BBB offers window buying tips

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Before purchasing new windows for the house, the Dayton-area Better Business Bureau suggested looking for products that carry the Energy Performance Ratings label from the National Fenestration Rating Council.

"The label can help determine how well a product will perform - helping to keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, keeping out wind and resisting condensation. By using the label information, you can reliably compare one product with another, " said BBB President and CEO John North.

North offered explanation on many window buying terms:

U-Factor: U-Factor ratings generally fall between 0.20 and 1.20. The lower the U-value, the greater a window's resistance to heat flow and the better its insulating value.

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient: This term rates how much solar radiation is admitted through the window and is expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The lower this number is, the less solar heat the window transmits in the house.

Visible Transmittance is an optical property indicating the amount of visible light transmitted through the window. It's also expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The higher the number, the more light transmitted.

Heat loss and gain occur by Air Leakage through cracks in the window assembly. The lower this number, the less air will pass through cracks in the window assembly.

Lastly, the higher the Condensation Resistance rating, the better the product is at resisting condensation formation. While this rating cannot predict condensation, it can provide a credible method of comparing the potential of various products for condensation formation. It's expressed as a number between 1 and 100.

For more information on selecting a reputable contractor to install windows, visit  http://www.dayton/bbb.org.