Picking out new windows

How do I know what to look for in replacement windows? There are so many choices...

Thanks!

 

Books have been written on the subject (and if you will read back through this forum's post in the past year, you will find a couple of them!! LOL). What kind of frame are you looking for? Wood? Vinyl? Clad? Aluminum? ...?? Basically compare like types of frames, compare the festation ratings of the various windows (and make sure that if one has Low-E glass, that all that you compare with it have Low-E glass), compare the warranty each mfgr. offers for both the frame AND the seal of the glass, and finally compare price.

Give us a more detailed idea of what you are looking for in a window and what sort of climate you live in. We can probably narrow your search somewhat for you.

 

I live in the midwest and am looking for aluminum windows. I'm not sure if I want Argon filled or not. We are planning on living in the house about 4 years but the current windows leak and are single paned. We have been told that we could greatly increase the energy efficiency by upgrading to double paned.

Let me know what your recommendations are. Thanks!

 

Shop around. You can find windows that are much more efficient than ones with aluminum frames. Upgrading to dual panes will help. Adding argon will also help, though low-E glass will help more. Adding both the low-E glass and the argon is better yet. But you would be better served going to vinyl, wood, or aluminum clad frames than just plain aluminum. And retrofitting vinyls would save you having to remove the existing frames. That will eliminate one very big possibility of leakage.

 

Thanks! We've chosen vinyl, low E with Argon

I'll let you know if the winter is better this year...