The windows of your home are points of entry for the elements, intruders, noise and UV light; all of which are best left outside, wouldn’t you agree? Contemporary window systems offer efficient solutions to these problems. With modern technology, gone are the days of ugly shutters, security bars and reflective silver tinting in favor of beautifully styled windows of greatly improved quality and functionality. Investing in a new impact resistant window system to protect your home’s most vulnerable points is an astute first step in creating a secure, peaceful environment to enjoy.

Hurricane impact windows are a priority in readying your home to withstand extreme weather. Impact resistant window systems are a combination of heavy-duty frames, two panes of glass that are adhered together with a layer of strong, pliable, transparent resin and glazed to maintain the stability of the glass in its frame. While hurricane impact resistant windows may crack when protecting your home during a storm, they remain in one piece and continue to withstand negative air pressure, sustained high winds and wind-borne debris.

The tough, impenetrable characteristics that make impact glass windows so essential to the protection of your home during storms also thwart break-in attempts by intruders. The heavily reinforced frames of impact resistant windows cannot be pried away by crowbars or other tools, and repeated attempts to smash through the glass are useless and noisy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Crime in the United States report states that burglary victims underwent $4.5 billion dollars in losses last year with homeowners making up 74 percent of those victims. Nationwide state and local authorities capture and publish data in a crime mapping database which the FBI uses in its report.

Your home is a hideaway from the outside world where you can relax and have things your way. However, the ultimate truth is that sounds from the neighborhood do intrude, be it the seemingly ever present whine of landscaping equipment or bass stereo systems of partygoers so common to areas where the weather is warm all year. While the main reason for the use of impact glass windows in a home is for protection from high winds, they are in use extensively to decrease outside noise. The combined characteristics of thicker glass panes, interlayer of resin and laminate reduce noise in your home by up to 70 percent. A 70 percent decrease in noise is remarkable, as this jet engine sound demonstration shows.

The laminate property of impact glass also protects your home’s fine art investments, furnishings and flooring from the sun’s fading effects. The Florida Solar Energy Center has identified three trends believed to have contributed to a heightened awareness of sun fading: the development and use of clearer window glass, movement away from the use of synthetic fabrics in favor of natural ones and increased UV rays. Laminated glass alone or tinted will drastically reduce the amount of damaging UV rays that enter your home. Laminated glass that is coated with a low thermal emissivity (Low-E) film is also a wise choice for homeowners concerned with decreasing sun fading and solar heat retained inside their homes.

by Kate Donovan