replacement of old windows

Our house windows are atleast years old and are old fashioned metal and single glass pane windows which pry open to outside. The home inspector said, the old windows are better than most double pane windows.
We would like to replace them to make the house more energy efficient.
My question here is;
Is it worth spending about 25k on replacing the windows if we are not sure of living in this house longer than 3 years?
Thanks for your help

 

ravij,

First, WHERE did you get a $25K quote from?? I'm assuming that this is a single family residence, probably 40 to 50 years old, with about 12 to 15 or 18 windows in it. If so, $25K is absolutely stupid!!! (I did a $26K retrofit job about 6 years ago -- that was a hotel with 65 windows in it!)

Second, find a home inspector who has a clue!! Replacing your single pane, aluminum frame windows with dual pane vinyl or fiberglass windows is going to cut your heating and cooling costs AT LEAST 15%, plus prolong the life of your heating/cooling system.

Get some more quotes before you sign a $25K contract. At the most, the job should be $5K, unless you opt for bells and whistles like grids, (gas filled ONLY if you are a really cold climate like Chicago, NYC, most of Canada and all of Alaska!)

 

I would suspect from your location the windows you where quoted are hurricane windows which can be quite pricey .

I would think they would add to resale but I don't know if you could recoup 25k

(it does seem awfully high evan for hurricane rated )

 

> This is a quote from Home depot's replacement program!!! For double pane vinyl, filled with Argon!!!

Thanks a lot for your suggestions

 

25K for windows is alot! I've done Pella and Andersen replacements on entire houses for much less, including labor. Hurricane windows? Everyone has to have a gimmick, I guess. As witnessed with Katrina, windows won't make a difference. Rather than spending the money on "hurricane windows", I would invest in OSB and screws. If the house is there when you return, you stand a chance of recouping damage.
And definitely get another inspector, as the one you had didn't provide you with a good service.

 

actually hurricane rated ,lots of areas in fl require them for new construction by code . no "gimmick" they are rated to withstand blow from flying debri up to 160 mph or so

http://www.hurricane.com/hurricane-impact-windows.php

big upgrade retrofit busniess

Hurricane Windows

Hurricane impact resistant windows provide continuous protection from wind borne debris. The advantages are numerous: no shutters to put up, no plywood to cut and put up - in other words, continuous protection. Likewise, the windows are structurally part of the host so it is much more difficult for wind to get behind the windows and pull them off which can occur for shutters and plywood. While clear shutters do exist, they are less common so impact resistant hurricane windows provide the added advantage of letting light in.

In our experience, hurricane windows are somewhat more expensive than good according shutters. This is primarily due to the labor costs of removing and re-installing windows in your home.

 

24 windows --$25K. Granted, having to deal with steel frames will add a little to the cost of replacing them. What the glass is doesn't make any real difference. The panes are (or at least SHOULD BE!) coming out in one piece. But $1K each is simply way too much to pay for windows, UNLESS you're getting into really decorative units, with brass grids, arched tops, etc., etc.

I agree with Larry -- "Hurricaine windows" is mostly a gimmick.

 

I currently have a quote accepted for 17 replacement windows(old frame stays in), for Certainteeds best replacement window, the quote is about $7500. If your old metal frames have to come out, it gets more expensive. You do the math.