Replacement Windows

[Shadow]

I'm in the Texas Gulf Coast area living in a home with over 300 sf of single pane aluminum frame windows. While I am blessed to only have two large sliders get direct afternoon sun, my concrete patio and drive reflect massive ammounts of heat iinto the living area. Do I need low E glass on all the new double pane windows, or only those that get direct sun. Looking at several differnt brands. Any recommendations with regard to Argon vs. Krypton, or no gas fill? Having watched several neighbors have windows changed out I am about as concerned about the install as the difference in window companies. I haven't looked at this group in a long time, so I hope this is not a repeditive question. Thanks

[Don Phillipson]

It may be cheaper to screen the windows from the sun, e.g. by overhead awnings (retractable canvas awnings are standard in Europe) or garden walls/fences. You can find ornamental wall/fence material pierced so you can look through it but which nevertheless blocks up to

80 per cent of light or heat.

[Frank]

Low E does not cost that much more - a lot cheaper than awnings. I find it well worth it.

[Oren]

Hire the first window person that can tell about the Merlin Lazer:

[clare]

Go Loew E 2 (low e squared) with Argon fill and insulated spacers.

[WhiteTea77581]

Using solar screens blocks the sun and gives extra security if you use screws that use a special bit. screws.

Use the same type of screw in all windows to make removal easier.

Andy

[ransley]

Low e is only part of glass performance. SHG solar heat gain is the rating you need to compare. Some companies make glass just for what you want. You realy need to do alot of research to find out what is needed for your area and price it out. Alpen and Hurd are a few companies that make glass to reduce SHG. Im in the north , in winter we want SHG so glass for my area is different. There are quite a few tests done to compare glass, you need to know and use the ratings.

[Shadow]

Thanks to all for the input, been sittin at the ,puter gathering data. Seems Argon gas is the way to go with Low E and solar glass. Finished my window measuring just to have an idea and actually have almost 425 sf of glass. That ammounts to 21% of the floor space. The gov. does have some info where you can plug in windowsize/ placements and some other factors even energy costs. It'll do a simulation with different types of windows. No matter how this goes I'm paying for comfort not real energy savings. After checking the price of windows around here it'' take 15-20 years for windows to pay for themselves. Heck, I don't know if I'll make it that long. This assumes of course that the price of electricity will remain stable. Anyone counting on that? Still, the house will not have to be so hot in the Summer. When my 10 year old AC fails a new unit will not have to work so hard.

My research points to Simonton windows (just got the JD Powers award), and Andersen looks to have a good product, they are proud of it though. We have one window outfit down here that claims to have a window with an R-value of 10. I can't wait to find out how much that costs.

Once again, thanks for the tips.

[ransley]

Who has R 10? you are not figuring it out right, you are paying for energy savings if your sun load is that high. Payback would be much faster if it keeps the AC from running as much