Winter heating tip
On the south facing side of any home by removing your window screens, you can achieve a dramatic increase in solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) through your windows for free. I notice on a State of Hawaii web site, they give a default value of 0.7 for the SHGC of a generic window screen. Therefore, if you remove a full window screen, the SHGC for the window will be increased by about 1/0.7 = 1.43, or a 43% increase in solar heat gain. If the window screen covers half the window, then the SHGC will increase by about 21%.
Removing the screens provides an opportunity to wash the outside of the windows, further increasing the heat gain. In addition, with the shorter winter days and, in some locations, more cloudy weather, removing the screens brightens the interior of the house and the mood.
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