It takes the combination of three conditions to create a hurricane: pre-existing thunderstorm disturbances, light upper level winds that stay relatively constant over the depth of the atmosphere, and warm ocean temperatures with depths of around 150 feet. Add these three conditions together and you have the making of a storm that could summon winds of over 74 miles per hour and cause overall damages costing tens of billions of dollars. Anyone who lives in a hurricane area knows all too well the destruction these storms can cause. Without proper hurricane preparedness, the consequences can be catastrophic to you and your home.
The good news is hurricane preparedness doesn’t need to be difficult. A few small changes such as new windows and doors can make a huge impact on how well your home withstands the next storm. Consider, for instance, the benefits of new doors and windows to your home:
- Impact doors and windows and doors can withstand Category 5 hurricanes.
Hurricane resistant windows come in three main options: aluminum, vinyl, and wood. To be qualified as impact resistant, the window must be able to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour. Any winds over 156 miles per hour categorize a storm as catastrophic and a Category 5 hurricane. Impact doors and windows have been thoroughly tested to ensure they can withstand even these severe weather conditions. - Energy efficient windows offer savings even when it’s not hurricane season.
Inefficient windows can cause the average home to lose up to 30% of its heat or air-conditioning energy. Installing Energy Star-qualified windows can help to keep your home better insulated and lower your energy bills by 7% to 15%. Simply adding awnings to your windows can reduce solar heat gain in the hotter months by up to 65% for south-facing windows and 77% for west-facing ones. - Impact doors and windows protect your home from more than storms.
The stronger design of impact doors and windows enables them to offer you and your home protection from more than just severe weather conditions. Just as they help keep heating and cooling in, they also serve to keep intruders out. - You can save on your homeowners insurance.
Insurance companies recognize the greater durability and security of impact doors and windows. As such, they may be willing to lower your homeowners insurance premium for the reduced risk to your home. - Impact doors and new windows offer high return on investment (ROI).
The standard exterior door is two inches thick and stands at 80 inches tall by 36 inches wide. Of all the home improvement projects, replacing your exterior door with a steel front door has been found to have the best ROI. The long-term return of a steel impact door is 98%. Similarly, replacement windows boast a ROI of 78%.
There are a number of good reasons to install impact doors and windows in your home: from storm protection to saving energy and added safety for you and your loved ones. With a high return on investment and their easy to use design – – they operate just like regular windows so you’ll never know the difference – – there’s little downside to making the upgrade. When was the last time you took a hard look at your doors an windows?
