Types of Replacement Windows: Double Hung Windows

When you’re buying replacement windows in San Jose, CA, there are many types of windows that you can choose to have installed in your home. Because there is a wide range of replacement windows that you can choose from, choosing the right ones for your home may seem like a daunting challenge.

However, one of the main reasons you are having replacement windows installed in your home is because your existing windows don’t give you the functionality and benefits you want and need. To streamline your decision process for replacement windows, make a list of what functions and what benefits you want that you don’t have now.

This will make it easier to compare the different types of replacement windows that are available and to narrow down your choices to the window types that best meet your criteria. It is likely that double hung windows will be on your final list for the replacement windows that will be installed in your home.

Unless you had your home custom-built, all of your home’s existing windows are most likely single hung windows. Even if double hung windows were available when your home was constructed, the contractor who built the home chose single hung windows because they were more cost-efficient (in terms of the window price) at the time.

Single hung windows are characterized by a stationary sash at the top and a moving sash at the bottom. Although single hung windows are functional, they have limited functionality when compared to double hung windows.

Because the top sash of a single hung window can’t be moved, the only way to get ventilation is to raise the bottom sash. Cleaning single hung windows involve having to be inside and outside of your home to clean both sides of the window.

Single hung windows can also be a potential safety hazard when they are installed on floors above the ground floor of your home. Very small children are able to sit in the bottom part of a single hung window when it is open. If they lean against the screen, they can push it out of the frame and fall out of the window, resulting in serious injuries or death.

Choosing double hung replacement windows will give you more flexibility in using your windows and cleaning your window. They will also make your home much safer for your little ones.

Both the top and bottom sashes move in double hung windows. This benefit allows you to maximize the ventilation the window provides because you can have outside breezes coming in at both the top and the bottom of the window.

Double hung windows also make your rooms on floors about the first floor safe for small children. You can still have ventilation in the rooms on the upper floors of your home, but instead of raising the bottom sash to let fresh, cool air in, you can simply lower the top sash and keep the bottom sash closed.

Double hung windows have the additional benefit of better energy efficiency than single hung windows. You can add options like low-emissivity (Low-E) coatings and other energy efficient treatments to double hung windows make your home more comfortable and to lower your energy bills.

Cleaning double hung windows is faster, easier, and safer because you can clean both sides of the window from inside your home by simply tilting both of the sashes.

To learn more about replacement windows in San Jose, CA, you can talk with our expert team at California Custom Creations.