Keeping your home comfortable in both Summer and Winter is essential for a pleasant living environment regardless of the weather outside.

You’ll want to ensure you don’t have draughts or cold air creeping in through cracks around your windows and doors – leading to loss of heat in the cold months and heightened temperatures whilst you’re trying to keep cool.

When you’re spending money heating your home with central heating, or cooling it down with air conditioning, you’ll want to ensure that temperatures remain at the levels you want them. Without effective insulation options around your windows, you could be quite literally throwing money out of the window.

What Are The Options?

There are a variety of options for increasing the insulating capacity of your windows. The two most common and most effective are:

• Window Film
• Double Glazing

The chances are that you’ve heard of Double Glazing and roughly understand what it does. However many people are unfamiliar with Window Film – despite the fact it could be highly useful and cost effective for numerous Australian homes.

Double Glazing

Double Glazing is a long term solution and it can be a favoured option for those restoring a ‘forever’ home or looking to really invest in their property. For those who live in areas, which see very low temperatures in Winter, Double Glazing can also be a worthwhile installation to make. It’s effective and with the correct installation it can last for decades.

However, the disadvantages to Double Glazing are that it can be very expensive and it’s a fairly disruptive process to undertake – often new windows are required and you’ll need to plan carefully around the weather regarding when installation can take place.

Window Film

Top Window Film brands such as Enerlogic are rapidly developing options that are rivaling more traditional double glazed windows in their effectiveness.

The key reasons that Window Film is seen as preferable to Double Glazing include:
Installation: Window Film is quick and easy to install. You can either employ professionals to help with this or you can do it yourself with minimal equipment. There’s no need to replace window frames or glass meaning that there is barely any disruption and you don’t need to plan ahead or be dictated by the weather outside.

Price: There are many different types of Window Film and each of these will vary in quality and properties. However even the most expensive Window Films still only cost approximately one quarter of the overall cost of double glazing. This makes Window Film a much better option for those working on a budget, for landlords who are renting out their properties, or for those who are in temporary accommodation they are less willing to invest in.

Advantages of Window Film

As well as being simple to install and cost-effective, Window Film has other advantages including:

• Excellent insulation properties with over 90% more insulation than glass
• Ideal for Winter climates
• Easy to take off or replace if needed
• Window Film from quality brands such as Enerlogic often come with warranties of up to 10 years
• Financial Savings with reduced bills connected to heating or air conditioning.

The best insulation option will ultimately depend on your property and your situation within it. Always consider the best way to keep you and your family comfortable within the budget that you can afford.