This board is great. I have southern exposure vinyl windows, 48"x48". The windows are only 5 years old and the seal is melting inside the window, so they get a little fogged up between the panes. We actually have two windows on that side of the house that do the same thing.

The window manufacturer replaced one of the glass panels in one window, even though the warranty did not extend to us, since we just bought the house from the original owners. That is one selling point when someone buys new windows, does the warranty extend or can it be transferred to new owners. I will not buy windows where the warranty cannot be transferred. That was just a thought I put in for "free." Just FYI, these are Jeld-wen windows, currently sold by HD but they did not sell them at the time these windows were installed--check the new warranties.

Now the question, is there a window or glass arrangement that would be less susceptible to the heat of the scorching sun on the south side. We have planted some trees on that side to aid in difusing the sun's rays--but it will be a little while until they really do help that much. Although they will not help in the winter. We have dual pane low-e glass presently. Just builder grade windows though.

Thanks, Brad

 

Low E squared (a double coat of softcoat Low E, common in many windows) can actually reduce solar heat gain better than routine tinted glass, but without the heavy tint! Some of the major window companies in the country use it. It's "spectrally selective," meaning in this case that it will allow the most of the sun's visible daylight to pass through, but will filter out most of the sun's heat and UV rays. Here's some relative heat gain stats (the lower the better at blocking heat):
GLASS TYPE - - - RELATIVE HEAT GAIN - - - DAYLIGHT TRANSMISSION

Clear IG - - - 185 - - - 81%
Gray Tinted IG - - - 151 - - - 55%
Gray Tinted Low E IG - - - 125 - - - 51%
Low E Squared/Argon - - - 99 - - - 72%
Gray Tinted Low E2/Argon - - - 80 - - - 40%

 

[QUOTE][/the seal is melting inside the windowQUOTE]

If you can see something melting, it sounds like you have insulating glass units made with "Swiggle Strip" spacers (they look like gray or black rubber). If you have the glass replaced get them made with anything but Swiggle Strip and look at the specs posted by Tru_blue.

 

In addition to what's been mentioned, another glass option that is superior to all single low-e coatings would be Heat Mirror which is available in various configurations. SC-75 and TC-88, or even Superglass Quad. Finding a Heat Mirror dealer would be the difficult part, since I don't believe it is commonly available in all areas.