Hurricane Ratings For Windows

This scale estimates potential property damage.

Hurricane ratings for windows.

Designed engineered and manufactured to withstand severe coastal weather conditions andersen windows and doors with stormwatch protection offer our greatest level of hurricane strength protection for your coastal home. Category 1 and 2 storms are still dangerous however. Protected glass windows will generally. Some of the windows are even labeled with hurricane rated tags but the fine print reads much differently.

Impact windows also increase safety noise reduction and intrusion resistance. For example a window with a dp30 is rated to take the equivalent of 110mph wind. Hurricane windows are not the same thing as impact resistant windows. As a result south florida has different requirements for rating approved impact resistant windows.

This number correlates directly with the amount of wind pressure the window can endure. In response to this certain hurricane prone areas have adopted new asce american society of civil engineers guidelines for windows in new construction. The pg rating of a window typically falls anywhere between 15 and 70. A hurricane door with a pg rating of 40 may possess two aspects that rate in the 50 range but the door receives the lowest score.

Beginning in 2001 new homes in florida and. Exterior storm windows and hurricane windows are designed to enhance the energy efficiency of existing windows especially single pane units. However the window is tested to withstand 170 mph winds. The saffir simpson hurricane wind scale classifies hurricanes in the following format.

South florida is a hotbed for hurricanes and severe weather. Burglars run once they try to smash one. A window with a pg of 35 can handle 35. In a category 1 hurricane winds range from 74 to 95 mph.

The call for hurricane resistant windows hit full stride after hurricane andrew struck florida in 1992 causing an estimated 25 billion in damage. The saffir simpson hurricane wind scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane s sustained wind speed. The simplest way to read ratings. Let s simplify the numbers.

The benefits of impact resistant windows exceeds just those homes located in areas prone to hurricanes. But unless you ve bought the expensive impact rated version you re windows are completely vulnerable to breakage from wind borne debris. Falling debris could strike people livestock and pets and older mobile homes could be destroyed. The term hurricane windows is a little misleading.

Hurricanes reaching category 3 and higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant loss of life and damage.