How to show WERS ratings and window products on your website

"Energy efficient" on a window company website tells a buyer nothing. The builder chasing a compliance rating wants the U-value. The homeowner in a west-facing living room wants to know how much heat the glass lets in. The clearest way to give both what they need is a short table on each product page: WERS heating and cooling stars, the whole-window U-value and SHGC for each glass option, and a plain sentence on what the numbers mean. Quote the rated figure for the exact frame and glass you sell, and say where it came from.

Done well, that table does real selling. It answers the comparison question before the phone call, and it shows a careful buyer you know your products. Done badly, with a borrowed rating or a best-in-range number, it creates a claim you can't back up. This guide explains what WERS measures, how the numbers differ across frame types, and how to lay out product pages that stay accurate. Product pages with rating tables are part of what our window company websites include.

Why put energy ratings on your website at all?

Windows have a large effect on how comfortable a home is, and buyers know it. The Australian Government’s Your Home guide says up to 40% ³ of a home’s heating energy can be lost through windows, and up to 87% ³ of its heat gain can come through them.

That makes energy performance one of the main reasons people pay for double glazing or better frames, and one of the first things they compare between quotes. People also search in those terms. Google advises thinking about the words a user might search for ¹ to find your content, and buyers search for words like “U-value”, “WERS rated” and “thermally broken aluminium” as well as “double glazing”.

What does WERS actually measure?

The Window Energy Rating Scheme rates whole-window performance ² , including the contribution of both glass and frame. It is not a rating of the glass alone.

WERS gives separate heating and cooling ratings on a scale of 0 to 10 stars ² . Those stars rank a window against alternatives using 17 generic window types ² . Alongside the stars, WERS provides the U value, SHGC, air infiltration and light transmittance ³ of a window system.

Rated windows carry a WERS label ² certifying the rating. On your website, that label information is the source you should work from, not a brochure headline.

The terms, in plain words

• U-value: how readily heat passes through the window. Lower means less heat lost or gained through conduction.
• SHGC: solar heat gain coefficient, how much of the sun’s heat gets through. Whether you want it high or low depends on climate and orientation.
• Air infiltration: how much air leaks through the closed window.
• Visible light transmittance: how much daylight comes through.

How U-values change across frame and glass types

The gap between a basic single glazed aluminium window and a double or triple glazed uPVC window is large, which is why frame and glass choices deserve their own explanation on your site. The figures below are reported by one Melbourne window company for typical residential sizes ⁸ . They illustrate the spread; they are not ratings for any product you sell.

The frame matters as well as the glass. The same company reports a frame-only U-value (Uf) of 5.5 to 7.0 ⁷ for aluminium without a thermal break, 2.5 to 4.0 ⁷ for thermally broken aluminium and 1.5 to 2.5 ⁷ for uPVC.

Notice that the table gives a frame-only figure while the chart gives whole-window figures. Mixing those two on a product page is one of the easiest ways to confuse a buyer.

How to lay out a product page with ratings

Build each product page around the order in which people decide: opening style and frame material first, then glass options with their rated values. A sample structure for an awning window page:

1. What it is: the opening style, where it suits (kitchens over benches, bathrooms, bedrooms), and sizes you make.
2. Frame: material, thermal break or not, colour range.
3. Glass options table: one row per glass combination, with heating stars, cooling stars, Uw and SHGCw.
4. What the numbers mean: two or three sentences for cold, mixed and hot climates.
5. Photos: real installs, each with alt text describing the window and room.
6. Quote request: a form asking for window count, rough sizes and suburb.

Photos need descriptions too. Google describes good alt text as short, descriptive alt text ¹ that explains how the image relates to the content, for example “white uPVC awning window above a kitchen sink” rather than “window1.jpg”.

How to avoid overstating performance

Quote the figure that matches what the customer will get, and label it. Most misleading energy claims on window websites come from borrowing a better number than the product deserves.

• Don’t headline the best rating in a range when the standard option rates lower. Show each option.
• Label whole-window values as Uw and SHGCw, and centre-of-glass values as such, if you show them at all.
• Don’t convert ratings into promised savings on power bills. Savings depend on the house, climate and use.
• Keep the date and source of each rating on the page, and review it when a supplier changes the product.
• Avoid “the most efficient windows in Australia” and similar claims you can’t prove.

Businesses selling retrofits face the same question in a different form, because buyers compare retrofit glazing with full replacement. Our page on websites for double glazing companies covers how to present that choice.

Where rebates and building rules fit in

Rebates and building rules are worth mentioning, but only with their conditions. In Victoria, the Victorian Energy Upgrades program offers a discount of up to $210 per 10 m² ⁴ to double glaze windows, and it applies to approved products only ⁴ on the VEU register. A page that says “rebates available” without that condition invites disappointed customers.

Builders are a different audience. Under NCC 2025, a house using the NatHERS pathway must reach at least 7 stars ⁵ , and in climate zones 2 to 8 ⁶ the glazing in each storey has to stay within a conductance and solar heat gain allowance under the deemed-to-satisfy provisions. A builder or energy assessor needs your rated Uw and SHGCw values to check that, so a downloadable spec sheet or a clear table on the website saves a phone call.

Six steps to rated product pages

1. Collect the current WERS rating details for every frame and glass combination you sell.
2. Make one table per product line, with heating stars, cooling stars, Uw and SHGCw for each glass option.
3. Write two or three plain sentences on what the numbers mean in your customers’ climate zones.
4. Add the rating source and date under each table.
5. Remove any energy claim you can’t trace to a rating.
6. If you work in Victoria, check which of your products are on the VEU register before mentioning the discount.

The bottom line

Energy performance is one of the main things window buyers and builders compare, so give it more than a badge. Show WERS heating and cooling stars, Uw and SHGCw for each exact product and glass option, keep whole-window and frame-only figures apart, explain the numbers in plain words, and mention rebates and building rules only with their conditions. A page like that answers the comparison before the call and holds up if anyone checks it.

For the rest of the site structure, read what a window company website needs. If you would like rated product pages built from the figures you supply, and updated when your range changes as part of your monthly edits, see the price and what is included or book a 20-minute call.