Posted: 10/23/2014 12:09:04 PM EDT
| I'm looking at getting some replacement windows for a house, and wonder if there is anybody has an inside scoop, or knows a place to avoid. I was looking at Champion (seem expensive), Pella, and Andersen. Any advice? |
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Most of the vinyl windows are made by a company called Simonton. That is what Sears and Depot use to sell anyways. I did my old house (built in 1974) about 7-8 years ago. I had all my windows done with double hung low e glass. Divided lights on the front and full glass on the back. Frosted for the bath room. Plus full screens on the back to reduce glare on the TV. All these options were free you just needed to know to ask. Energy savings were not that great. I got better savings with adding more blown in insulation. It did cut down on outside noises and I would have hated to go through hurricane Ike with my old windows.
Good luck. |
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I had new Andersens put in by Home Depot earlier this year. We noticed an improvement on the power bills over the single panes they replaced. The salesman was a pain to deal with. Almost reminded me of buying a car but is seemed HD added a lot of value in dealing with warranty issues or unknowns that might come up. They got all 18 installed in a day which was a plus. The salesman was dead set on selling a Simonton window that must have had a better commission than the Andersen. I chose the Andersen based on their reputation and performance ratings. The standard performance ratings (NFRC) were the best in the price range we were looking for and better than the Simontons the salesman was hawking. His angle on the Simonton was that they rejected 93% of the heat energy from coming in. I had studied a lot of windows and never saw that dropped as a performance figure. Aside from the one guy being a tool the overall experience with HD positive and I would do it again.
Jester |
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Quoted: I'm looking at getting some replacement windows for a house, and wonder if there is anybody has an inside scoop, or knows a place to avoid. I was looking at Champion (seem expensive), Pella, and Andersen. Any advice? Well, I think the first thing you need to determine is what material you want for your frame. I personally don't like wood because of the routine maintenance you'll need to do on it like painting, checking for rot, critter infestation, etc. Thus I don't recommend Pella since that's one of their main lines. So as for vinyl, I have vinyl myself and am pretty pleased. Vinyl is just pvc. Metal (like aluminum) is another option, but the problem is that metal will conduct heat. Ideally you want a window to be as much an insulator as possible. Lastly there's fiberglass which is pretty consistent with vinyl but seems stronger and more resistant to warping, but of course it costs more. One last thing to keep in mind is that replacing old windows with new ones will most likely not cut down on your electric or gas bill as much as the sellers like to claim. They do however cut down on heat gain and air infiltration, so it does help to keep the temperature in your home stable. That is what you should expect. |