As we approach Thanksgiving I tend to think about what we have to be thankful for. Obviously the most important is our health, our friends and our families. But as a window manufacturer I'm also proud of our people, hard working and dedicated. I'm proud of our highly energy efficient vinyl windows and doors, which I believe do more to help this country's energy situation than wind and solar combined.

Our products save you from needing to buy and consume more energy, so the power companies don't have to generate more, and it saves everyone money. As I understand it, solar and wind still have no pay back. The cost of the systems is far more than any reasonable payback calculation can justify. It just makes sense to save the energy in the first place rather than try to figure out how to generate more of it. Just think of the impact if all the homes in the United States were improved to having the equivalent of R 10 performance in all the windows and doors. I haven't seen a calculation on that, only on everyone using basic Low E's which was significant, but I have to think it would dramatically cut the energy usage in our country, meaning less need for new sources of gas and oil.

If you can avoid needing to generate more power by using less, that has to be a better strategy. So maybe you should be the one to start all this, consider replacing your windows and doors today, using highly energy efficient vinyl windows and doors.

And please have a Happy Thanksgiving.