Window Types by Styles & Opening ways-any Questions You May Want to Ask About Windows

After you are done with home decoration, the next thing to consider is to select windows. You may have no idea about the opening ways of windows when you buy or replace your windows for the first time, not even to mention the various windows styles. You’ve got a lot of questions confusing you. Here are some useful and brief introductions for main window types by styles & their opening ways and some comparisons of different window types. We hope they are helpful and useful for you.

Tilt Turn Windows

A tilt turn window is an inswing window that has two opening ways. By turn window, it means to swing open inside like a small interior door, offering the maximum ventilation, nearly as much as the window size. By tilt window, it opens on the top like waterproof awning windows to allow for proper ventilation without worrying about security. Tilt turn windows have a two-way opening, therefore tilt-turn windows combine the advantages of casement windows and awning windows while skillfully skipping their advantages, making it the latest popular window design for modern housing. Among all the casement windows, tilt turn windows are awfully functional and quite energy efficient. Tilt turn windows owe flexible choices in window frame material. Both wood and aluminum or other materials can be made into them. Most tilt-turn windows don’t go with grilles. They are good for modern style housings.

Crank out Casement Windows

Casement windows are energy efficient and low maintenance. Usually, casement windows are opened by a handle, but if by a crank, it’s called crank out casement windows or some manufacturers call it American-style crank casement windows. Crank-out casement windows offer an obstructed view, and many homeowners prefer their styles. With a crank, the casement window is easy to operate, even for children. Most crank-out windows are made of wood, featuring a classic touch and inviting nature to the house. Crank-out windows look especially attractive when matched with various styles of grilles. Crank our casement windows matches classical housing and traditional housing, but there is a trend that crank out casement windows are getting popular in modern housing.

Tilt Turn Windows VS Crank out Casement Windows

Both tilt-turn windows and crank-out casement windows belong to casement windows types, they enjoy the benefits that all casement windows share: allow for the maximum amount of ventilation, easy operation, good tightness, high energy efficiency, etc. The differences that distinguish tilt-turn windows from crank-out casement windows are: tilt-turn windows are two-way openings in one handle while crank-out casements could only open outward. Not only is it an inswing casement window but it also is a top-opening hopper window. Tilt turn windows own the benefits of two windows types and skip their shortcomings, which are great for modern housings. What makes crank-out casement windows unique is that they are classic windows and they are a great match for classic buildings with grilles. With the crank rotating around, the sash slowly opens wide and wider. If you want to close it, rotate it from the opposite direction.

Fixed/Picture Windows

Although all the windows are designed to open, there is a fixed window that doesn’t have a handle for being opened or a handle. Fixed windows or pictures windows, or any windows that are designed not to be opened means those windows have only window frame and sash, without a handle. Fixed windows are the most energy-efficient and cheapest windows and require almost zero maintenance. But be aware that all the windows are fixed windows when they are closed. Fixed windows usually combine with other windows type to help design the proportion of ventilation in a big opening. Most fixed windows come in regular shapes like square or rectangle, but they do look more stylish when they are in an arched shape, circle or semi-circle.

French Windows

A French window is a window with two equal sashes, usually swinging inside more than outside. French windows offer the best ventilation, nearly as much as twice as the casement windows. French windows and doors are good for modern and classic windows, and they are good-looking with or without grilles. However, French windows are limited in the size. If the opening is too big, it will require a great deal of strength to open it and more difficult to close it when a strong window blows in your house. If they are too small, it doesn’t make much sense to make the design. Due to those, most French windows are in standard sizes than in customized sizes.

Double/Single Hung Windows

Double-hung windows are also one of the classic windows types that are popular in North America. Double-hung windows have two sashes, the top sash can slide down while the bottom sash can slide up, allowing flexible ventilation vertically. The two sashes are usually in equal size, appropriately half size of the opening. If the top sash is fixed, then it’s called a single hung window. As it’s fixed, sing hung windows are a little more energy efficient than double-hung windows. Double-hung windows generally are matched with various styles of grilles. Due to their concise design, double-hung windows are cheaper than casement windows, and they are great for tall openings especially for those in the kitchen or bathrooms. Double-hung windows are also be applied in a bedroom for many high apartments.

Double Hung VS Single Hung Windows

As the window sashes are installed within the window frame in the opening, it saves inside space, and there is less chance for the windows to fall down. Double-hung windows’ sashes can even be tilted inside to make easy cleaning, saving much trouble for cleaning. You can easily clean the inside and outside. Double-hung windows owe the easiest cleaning. However, its advantages are obvious: Double-hung windows are limited in size. If the sashes are too big, you will find it hard to lift up to open; two small, more difficult to design, which means more costs. And sure, single-hung windows are cheaper and more energy-efficient than double-hung windows as fixed windows seal tighter.

