People put a lot of thought into their homes. And there’s a good reason for that fact. A home should be something of a sanctuary. People lead hectic lives and they work hard all day. When they arrive home they need to be able to rest and recharge. That ideal tends to influence people in a good direction.

However, a homeowner will often work toward that ideal without realizing that one needs to work on smaller details as well. This is in many ways a situation where someone can’t see the forest for the trees. The smaller details get lost within a larger concept. Here, it’s the idea of a home as someplace to relax. Everyone wants that, but people often forget that it’s something that needs to be created. Take windows as a prime example of this fact.

Most people don’t give a lot of thought to their windows. So when their rest is interrupted and they’re continually uncomfortable they blame other aspects of life. If they’re cold in the winter it’s just a matter of weather. If they’re woken up by noisy neighbors then it’s the fault of the neighborhood. What they seldom stop to consider is that it might just come down to their window design.

People often forget that windows are the primary gateway between the indoors and outdoors. Actual doors are more obvious because it’s what people use. But even a closed window allows for a continual exchange between the two environments. This might not seem very logical at first. But one should consider the fact that light is itself a physical thing. Light and heat aren’t very different. And even sound is a physical thing as far as it’s waves within a solid medium that reaches people’s ears. A window is by its very nature something which allows entry into a home.

And by default, a window isn’t very good at keeping things out. This is why so much noise and weather can interfere with one’s home. But that’s not something which has to be the case. Newer window designs can get around the problem. And in particular, double pane windows allow for something quite amazing. It’s a fundamentally simple concept.

Double pane windows offer what the name suggests. It consists of two glass panes. There will usually be a small buffer in between the panes as well. And this buffer will itself consist of a small quantity of gas. This might not seem like it would change things very much. But the overall difference is immense.

One of the larger issues with windows comes from conductivity. Glass is a highly conductive substance. As such it will conduct heat, cold or sound between two points. One can test this fairly easily by placing a hand on standard glass windows during the winter. The glass will typically be quite cold. But this wouldn’t happen with a double pane design.

The gas buffer will instead act to counter the conductivity. And this helps the window provide a wide range of benefits. However, it doesn’t stop with the benefits listed already. That explains some of the benefits, but doesn’t necessarily explain them all. One can give it some thought and extrapolate from there. For example, the loss of heat through a window relates to comfort. But one also needs to heat a home. Efficiency within a window will also mean lowered costs for climate control.

Finally, it’s important to remember that the technique itself is fairly simple. And this means even existing windows can often be retrofitted into a double glazed system. And of course they’re also easy to replace within a standard frame.