Windows may not be first move to save energy

The first winter we spent in our house in Ann Arbor, Mich., we learned that the marble windowsills were not an upscale detail. They were a necessity.

So much condensation was continuously dribbling down the aluminum window frames, a waterproof sill material was required. Even worse, the seals between the two panes of glass in most of our 30-year-old windows were broken, resulting in the windows getting so fogged up we couldn't see out easily.

The decision to replace them was an easy call.

But for many homeowners, the decision to replace windows in older houses is not so obvious. Their windows are wood, they open and close with little effort and keep the elements at bay. Replacing them is mostly an issue of comfort, energy efficiency and maintenance. In colder weather, the spaces near the windows are colder and drafty, home heating costs are going up, and the painting thing, well, it's just a pain for anyone whose life is already time-stressed.

With new, maintenance-free windows, all these irritations would vanish, and Uncle Sam has made it easier to choose new. The federal government and a number of states are offering tax credits, and many local utilities are offering rebates for energy-saving home improvements. It's time to call the window guy!

Or maybe not.

In recent interviews, building energy experts, preservationists and architects urged homeowners not to rush in to such a costly project.

Before you bring in a window salesman, these experts said, get an energy audit of your house to learn where you are losing that costly heated and cooled air and how to address it.

It's almost certain that the chief energy-consuming culprits in your house are not the windows. They are the far less obvious air leaks and heat loss caused by your under- or un-insulated attic, crawl space and walls, and by all the cuts made in your interior walls to accommodate ceiling light fixtures, light switches, electric outlets, an attic fan opening, windows, doors, etc. Adding insulation and sealing all these leaks will give you a much bigger bang for your tax credit/rebate bucks than new windows would.

An energy audit may indicate, however, that you really do have problems with your windows. Even then you don't necessarily have to replace them. You may be able to refurbish them.

This idea might readily occur to owners of a historic house with unusual windows that are central to its character.

But even if your house is merely old and rather ordinary, the windows may be worth saving. That's because the wood in them may be old-growth lumber, which is denser, stronger and more moisture-resistant than the second-growth and farm-raised lumber used by wood window manufacturers today.