Recommendations for Upgrading Home WIndows

Our house, in the Tampa area, was built in 1979 and still has the original single-pane windows in aluminum frames. I see window manufacturers touting new products with higher strength for storms and security, lower energy costs, and even reduced noise transfer into the building. I have asked around the neighborhood but I have had trouble getting a good feel for costs, payback, effectiveness, types, and brand differences. So I thought I would consult the smartest group of people I know.  Does anyone have specific recommendations on upgrading windows, what to look for, and/or what to avoid? 

Thanks!

Danny

You may have to get impact-rated glass, depending on where you live. The windows will be attached differently due to the building code. Installation is key with windows. Don't use Bob down the street.

Vinyl or metal frames, low-e glass is nice. 

Went through this pre-COVID, so while it's fresh on my mind - I got a lot of help from the Efficient Windows Collaborative. They do all the hard work for you with high level guidelines and efficiency calculators - but you'll need to figure out manufacturer specs and pricing to do the ROI analysis

That said...

Key Metrics to cut through marketing BS

• U-factor is the rate at which a window, door, or skylight conducts non-solar heat flow
• Solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) s the fraction of solar radiation admitted through a window, door, or skylight - in the South, lower is "better" since it prevents things from heating up in summer
• For more: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/design/windows-doors-and-skylights/energy-performance-ratings-windows-doors-and
• See what EWC says for Florida: https://www.efficientwindows.org/publications_factsheets.php

Manufacturers I considered:

• Okna / Sunrise / Soft Lite were good enough for me
• Pella / Andersen / Marvin are the upscale brands

Installers are important - so do your due diligence - when they come on site to do estimates, make sure you get quotes for replacing trim/casing as needed (if it's  rotted)

In reply to zoomies :

I used Anderson .  At the time they were cheaper and more options than Pella or Marvin. 
Things have changed  and if I needed to replace all 105 windows I think I'd buy Marvin. 

140 mph rated windows are expensive but they block noises much better and are also a security plus.

In the Florida wind tunnel I would look into PGT.  Made down in Nokomis right off of I-75. On the average you should figure $1000 a hole to have it done.  Quite a bit less if you can order them from a builder supply and do it yourself.  Impact windows will do all the energy saving stuff and stop projectiles. You may save a bit on your insurance too.

Source- I live in St Pete

In reply to jgrewe :

PGT is excellent.

Windows are like cars. At some point things can only be so cheap. After that the sky is the limit.

I don't think anyone is making "bad" windows. The weak link is the installer.

In reply to Hasbro (Forum Supporter) : My county is quite conservitive and only allows 140 mph windows.

The only way we're going to see 140 mph is if Godzilla shows up and farts.

Thanks for all the good info rolling in here. Lots to absorb. And from the EWC material, I already learned a new word "fenestration".

Our home is concrete block and not in a hurricane evacuation zone, so we plan to ride out any storms at home. 140 mph windows would keep me from having to board up, along with the year-round energy and noise reduction benefits. 

This is relevant to my interests--we're also looking at impact windows just to save having to board up once or twice every year. Marvin's been at the top of my shopping list, but going to check out PGT right now.

Margie

In reply to Danny Shields (Forum Supporter) :

Just FYI - 140 mph windows are not impact rated. It just means if properly installed they should not break in that wind. The real issue is flying stuff. That's what impact rated means.

They fire 2x4's through the windows for testing. Florida is fun!

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

Marvin, Pella, and Andersen all compete for the lead. Your local rep (if in the unlikely event if something happens) can make the difference.

The Pella rep for my area (Ocala) is top notch. I don't know if his area extends over to where you are. I can find out if you are interested.

Another vote for PGT. 

Here we also have a great outfit that build their own impact windows. They are not the cheapest, but also not the most expensive and they have a great reputation. Might be worth looking into them. SIW windows amd their website is:

SIW windows

I got a quote from a company that was going to use PGT Winguard windows on a property I have.  I like to see how much I'm going to save when I do it myself.  The quote came back at around $15,000 for 13 windows. Four of them were 3'x3' so that brought my average cost per hole down, two of them were about 108"x52". 

