State Specific Question About: MARYLAND (MD)

If someone else replaced them for you (you didn't do the work yourself), there is a good chance they did not insulate around the window.

If you remove the window trim, you will probably see a gap between the window & the framing.

Insulating those spaces make a HUGE difference.

Metal pan means they put metal below the window, on top of the wood. If done properly, it helps keep moisture off your wood & avoid rotting. (If done wrong, it can let moisture under it & hold in in, encouraging more rotting.

Some of the electric and gas companies will do a free energy audit of your house. They bring their equipment which can show where the problems are located. They usually give you some small things like thermostats, shower heads, water heater blankets,light bulbs etc. Might be worth calling them and see if they do that in your area.

You have to deal with the efficiency and quality of the windows. Dual pain windows with gas injected between the inner and outer glass pains to achieve an good insulation factor.

Then the window installation. As stated above, spray foam to fill all of the voids. And inside the walls you need to have insulation blown inside between the studs.

Since I have several thermal imagining camera, I can see where the cold air pernitrates causing cold spots or zones.

But even after all of the above is done, the Window Coverings add an additional "blanket" type of insulation. If you have vertical blinds, mini-blinds or thin drapes, that will not add any insulation against the cold air against the glass penetration.

So as an experiment I purchased Foam Boards covered with aluminum foil on both sides in 4'x8'x2" sheets. Home Depot. I cut down one section to fit in the window inside ledge. I measured the temperature of air around the window from the inside and outside, with and without this Foam Block.

I invite my buddy who loves to smoke over in cases like this on a windy day. I let him blow smoke and look for where the blowing away from.

It is common that the felt located at the top part of teh area where the two windows meet on a double hung window gets damaged with use. You can place a simple foam strip in between the windows and seal up that leak.

Robert J ,I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say,..if you have closed minniblinds, do you not save with radiant heat loss from those,..its been said that 2/3 of heat is lost from radiant energy of a standard window, OK a lot of cold is from conduction/convection of the cold air falling off from the glass surface and the frame. Also a surprising amount from air infiltration around the windows.

I once had a cold room that greatly benefited from using those clear plastic kits that attached over the frames and tightened with a hair dryer. They were Fairly new and tight windows but on a cold day, if you didn't get it very tight, you could see that the plastic was pushed out from the pressure of the air trying to come in.If you pressed on it, you could feel how much force was behind it on that cold day. And on a windy day you could see the same (even tight plastic) if you looked from the side in which you can see the glare of light hitting the plastic,.. move in and out like it was breathing.

Ever take your infrared cam and take a pic from outside of a window with a blind down near one with no blind? Agreed a heavy drape,..WELL FITTED,..works best as it helps with the convection/conduction also,..

Ray n Pa . You don't have to have your smoker friend stink up your house,..maybe a better way is on that windy day,..buy some incense sticks, ( an odor that you like)I usually put several together in a bundle and light them all and that produces a fair amount of (better smelling?) smoke to find air leaks,..OR use the infrared camera which often finds other surprising areas of cold infiltration,.not only around the frames but bottom trim boards etc.

BTW what is the blue cans of the great stuff? I don't think I see them around here?

Oh and the glass with the gas filled between the panes or with vacuum ones,..work very well,..but really how long to they last? Unless it has changed,.the studies I have seen that they leak in a year or two. (??) Stopping the benefit over just plain dual pane windows. and also the old storm windows with several inches between the panes,..have a convection loop that ends up causing a sort of a draft pumping effect,,and that loop ends up conveying heat out from the warm pane to the cold pane and doesn't work as well as some think.

The blue cans of Great Stuff are labeled for doors and windows. It doesn't get hard like the other canned foam does.

Works better because it doesn't push the frames causing issues.

I remember the first time I came across spray foam in a can. We had it on a job where we were putting the windows in the house. It was tough to gauge the amount of foam you needed. Many doors and windows had problems opening during those times.

Hollis, HD & Lowes both carry the low expansion foam that is made specifically for doors & windows.

://www.homedepot.com/p/GREAT-STUFF-16-oz-Window-and-Door-Insulating-Spray-Foam-Sealant-with-Quick-Stop-Straw-99053990/206983874

://www.lowes.com/pd/GREAT-STUFF-SMART-DISPENSER-Window-and-Door-12-oz-Spray-Foam-Insulation/1000673777