Home Improvement: At least one "honey do" list item finally checked off. Double hung-high efficiency E-star windows installed last week.

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Just completed a Home Improvement project that's been on wife's "honey do!" list for way way too long. Too many years in fact.
Got it done right before end of her summer off. Wanted to make her happy before her next school year of teaching 1st grade starts. These teachers can get cranky, sad, depressed and mopey right before summer ends. Kinda like the moms. Some start getting depressed right before the summer starts and means the kids are home all the day long! LoL. They all joke about it.
So....... Pst!! Hey, Young newly weds out there.
Remember this if you have not heard the concept before. Put it in your TRUE files. Happy Wife = Happy LIFE." It is TRUE!

Just had the (8) windows on the house replaced. The house we have been in for 27 years is about 50 years old. When we moved in, the house already had double windows. Unfortunately they were probably some of the very first types sold and installed. Aluminum framed but very poorly designed. There was actually no way to open them and clean the insides without unscrewing part of the frame. They were a big change to us at first. We noticed right away how we could not hear lots of outside noise. Over time the rubber and soft seals around them simply shriveled up cooked away making them not really very effective.

So we had one of the most popular companies in our area take on the replacement job.
What sold me was the products they sell and install are made in USA in North Carolina. I like that for sure.
Also a lifetime 100% complete warranty. I actually know a family who had a window replaced 6 months ago. 100% free replacement under the warranty, only 25 years after they had them installed. Yeah. That too was a big seller for me.

The new windows are : Double hung, E-star certified. Insulated , vinyl framed, Low-E glass. Heavy duty impact resistant. UV filtering, argon filled double glass windows. Glad I finally made the move. It actually took (3) installers only 4 hours to remove the old, install the new and clean up. So far very happy with the results. The house actually seems cooler in the middle of the day. Already can see the central A/C is running less in the daytime. At night it is unreal that the A/C barely turns on during the cooler night. I can tell already the power bill will drop. Just like it did some years back when I re-did all the insulation in attic.

 

[Cujet]

I have Low-E glass. It helps. Although I really only have 3 windows that get ever get full sun due to the configuration of my house. I don't feel much heat when the sun is coming through those windows.

The best thing I did for energy efficiency was a bright white barrel tile roof. Attic is cool, house needs very little AC to keep it cold.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I did many things since I moved into the house. They had (3) ancient wind turbines on the roof that one could see were shot. I got up there right away and replaced with new ones. I ended up re-doing all the HVAC duct work in the attic. Installed all new blown insulation.
Installed a new Hi - E Rehem gas furnace / ac and condensing unit. They had a live oak tree in the back yard that they had never trimmed or anything. Over the years since I trimmed and formed it out many times to make it shoot straight up tall. For many years now as the oak grew it became a nice thing. It shades the entire back yard and the house from noon until dark each day. That is a real neat benefit. Helps with light bill too I am sure. Trees close to houses can be a pain to some, but to me it is very worth it. The new windows make it obvious the ones we had that were here when we moved in were big time leakers and did nothing to help with heat. They were double but back when those were made they were the old thin cheap single pane glass. These new ones are very impressive so far. Wife is loving them.

 

[UncleDave]

Congrats, who did you go with?

I put in a houseful of windows last year and the difference is nothing less than astonishing.

 

[alarmguy]

UV filtering is big. We like letting the sunshine in. New home has this.
Last new home of 16 years did not but we had 14 windows in the back of the house treated with 3M window film. No curtains except two in the master bedroom. Back of course faced west. When we moved two year ago. The med dark green furniture showed only a little fading.