High impact windows and hurricane shutters are standard options for protecting your home during a hurricane and tornado.
If you live in Coastal areas, our Clearwater window and door company recommends protecting your home, family, and pets from storm winds and debris. Furthermore, your home’s safety and yours will depend on your planning to ensure it can withstand these severe storms.
When the expert’s meteorologists forecast a hurricane for your region, you want to have serenity knowing that you have done everything possible to shield your home from the dangers of incredible storms. However, hurricane goods and protection is a significant business with many options.
For instance, the best hurricane impact windows and hurricane shutters can offer protection against intense storm winds and debris, but one is better.
How will you determine which hurricane protection suits your home? Well, read below to find out!
High Impact Windows-Advantages
- 24-Hour Best Protection: If you installed high-impact windows, you are protected even when an object smashes your window. That will keep your home’s envelope intact, meaning no wind will enter. Or, a hole can cause the air pressure to expand and permit other windows, walls, or roofs to give way.
- Burglar prevention: Impact glass windows can prevent burglary. Anyone attempting to enter your home must first break the impact glass windows. Trust us, that will not come easy to any intruder.
- Better Than Regular Glass: Compared to standard single-pane glass, high-quality impact window glass will resist continuous 200 mph hurricane winds or category 5 hurricanes!
- Professionally Installed: Although impact windows cost more than hurricane shutters, you can install them alone without needing shutters over them.
- Increased property value: The installation of house hurricane windows can increase the value of your property in many ways. Hurricane-resistant windows can give you an excellent ROI whether you sell or refinance your home.
- Some reliable high-impact window manufacturers offer a lifetime warranty.
High Impact Windows-Disadvantages
- Inial Investment: The significant disadvantage of impact windows in your home is the average cost of impact windows products. But hurricane windows are worth the investment over time and their lifespan.
- Replacing your windows: Hurricane impact windows don’t fit over your current windows. Impact windows will replace your regular windows with robust glass and frames that withstand strong winds and projectiles.
Hurricane Shutters: Advantages
- Excellent quality: Many people like shutters because of their reliability. You can install shutters easily, but remember to fasten them as indicated by your building.
- Many Styles: Hurricane shutters come in many styles to match your home’s style, budget, and needs. An expert installer can also retrofit them over existing windows.
- Affordable: Hurricane shutters can cost as little as $8 per square foot. However, roll-down and Colonial shutters may cost $30 or more. You can install shutters on old buildings until you can afford the cost of a more permanent solution.
- Easily Removed: Homeowners can remove hurricane shutters whenever the storm has passed, so your home looks good again.
Hurricane Shutters- Disadvantages
- Difficult to Handle: When buying hurricane shutters, you’ll have to consider they’re challenging to handle. Usually, the installation process requires two people for everything to go smoothly. And how long will the installation take? Often, roll-down shutters can be set up with the press of a button. However, other shutters require at least 1 hour to finish the installation process on the home.
- You cannot install them immediately: Hurricane shutters cannot be installed alone if you’re away on a trip or out of town. Therefore, your home is at serious risk. However, high-impact windows will provide peace of mind while away. Yes, these impact windows are perfect while you are away since you don’t have to hurry back home to install them before the storm arrives.
- Hurricane shutters provide little protection against noise: Shutters don’t protect against outside noises like cars and even loud neighbors. You will also spend the day or night hearing the hurricane winds that sound like a group of trains passing by your windows.
- Lock you up without allowing light: In some instances, hurricane shutters have locked people inside their houses without allowing in much light. So, it may require a remarkable effort to open them if you need to go outside when debris like tree branches block your exit doors.
Why do I recommend High Impact Windows over Hurricane Shutters?
After looking through the advantages and disadvantages, it’s time to decide which is better? I recommend installing impact windows in Clearwater, Florida!
High-impact windows offer better protection for your home 24/7, which is the best reason when choosing the two.
The advantages of 24/7 protection plus UV light reduction, noise reduction, and energy efficiency will change your opinion. Hurricane windows do have a higher upfront cost, but they’re worth every penny.
