What is Low-E?
Low-e or low emissivity coatings are a metal oxide coating that when applied to glass it allows the glass to reflect a portion of the suns radiation.
Sunlight is a source of infrared, visible light, and ultraviolet radiation. Our environment needs all three of these components to thrive, our homes however do not. Visible light is always a welcome addition to a structure, ultraviolet and infrared radiation are a different story. Ultraviolet radiation is know to cause damage to skin (sun burns) and causes fading in a variety of the materials including the wood and fabric we use in our homes. Infrared radiation that enters our homes is component of sunlight responsible for heating up our living spaces.
When applied to glass low-e coating help reduce the level of infrared and ultraviolet radiation while still allowing visible light to enter the space.
Low-E Storm Windows
Storm windows have been around for quite some time, luckily the bulky aluminum triple-track structures are a thing of the past and our QUANTAPANEL IGS low-e storm windows are architecturally designed to blend seamlessly with your existing windows. They not only look good, our low-e storm windows are designed with the same technology used in state-of-the-art replacement windows.
Property owners now have the ability to add an interior or exterior low-e storm window and achieve the same performance in terms of energy savings and comfort that would be achieved with window replacement. But in this case, you keep your original windows. This is almost always a much smarter investment than replacement, because a low-e storm window has a substantially longer life span than a replacement window. The U.S. Department of Energy provides a good overview of low-e storm windows.
