Purchased a foreclosure home. Windows in living room are basically floor to ceiling and are in poor shape. Every pane needs to be reglazed. Looking for ideas to replace these with something smaller, possibly just near the top of the wall to let in some light.








 

I doubt you can go higher with windows because of the header above each.

Either resize the height of new double-hungs to match the windows on the gable end as seen in the picture, or go with a shorter 3-lite slider and keep the top at the current header location.

Hate to sound dumb but what is a  3-lite slider ? Would that be a wide but not very tall window? My father in law owns a cabinet shop and will "help" with the work. Thanks for all the ideas !

3-lite slider:







both end sashes slide left-to-right; center sash is fixed in place.




Double-hung windows will be more weather tight, but your location and the fact this is under roof will negate that advantage.




generally for a given space, a 3-lite slider should be more economical than a twin double-hung unit of the same size.


 

My suggestion is to DIY, and get nicer windows that you think.  They aren't much more.

For example, the price difference from a basic window to a triple pane, ultra low-e, argon filled window was about $75/ea.  Very much worth it when you consider the benefit in heating / cooling costs, and room temperature / feel.  

Difference between sliding doors for triple pane and low-e glass was $100/ea.  

I'm halfway through replacing the windows in my house from "decent but old" double pane windows to Pella 250 triple pane glass - and the room to room temperature difference is amazing with the new windows vs. old ones.