Sliding/Slider Windows

Sliding windows or slider windows are typical windows types, you might have seen them everywhere, the house, the school or elsewhere. Sliding windows are installed between the top track and the bottom track, sliding left to right to open, or vice versa. They are wider than taller, good for wide opening. Sliding windows are cheaper than casement windows, and it doesn’t require much design. But it’s not as energy-efficient as casement windows; it is good for areas that need more wind into the house or places like kitchens or bathrooms.

Double Hung Windows VS Sliding Windows

Double-hung windows are similar to sliding windows, both are sliding on a track. Generally speaking, double-hung windows are taller than wider, making it good for tall openings; sliding windows are wider than taller, good for wide openings. Some people might agree if you turn double-hung horizontally, it’s sliding, or vice versa, true for that. However, for double-hung windows, the track is within the sash, which means less wind can pass through. While for sliding windows, the sash is on the track, which means the wind the pass through the top and bottom track and comes into the housing. Their design explains why double hung windows are more energy efficient than sliding windows. However, when it comes to aesthetics, double-hung windows outmatch sliding windows. Many homeowners have a preference for double-hung windows for their home style.

Awning Windows & Hopper Windows

An awning window is a hinged window that opens from the bottom, that is to say, you push out the window to open it. If it’s opened from the top, then it’s a hopper window. Both awing windows are great for proper ventilation and great privacy, so you might see them above the kitchen sink or in the bathroom. You can even open an awning or hopper on a rainy day to enjoy the view or ventilation without getting the rainwater inside, which you cannot do with casement windows or double-hung windows. Awning and hopper windows are waterproof and great for climate with many amounts of rain.

Bay & bow Windows

Bay and bow windows are named by their shape. While bow windows usually in three window panels, the middle panel is bigger than the two side panels and bow windows and more panels. Bay and bow windows are windows combination. You could design the windows types and windows opening ways and most people would like double-hung or casement. Bay and bow windows make the house more stylish and offer a wide-angle view. You might want to see them in your living room facing the street or dining room on the first floor.

About Windows Materials

Most windows and doors can be made of PVC, solid wood, aluminum ( or thermal break aluminum), or the combination of aluminum or wood in different percentages, known as aluminum-clad wood or wood-clad aluminum windows.

Wood Windows

It goes without explaining that wood is the best material for windows. People have been building house with wood for years and feeling good in houses with wood windows. It’s warm in winter when you close the wood windows and cooler in summer when you open the wood windows. Wood windows bring nature home, offering more sense of closing to nature. Wood windows are strong, with high energy efficiency and graceful aesthetics. The beauty of wood windows is well-recognized. Surely, wood windows are quite expensive and you need to think about whether they match your home style. But don’t forget wood windows last for years and have great resale value.

Aluminum Wood Windows

If your first choice cannot go for wood, then aluminum and wood windows are your second best choice. That window material is made of wood and aluminum, with wood interior and aluminum exterior or vice versa. If more wood and less aluminum are used in the simple window, then it is an aluminum-clad wood window; otherwise, it’s a wood-clad aluminum window. To put it more simply, an aluminum-clad wood window is a wood window with an aluminum cladding exterior while a wood-clad aluminum window is a thermal break aluminum window with a wood interior. Aluminum windows are a combination of wood and aluminum frame, so are their advantages.

Aluminum Windows

Aluminum is strong and easy to operate and could be easily made into different colors to match your housing. Aluminum windows are energy efficient as most of the window manufacturers tend to use thermal break aluminum to provide better durability and longevity, rather than general aluminum. Thermal break aluminum is to insert PA66 nylon to stop the heat or cold in the middle of exterior and interior aluminum, thus achieving better energy efficiency. Aluminum windows are good for modern housing than classic housing.

Vinyl/PVC Windows

Vinyl or PVC Windows is windows made of polyvinyl chloride (PVCs). The material also is used in the plumb or pipes. PVC windows are cheaper and easier for installation or replacement, but it lasts generally for about 20 years and are limited in design or colors selection. It is more affordable, low maintenance, and suits a tight budget. But it doesn’t owe much of resale value.

Professional Help Available

Above are some must-to-know things that you need to know before buying your new windows or replacement windows. They are mostly the general types in main opening ways. Most windows are in standard sizes, if they cannot match your opening or housings styles, you could contact your manufacturers to see they can provide customized service to have more various and flexible designs with extras fee. For more windows, we are here to help and ready for your consultation.