Which window to pick?

[mreynolds]

Do you have any advice about choosing windows? This is what I know so far.
1. Low-e double pain glass in a good thing.
2. There is a huge price gap between the top of the line windows such as Anderson and lower end products such as Better Bilt.
3. Despite the price differences, I am seeing low cost windows with the energy star ratings.
What I want to know is where is the sweet spot in in these product lines? Or has competition made them all very competitive and it is just a name war?

[Rich]

Low-e double pane is good.. argon filled is better.. triple pane is a scam.
Anderson Pella, and Marvin are probably the top of the line.. across them they are very comparable as far as price and quality of window with excellent backing from the manufacturer. Your lower end will have the low-e argon filled double pane... but with not so good support from manufacturer. It's really the name and warranty support from manufacturers that sets them apart. I would suggest going with something like Milgard - not the best or the worst.
Don't look at energy star - some of their requirements are excellent and others are simply a joke. Mostly you will be looking at R value of the total window system. R value should be around 7-10 or a U-value of around .29 or .30.
Then there is a whole other myriad of things you can look at as far as shading coefficients and window films etc. Some of these will only allow so much UV in or cut down the amount of light..etc.

[grumpydasmurf]

I wouldn't consider Anderson top of the line. They are more a mid range product. I assume you are taking about replacement windows and not new construction windows. (New construction windows can be installed similiar to replacement windows but more work is required.)

We like Marvin for new construction windows. We use a local manufacturer for replacement windows (Climate Guard).

Low-E2 is better than Low-E.

Argon gas insulation between the thermal panes is better than air. All companies will say thermal insulated but you need to know what the insulation actually is. Some manufacturers, such as Simonton, even go so far as to claim 85% filled with argon gas. It's Simonton's claim the more filled the cavity between panes, the better insulating value.

What admin said about R value is important but typically hard to find out. I don't really know what admin was talking about support so I can't comment on that.

[Rich]

By support I mean a local rep coming out to look at condensation problems or hardware not working correctly. Many things can happen during manufacturing that are not visibly apparent upon install. Typically this will be handled by your builder - but if you are buying them you'll have to deal with it.

[grumpydasmurf]

Good point. I never really take that into consideration when comparing brands, I always assume they are going to make 'em right. :)

[mreynolds]

Its funny you mention service. My mother in law built her home 28 years ago. Well a couple of years ago one of the Anderson windows they bought would not function properly. Well it turns out that they only warrent their product for 20 years, they wouldn't do anything. At the same time she was building a custom house though a high quality builder in our area (one of those deals where she puts up 15,000 and they build her a 325,000 home, but she can get out in the end). The builder got word of this problem and was able to get one of the Anderson Reps to replace it.