Are Timber Windows & Doors Energy-Efficient?

Making a sustainable, energy-efficient choice for windows! Here’s why you should consider timber for your windows and doors.

Saving money matters, both short term and long term, which is why being energy efficient is so important. Those long term investments, such as windows, can make a difference to your overall household efficiency. Around 77% of UK households use gas heating, and the average annual cost of this is roughly £557; definitely, an amount that we’d all like to save a bit on! 

One of the best ways to ensure that your home is energy efficient and keep those all-important bills down is by selecting the correct window type. There are plenty of options for windows, but overall, timber substrate frames will always offer the best performance. The best performing windows will generally be softwood, ali Clad and Triple glazed. The softwood is important as it’s less dense (higher air content) than most hardwoods, Aluminium and plastic.

Energy efficiency is a term that simply means using less energy to perform the same task. Ensuring that it’s part of your daily life, including in your home, is essential for many reasons, such as reducing carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases, lowering the energy demand, and consequently the cost of energy bills both globally and within our home. 

When it comes to buildings, we have energy efficiency ratings. The colourful graph with lots of letters; it’s pretty essential. The ratings are measured through tests for how much energy they use and conserve during typical use, giving them a rating on a scale of A to G, with A being the most efficient product and G the least. Windows are rated for their energy efficiency through their overall thermal efficiency, including air leakage and solar gain. Do you know much heat from the sun passes through your windows?.

Why are timber windows more energy efficient?

Timber is a natural insulator that absorbs and retains heat and makes an excellent choice for your window frames. It also wears exceptionally well, meaning that whilst it’s keeping your home warm on a rainy evening, you don’t have to think about any possible damage being done. Also, it has a much longer lifespan than its alternatives, so it does count as an investment for your home. 

The other popular choice in window frames is uPVC, as it’s a cheaper option, but when it comes to being energy-efficient, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. To start with, the process of creating the material isn’t particularly energy-efficient. There is an option to use recycled PVC, which will reduce the energy costs by up to 50%, but this isn’t always available when you need it. 

Keeping it natural, timber makes an excellent insulator due to its density. Made up of air pockets within its cellular structure, it makes it 1770 times better at insulating than other windows frame competitors, aluminium. 

In terms of environmental energy efficiency, this can be achieved through timber with sustainable forest management. Providing that trees are taken in a sustainable and maintainable fashion whilst being replanted, it’s beneficial for the surrounding ecosystem. Known as the felling of trees, managed forest maintenance, including cutting down trees, is helpful for the environment. Letting more light into the forest floor allows for natural regeneration and wildlife to thrive. Here at Dale Joinery, we ensure that we only use Redwood timber that is Fully Forest Stewardship Council (FSC-C124392) certified and will prove an equal benefit to your project, the environment, and that of energy efficiency for all.

In conclusion

Yes, timber is energy efficient and an excellent choice for your property. Not only will it save you money in the long term, whilst helping you lower your carbon footprint, but you also get the benefit of fantastic looking, feature windows and doors.

Dale Joinery

At Dale Joinery, we pride ourselves in creating the ultimate timber window for you. We carefully source all parts of our frame and only use the best materials to guarantee product security, quality and longevity. If you’re interested in our sustainable timber windows, please do get in touch.