I went to my local builders supply type lumber yard and gave them the dimensions. My cost to pick up the windows at their yard came to $8500. There was about a 4 week lead time and that changes quickly if a storm hits somewhere.

Shadeux (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

Marvin, Pella, and Andersen all compete for the lead. Your local rep (if in the unlikely event if something happens) can make the difference.

The Pella rep for my area (Ocala) is top notch. I don't know if his area extends over to where you are. I can find out if you are interested.

Actually this is for the cabin, which is in Marion Co., so yes please... though we are firmly in a DIY budget here, because cabin. And media mogul realities. So I don't want to waste your rep's time if they're, uh, not kinda cheap.

Margie

Shadeux (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Danny Shields (Forum Supporter) :

Just FYI - 140 mph windows are not impact rated. It just means if properly installed they should not break in that wind. The real issue is flying stuff. That's what impact rated means.

They fire 2x4's through the windows for testing. Florida is fun!

Good to know! 

So here's a pro/con view on impact. They aren't guaranteed not to break, just to stop projectiles, so it is possible to leave them unboarded in a storm and still face damage and need for glass replacement. My current shopping is for the cabin; for our house, we went old-school with non-impact low-e double-paned solid vinyl windows paired with homebuilt shutters-because think about it, why did shutters become a thing? Yeah, protection. I had that non-revelatory revelation and we had these functional shutters built for less than $300 per window (meaning DIY would be much less), scary cheap vs. the pros' prices for hurricane shutters:

edit: and yeah, in this photo we had cinch bugs. They dead now :)

I have Pella windows throughout my house. The windows are good, but the hardware is junk. And when it fails, the replacement parts are stupidly expensive and only available from Pella. I wouldn't buy them again.

Went with Window World triple pane for our house. A lot quieter and easy to maintain. Plus guaranteed not to break, at least under reasonable circumstances. Here in North Alabama it doesn't get too extreme. Tornados but with those windows are the least concern.

We went with Marvin's "Signature Ultimate" double hung.  I literally have them in the garage for the second half of the house right now.  We got the first half done about two or three years ago.   We were stuck with the higher end offerings due to the design of house which would have made a traditional vinyl or aluminum clad window look pretty out of place.   We had to have wood interior we could stain to match the house interior, for example and we wanted a composite sill and outer face that was a nice dark red.

I will say that we chose these after evaluating all of the higher end options..  This is NOT the cheapest option, but the hardware such as slides, latches, etc., are all amazing.  

The downside of these is price.  For our case, I forget the exact size off the top of my head, but it's a standard "normal" house window, and they were $605 a piece.  Install will be a few hundred more.

Hopefully, we're never moving :)

Click on the start menu. Then click on settings. Then click on Update & Security.

Then click on Check for Updates. Easy peasy.

Oh wait, that's not what you were asking. My house was built in 1991 and the windows are beat due to the salt air. I'd hate to know how much it would cost me to do the whole house or even how many windows there are in total. Maybe I'll count them and see.

In reply to T.J. :

The "Windows Update" reminds me of the old Microsoft joke punch line, the information was technically correct but of no value.

I/my company spec's windows all the time.  Another thing to be mind full of is the PSF rating of the windows AND that the window you are considering has been tested recently. The tests are only good for a couple of years.  For homes this usually is not an issue but get three stories high or more and this comes in to play.  We deal with Pella, Andersen, Paradigm, for relatively inexpensive windows for the average home.  There are others out there.  Sometimes finding a local manufacture (Paradigm is made in Maine) is a better option than the big national brands as long as they can produce the test results certifying that there windows meet code requirements.  

Not particularly relevant to your needs but just depositing some information:

acquaintance of mine worked sales for high end triple pane window company in KC where it gets both very hot and very cold. In a corner room at his house he replaced one window with his company's 3x pane, at cost, for $600ish parts only. Then later he got a Home Depot double pane in the other wall for what, like $250? $450 installed? He said there was no temp difference between the two and it made it very hard for him to sell his overpriced windows

More good information.