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exterior storms...tight or with air gaps?

bungalow_house
14 years ago

We just had some wood storms made. The guy who made them insisted that we need to leave 1/8" gaps on all 4 sides. The guy who installed them insisted that they needed to be tight-fitting, otherwise they were useless. (Of course the guy who installed them won because he did it the way he thinks is right.) I have researched this and can't find a conclusive answer. I guess that means there isn't a conclusive answer and I will just shrug my shoulders and say "we'll see".

But I'm curious what others here think...should they be tight to seal in as much warm air as possible, or with gaps for expansion and to allow condensation out? I should add that they have removable panels for screens and glass, so while they hang on hangers like traditional wood storms, we don't really need to take them on or off the house except for occasional painting. And our windows have been recently restored and weatherstripped so energy efficiency with the window sashes themselves is pretty good already.

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