Last month we took a detour from our routine to explore some of the nuances of winter window replacement. There is a common misconception among those looking to replace windows or doors in their homes that winter is a bad time to make the change. As we looked at last month, this is not really the case at all. A variety of measures can be taken to make the process much more confortable for the homeowner. By using specially designed insulating foam and caulk, the cold temperatures become an inconsequential fact. The list of reasons to endure another cold winter just got a lot shorter. Now, for those of you who love routine, today is your day because we’re getting back to our day-in day-out routine of slowly but surely moving through the window manufacturing glossary! So lets get this party started right with our first term of the day, edge effects.

The idea of edge effect is an easy enough idea to wrap your head around (especially compared to some of the terms we’ve had to tackle in the past). We’re not going to spend too much time on it, so catch it before it is gone. Edge effects refers to a change in the heat transfer at the edge of a glazing unit. This change can be attributed to the thermal properties of the sealants and spacers used in the aluminum window or vinyl window. Our next area of focus in going to be electrochromics. This one gets a little further out toward the deep end of the pool.  Electrochromics basically refers to glazing with optical properties that can be changed in a continuous progression from clear to dark at the hands of a low voltage signal. By introducing ions into a specially designed electrochromic material, the optical density is changed and the glass can become harder or easier to see through.