Why houses in cold climates often have small windows?

Answer 1

I don't believe that is true - I live in a cold climate and I have larger windows than I did when I lived in the south.

As a rule, windows allow more heat to escape and it is preferable to have less of that in the cold areas. But if you orient the windows to the south and allow solar gain, you actually make the house warmer with lots of south facing windows.

Answer 2

It is a financial reason first and if the home is in a very cold area.... probably the only way that you could keep a home warm. Think of igloos.... no windows at all.

Construction of walls are thicker than glass. They are 6 to 8 inches depending on specs. Inside they have insulation or the material they are made of, is just like putting on layers of coats in the cold... keeps the heat in and the cold out.

Trying to do this with windows is very hard. And expensive !! It can be done with more than one layer of glass, insulation space between layers, drapes with special backing... and a lot of expensive solution. Which are better but may never stop the loss of heating your home like a wall will.

The cost of heating fuel can break you in a cold climate. .

Answer 3

i think the idea of using wooden planks for walls is cool! but u must consider the site conditions, along with topographical and climatic features, moreover locally available material is vastly stone, so if ur are more eco friendly and stuff and lookin into sustainable architecture wood would be a very bad choice of mat..

Answer 4

To keep the cold out and the heat in ..

Answer 5

Because heat is lost through windows!

Answer 6

to conserve heat inside the house.

Answer 7

Well bigger windows mean bigger drafts.Also the snow drifts would break larger windows with there space coverage...