Window and Door Tips for Beating NJ’s Summer Heat
Summer’s already here in Northern and Central New Jersey. The sun’s out, and temperatures are rising, but no matter how hard your AC works, if your windows and doors aren't performing well, that summer heat will find its way inside. Windows and doors are primary pathways for hot outdoor air to enter a home, and outdated or poorly sealed units make the problem significantly worse. In this post, we’ll provide expert analysis from the pros at RJW Home on choosing the right windows and doors to beat the heat this summer.
Why Your Windows and Doors Are Letting Summer Heat In
Heat enters a home in several ways. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus on these three: solar radiation passing through glass, conduction as warm surfaces heat whatever they’re touching, and warm air infiltrating directly through gaps around frames and weatherstripping. With so many customization options for windows and doors, it’s important to understand how they interact to block heat from these sources. Here are some of the key factors to consider:
Frame Material
Glazing Specifications
Gas Fill Type
Patio Door Glass Area
Air Sealing Tolerance
We’ll go into detail on each of these, so you’ll have a clear idea of what upgrades to prioritize.
Factors Affecting Your Windows’ Efficiency
Older windows often allow in excess heat from each of the sources we mentioned: solar radiation, conduction, and infiltration. Let’s explore how modern energy-efficient windows combine frame materials, glazings, and coatings to address these problems.
Frame Materials That Work Against Summer Heat
The frame surrounding your glass has more to do with efficiency than most homeowners expect. It either conducts heat into your home or resists it, depending on what it's made of. Aluminum frames are common in older windows, but they have a well-documented weakness: metal is a ready conductor of thermal energy. When outdoor temperatures climb into the 90s, an aluminum frame transfers that heat directly into the surrounding wall and interior space.
Wood and vinyl offer similar improvements in thermal resistance over metal, though wood requires more maintenance in humid conditions. While aluminum has its distinct advantages, wood and vinyl are better choices for replacement windows if you’re prioritizing efficiency.
Window Glass Options that Increase Efficiency
Efficiency improvements are possible in the number of glazings in your windows, the coatings applied to those glazings, and the gas fill between them. Let’s consider each in turn:
Glazings: Single-pane windows offer essentially no barrier to conductive heat transfer. Warm outdoor air heats the single pane, which in turn warms the air in your home. Upgrading to double or triple glazing changes that equation substantially because heat doesn’t conduct across the space between the panes.
Gas Fills: The space between panes in a double- or triple-glazed unit isn't just air. Argon and krypton fills are denser than air, further slowing conductive heat transfer between the outer and inner panes. That added resistance compounds the benefit of the glazing layers themselves.
Low-E Coatings: While adding more panes will technically reduce radiant heat gain, the glass coating is much more important. Low-E (low-emissivity) coatings are microscopically thin metallic layers applied to glass surfaces. They reduce the amount of solar heat that passes through your windows by reflecting infrared radiation, the heat component of sunlight, without meaningfully reducing visible light. The result is a room that stays just as bright but absorbs less solar heat.
Doors as a Hidden Source of Summer Heat Gain
Windows get most of the attention when thinking about heat gain, which makes sense because glass is an obvious path for solar energy. But all doors, especially patio doors, contribute more to the problem than they typically receive credit for.
Entry Door Materials for Summer Heat Resistance
The material an entry door is made of matters because different materials conduct heat at different rates. Insulated fiberglass and steel doors are solid choices because they have internal cores that slow heat transfer and hold up well in variable weather.
Choosing an Energy-Efficient Patio Door
Standard entry doors have a limited glass area, but patio doors are largely glass by design. That large surface area exposes it to the same solar heat-gain dynamics as your windows. The same glazing specifications that help windows also apply to patio doors: low-E coatings, double-pane glass, and gas fills all reduce heat gain. Selecting a patio door with the same attention to energy efficiency you'd give windows is a great way to ensure summer performance.
Sealing and Weatherstripping: The Overlooked Fix for Windows and Doors
Even the highest-rated products on that market will underperform if they’re installed without proper sealing and weatherstripping. That’s because of the final performance factor we’ve yet to touch on: direct air infiltration. Gaps in framing, compromised weatherstripping, or incomplete caulking undermine the thermal value of the units themselves.
See if you feel a draft around closed windows and doors, spot condensation forming at the interior edges of window panes, or notice daylight around the frame. These all indicate air infiltration. The good news is that correcting this is often manageable for the average DIYer. If you’re happy with your doors and windows but notice these signs, correcting them is likely a good first step.
Talk to a Northern New Jersey Window and Door Expert
If you've been dealing with rooms that won't cool down, energy bills that spike in July, or windows and doors that clearly aren't performing, consulting a professional is a good place to start. RJW Home has served Northern New Jersey for 29 years, offering replacement windows and doors chosen to perform well in our climate. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation, and we’ll explain the upgrades to your windows and doors that’ll let you beat the summer heat.