If replacing your home’s windows is inevitable, you may be asking yourself a question many homeowners ponder: Should I replace all windows at once, or can I replace them one by one? The answer depends on the scope of your project — if just one window is broken or needs to be upgraded, then you may just need to replace a single window, but if problems are more widespread, a whole-house window replacement may make more sense.
Read on to discover when a single window replacement may be needed and if replacing multiple windows might be necessary.
Whether you replace all windows at once or just a few at a time depends on several factors, including your project scope and budget.
Window estimates can provide foresight into the cost of doing the entire project at once or whether it’s better to spread it out over months or years.
Reasons Windows Get Replaced
Windows get replaced for many reasons, and when you identify exactly why you’re replacing your own, it can help make your decision easier.
Improve Energy Efficiency
If you are looking to replace existing windows, it’s important to choose the most efficient windows that will work best in your climate.
Heat gain and heat loss through windows are responsible for 25%–30% of residential heating and cooling energy use. Replacing all your windows at once can help cut energy costs immensely. While replacing old windows is an investment, the payback in terms of improved comfort, reduced energy usage, and money savings makes replacing all windows at the same time very beneficial. Upgrading to ENERGY STAR qualified models can even save you 7%-15% on annual household energy bills, depending on your location and the type of window being replaced.
Exterior and Interior Appearance
If you’re thinking about selling your home, replacing some windows is an easy way to boost its curb appeal, simply because new windows look nice, and they provide a consistent appearance to your home’s interior and exterior.
Switching the design of a single window to one that might catch a buyer’s eye can help boost your home’s exterior appearance with relatively low investment, perhaps changing its focal point and making it more appealing for buyers.
If you want to completely transform your home’s style, an entire set of new windows can do wonders for its appearance, but keep in mind the costs can be significantly higher.
Functional Problems
Another reason people replace windows is problems with how the windows operate — perhaps they doesn’t open or shut completely, the area between double panes fogs up due to seal problems, or they’re drafty.
In these cases, sometimes it makes sense to replace a single window or a few windows instead of all windows at once.
Keep in mind that if one window is causing problems, it’s possible others may need attention soon, especially if they’re of similar age.
Budget Considerations
As with many other decisions homeowners make, choices often come down to finances. Window replacement project costs vary widely and are based on materials, size, style and other factors.
If you’re installing a bay window, for example, it’s a one-time project that should only require a single window. It’s stylish and meets the needs and scope of what you wanted without necessitating replacement of other windows. You can price your project based on this one need and move forward with it.
But replacing problematic windows isn’t quite as cut and dry. If you have multiple windows with similar problems that need to be addressed, then you might consider replacing them in groups, such as the entire first or second floor or windows on one side of the house. And this could be done over the course of a year or a few years, depending on what your budget allows, but in the long run, this can be more costly than replacing them all at once.
A whole-home replacement can be more convenient because the whole project is finished at the same time, and you may even benefit from volume discounts or promotions. In fact, the more windows you buy, the more you actually save. The price per unit for buying a single unit is higher than the price per unit of buying ten windows. Most home improvement contractors also offer bulk discounts for buying larger jobs, which can help make your decision a little easier.
Replacing Your Windows Today
At Thompson Creek Windows, we understand the choice to replace a single window or multiple windows is an important decision, and our expert team is ready to work with you on every step of the process, from start to finish.
For a price estimate on a single replacement window or replacing all windows at once, reach out to us. At Thompson Creek, we offer bulk discounts for buying larger jobs, which can help make your window replacement project more affordable. We can help you make the best decision for your home, needs, and budget.