Two main questions to start:
1. Where does one buy new storm windows? Anderson, Pella, and Marvin don't seem to show any on their sites.
2. For refurbishing old wood windows on the outside, scraping and painting, what paint is best? Someone I know did a scrap/paint job and said it was peeling again within a year... I suspect the wrong paint may have been a factor, so what is the right paint?
My house is an old, brick 1920's/1930's house, so the windows are all old single pane wood windows. I've been semi-planning to replace them all with modern windows once I can get the money together and/or cash out refi, but my wife loves the look of the old windows and doesn't want to ruin that. So, the option of scraping/painting windows to protect the wood, and then seal with new storm windows, fresh caulk, etc. has come up. Seems like materials cost may end up a decent amount less that way, and it would preserve the historical looks of the house. Seems like low e glass storm windows and resealed with caulk, and window glazing would still help with drafts and sun, just maybe not quite as much as a double or triple pane window. Any thoughts?
Might be cheaper, but scrapping, sanding, and otherwise removing old paint (could be lead), and then correctly prepping and finishing is incredibly labor intensive. Plus, you're likely to find rotten areas anyway.
putting storm windows on over existing windows will also significantly change the look of the house.
finally, the sound insulation of new windows is often overlooked but can be just as nice when you find your house to be a whole lot quieter all of a sudden.
i might not choose to replace all the windows in an old house, but it would be really hard for me to choose to refinish existing over other options.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
No doubt sanding, scraping, painting would be very labor intensive.
I guess I didn't clarify earlier, we already have old storm windows, so the look wouldn't change much there aside from being fresh and clean, and likely white instead of bare aluminum.
Noise is a big factor I hadn't accounted for really in this thought process yet, but is good to bring up. We are close to the road and get a lot of road noise. Pretty much used to it at this point, but taking it down a notch would be nice.
I have a 1913 house with tons of windows. They're actually Andersens, but they're original to the house so no fancy modern features. 
After scraping and sanding I've had pretty good luck using a quality oil based primer and paint; my choice is Benjamin Moore but there are other good brands too. If the wood is really dried out it can help to put on some boiled linseed oil first, if you're replacing the putty it's even more important to treat the mullions with linseed oil to keep the putty from failing prematurely.
As for storm windows, are your existing ones wood or are they more modern aluminum combinations? if they're wood the same recommendations above apply. Combination windows don't really wear out, but they may need to be adjusted and re-caulked so the panes and screens go up and down well and seal against the frames. If you do need new ones, you'll probably have to go with a local company - I don't know about where you live but there are a bunch of them here that advertise on daytime TV all the time. Just watch for a while, pick a couple of them and give them a call.
Going back to the windows themselves, you can also get new weatherstrip to replace the originals if they aren't sealing well. I'm of the opinion that if they are in good shape with good weatherstrip, the original windows along with decent storms aren't that much less efficient than new ones. In my case I'd probably have to spend $100k+ to replace all mine, so I figure the payback on new windows would be a lot longer than my lifespan.
My first house had 1950 original wooden windows with aluminum "triple track" storm windows.
I would redo 2-3 windows a summer and move around the house clockwise. With the labor intensity it wasn't too bad but it felt like it never ended.
In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :
It's like the old saying about how do you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. Don't try to do all the windows in one big project, maybe tackle one room now and then wait a while before moving on to the next room.
