Friday, February 24, 2012

Feds Attack Window Energy Saving Claims


Five replacement window vendors have agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to stop making exaggerated and unsupported claims about the energy efficiency of replacement windows. Long Fence and Home of Maryland, Serious Energy of California, THV Holdings of Kentucky, and Gorell Enterprises and Winchester Industries, both of Pennsylvania, were accused by the FTC of inability to back up their claims of substantial energy bill savings for consumers who had their replacement windows installed.

While denying any wrongdoing, all five firms have agreed to future civil penalties for making energy efficiency or cost saving claims not backed up with reliable scientific data. Because the energy savings from replacement windows are dependent on unknown factors respecting each individual home, such as location and size of the building, insulation in walls and ceilings, and energy efficiency of existing windows and doors, claims of up to 50% energy savings by installation of replacement windows could not be substantiated by the settling companies.

The main point is that even if a window vendor can demonstrate that its replacement product reduces energy loss by 50% compared to a homeowner’s existing window, replacement of all the windows in the house will not likely reduce the homeowner’s energy bills by 50%, due to the other factors involved.

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