware that keeps a large door sealed and square. An entry door is also a security decision and a kerb appeal decision, and the energy performance is the easy part.

What’s included

• Dual-pane Low-E glass specified for solar control, not just insulation
• Meets the LADWP rebate thresholds of U-factor 0.30 and SHGC 0.25
• Correct stucco flashing at head, jamb and sill
• Retrofit and full-frame replacement, whichever the wall calls for
• Sliding and French patio doors, fibreglass and steel entries
• $2.00 per square foot LADWP rebate paperwork prepared

Questions we get about Windows & Doors