If you live in a house with a basement and not much natural light, consider the benefits of adding one or more windows. It will help if you consider all the facts – weigh them out and make a knowledgeable decision based on your situation. However, with some due diligence and fact-finding, you may learn that you can enjoy the advantages of adding an egress window while not spending a lot. An egress window is a window made to be large enough for an adult to climb in or out of as an escape way in case of an emergency, which also doubles as an access point for firemen and emergency personnel. Let's know more about the advantages of egress windows:
Adds Value To Your Home
If you live in a well-kept house, you probably won't regain 100% of the expenses for most remodeling as it goes with adding more windows to your basement. In most cases, you can recoup a significant % of the expenses of adding natural light to your basement. In many cases, it is on the top of the list of things you can do to your house from a financial point of view to add value to it. Adding egress windows is the key to obtaining your living place up to code, and you can have this area in the overall calculation of your home's square footage. Some experts say you can easily recover expenses when you sell your home.
Safety Purposes
Basements can be unsafe because they lack access to an escape way in case of emergency. The basement egress window provides much-needed security. In case of a house fire, they provide an escape way and an entrance route in a house fire. A house fire can spread very quickly in a house, leaving not even three to four minutes to escape safely. These windows are specifically important in a finished basement. Whether you're utilizing the space as an extra bedroom or a recreation room, having an escape plan is essential. If a fire occurs, family members can easily escape the basement fast via the egress windows and wells.
Daylighting
Want more light? Egress windows let an incredible amount of light in, specifically in a basement. Most people tend to love seeing their basements filled with natural light, and thus they depend less on electrical energy during the day. You'll be delighted by the magnificence and utility cost savings an egress window can provide a house once installed.
Daylight provides one with many health benefits, including warding off seasonal depression, improving a healthy amount of sleep, and reducing the health risks caused by fluorescent light.
Style And Ventilation
Several egress window-style options are available. They include in-swing single-hung windows, sliding windows, and also casement windows. All these windows offer stylish updates for your home, although they generally cannot be seen from the curb. So they are amazing to add style to your house.
Meets The New Code Requirements
If your basement has a bedroom, sleeping room, or any other spare bedroom, it should have an egress window. Also, it would help if you have an egress window for any common-use area room, such as a game room, bar area, TV room, or office. Egress means emergency escape. Codes can vary, but usually, you will require egress windows for basements that must be at least 5.7 square feet in size, with a 24″ wide opening and a 20″ tall entrance as the minimum. The bottom of the window should be no more than 44″ off the floor. These are some general rules that are used in most places, but they can change. You should determine with your city building codes or ask an expert. But if you have an egress window according to these codes, it is easy to escape.