North Carolina Replacement Window Tips

If you’re trying to maximize your energy efficiency, and you live in North Carolina, we will cover how to find replacement windows in NC with ratings specific to your climate zone. North Carolina climate varies depending if you live on the coastline or farther towards the west. If you live on the coastline, we always recommend to choose high impact windows designed for coastline living. High impact windows will protect your home from weather elements that are unpredictable, and can cause costly damage.

The important thing to figure out before choosing a set of windows is what climate zone you live in. Energy Star has a map that shows the four regions of the continental US and uses the NFRC rating standard to recommend windows for that climate area. In other words, if you live in the South Central part of the US, your windows need to have ratings specific to the South Central region if you want them to be energy efficient. Even if a product has the Energy Star label, it doesn’t necessarily means that it will be energy efficient.

For true energy efficiency, you need to choose a product with NFRC ratings for your climate area. To quickly sum it up, NFRC is an independent rating standard that rates windows on U-Factor, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, Air Leakage, Visible Transmittance, and Condensation Resistance. It might seem technical, but the label is actually easy to read and understand, and is important for you to know as a homeowner to make a smart buying decision.

Energy Star North Carolina

North Central Region (Yellow)

U-Factor SHGC Air Leakage
Windows: U ≤ 0.30
Skylights: U ≤ 0.53
Windows: SHGC ≤ 0.40
Skylights: SHGC ≤ 0.35
Windows: AL ≤ 0.30
Skylights: AL ≤  0.30

South Central Region (Orange)

U-Factor SHGC Air Leakage
Windows: U ≤ 0.30
Skylights: U ≤ 0.53
Windows: SHGC ≤ 0.25
Skylights: SHGC ≤ 0.28
Windows: AL ≤ 0.30
Skylights: AL ≤  0.30

NFRC Rating Label Examples for North Carolina

If you live in the North Central Climate part of North Carolina, take a look at the first label to the right. As you can see it has a U-factor is 0.27, a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) is 0.40, and its Air Leakage is ≤ 0.30. So according to the table above for the North Central Climate, we know this window will be energy efficient for North Carolina’s region that’s inside this climate zone. Other factors can also help like visible transmittance which we’ll cover later, but these three areas are the most important in making sure your windows work for your area.

If you live in the South Central Climate part of North Carolina, look at the second label below on the right. It shows a label for a window that is considered energy efficient for the South Central Climate Zone. We know that because it has a U-factor of 0.20, a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of 0.25 and an Air Leakage of ≤ 0.30. According to the table above we can see that the numbers fit into what’s considered energy efficient for that climate.