Besides just knowing what energy appliances consumes the most electric power and  money in your energy bills (please see article Save On Energy Appliances), keeping your home warm during the winter and cool during summer is important.  If you can’t keep the conditions of your home the way you want it because the home is not insulated, it can be a big factor in your electric usage.  But first you need to know how to do that.  Windows is one way.  Let me take a couple of minutes to talk about windows in general.  That way if you decide to put windows in, you can decide for yourself what is the best value for your money.  It’s really simple.  There are four kinds of windows: Aluminum, Wood, Vinyl, and Euro-Vinyl.  To start with people really want to know the prices and costs with each type of window.  Aluminum is the least inexpensive and easy to manufacture along with Vinyl, then Euro-Vinyl is a little bit more than Vinyl, and the most expensive is wood.  Wood can be five times as much (sometimes more) than Aluminum.  All four have good points and bad points.  Read through all of them and you can decide what you think you like the best.

Aluminum Positives

One great positive thing about aluminum frame windows is they are strong.  In fact, Boeing makes airplanes out of aluminum, which tells you a lot about how long they last. The frames are custom built, so they fit in any size window opening, they come in large sizes, and are easy to install.  There’s really no maintenance and their not expensive.

Aluminum Negatives

The negative with aluminum windows is it’s the fifth highest conductor of all the materials on the planet.  That’s why when it’s cold outside it’s also cold on the inside.  The cold air comes right through the metal frames.  For this reason, there’s a lot of heat loss.  Most states have changed their residential building codes so as of now, you can’t put aluminum in new construction homes.  If your house is old enough you can probably still use them in remodeling, if you choose to do so.  But I don’t recommend it.  People that have aluminum windows tell us they can feel a draft when they’re sitting on a chair near a window.   They can feel the cold air by their neck, or down by their feet.  Again, that’s the cold air coming through the aluminum frame.  Condensation is another negative, it’s the moisture that builds up when the cold air meets the warm air in the house.  Over time tiny dirt particles stick to the condensation on the frame and that’s how the black mold or mildew grows.  As of now, they are learning that some people are allergic to the spores shot out into the air by the mold.  In addition, the appearance is outdated, a lot of people don’t like the look of the aluminum frames, and there’s no added value with aluminum windows.

Wood Windows

The best thing about wood is the appearance.  They are beautiful and people like the way they look.  Also, they are a good insulated material.  People stay warmer in their home.  Other good points are they are structurally strong and they make them in large sizes as well.

Wood Negatives

High maintenance is the number one complaint.   Wood absorbs moisture, and here in the Pacific Northwest, we get a lot of it.  Every couple of years people have to go out to sand and paint them.  If they don’t, the frames start to rot, pit, and look ugly.  Also, wood only comes in stock sizes.  Stock sizes today don’t match up with houses that were built ten, twenty or thirty years ago.  If you want the windows but your house window openings are the wrong size, they have to change the size of the opening in the wall.  That’s going to take more time, labor, and material.  Guess what that means?  More money.  Many people end up investing anywhere from $3,000 to $4,000 a piece for wood windows.  Most people don’t want their total to end up between $60,000 to $70,000 dollars for windows.  Do they add value?  Yes, but it’s really hard to get a return on such a large investment.  Usually, people don’t use wood windows unless the houses are worth over a million dollars.

Vinyl Positives

Vinyl windows are popular.  In fact, in new construction that’s practically all the builders and developers use.  As a matter of fact, it’s hard to see a new house being built without vinyl windows installed.  The best thing about vinyl windows is it’s a really good insulated material.  Its a little bit better than wood, and compared to aluminum there’s no heat loss.   These windows save energy.  People who have installed them find they save up to 30% off their energy bills, when they get rid of all their old windows and put in vinyl.  People stay warm in the home and they are more comfortable.  There are no drafts, no sweat, and no mold to clean or look at.  The vinyl frame windows seal tighter compared to aluminum.  Have you ever noticed how aluminum is a stiff rigid material?  Well, vinyl is more flexible and is designed differently.  When the windows close they overlap so you get a better seal.  They are low maintenance, I can’t tell you that they’re maintenance free, nothing is, but when frames get dirty, soap and warm water on a sponge cleans it right off.  Also, Vinyl frames are custom built to a half inch and are easy to install like aluminum.  Appearance wise they look nice.  Lots of people like the look of the white vinyl frames over metal, plus they add value to the home.

Vinyl Negatives

The negatives with vinyl is they only make these windows in limited sizes, from small to medium.  The reason for it is vinyl is a naturally weaker material.  Its design is used primarily as a surface material on top of products.  Like vinyl siding, it comes in long planks, it’s real flexible, and vinyl floors come in rolls. When they put it down and install it, they put it on the ground and roll it across the room.  Vinyl does two different things, when it’s hot it expands and when it’s cold it does the opposite, it contracts.  They make vinyl primarily out of two ingredients, oil and sand.  Now I don’t know if you can get any more opposite than those two ingredients.  Oil gives the vinyl the ability to expand and contract.  The sand gives it the stiffness and rigidity, like what they use in glass.  When the oil dries up, the sand takes over and it makes the frame stiff.  It wants to expand or contract in different temperatures, but it can’t, and overtime that is when vinyl starts to break down.  Some people notice when the vinyl fades.  It goes from a nice shiny white to a yellow or off white color.  It starts to crack and brittle as it dries out, kind of like patio furniture.  In the beginning its nice and shiny, but then over time it gets weathered.  Well, the same thing happens with vinyl frame windows.  Also, the weight of the glass pushing down causes it to start to sag, warp and bend.  When those problems happen, people have no choice, but to replace them.  Now the main thing that causes all those problems to occur is the normal weather outside, Ultra-Violet (UV) light.  UV light kills vinyl.  Now don’t get the wrong idea.  I’m not saying this is going to happen in a couple of months.  This is not the case; here in the Pacific Northwest we find that vinyl windows will last an average of six to nine years.  Even with all this, they are a great investment.

Euro Vinyl Windows

Have you ever seen euro-vinyl windows before?  Have you ever heard of them before?  Not surprising.  Most windows companies don’t carry them and contractors never use them.  Why is that?  On the outside they all look the same.  Inside with the way they are built, that’s where the real difference lies.  You can go out and get ten bids, every single time you will get bids from contractors on vinyl windows.  With Euro-vinyl windows, the positives are real similar to vinyl.  The are going to insulate, they save energy, people find they save 40% - 50% off their energy bills, and there’s more chambers inside, so they are more energy efficient.  People stay warm in their home.  There’s no drafts, there’s no sweat, there’s no mold to clean, they seal tighter, are low maintenance, and the euro-vinyl frames are generally custom built to a 1/16 of an inch.  Each window is custom built for a specific opening.  Once they make it they can’t use it anywhere else.  They look nice, add value to the home, they are not that much more than vinyl.  The big difference is how they build them.  The Euro-vinyl frames use a multi-chamber design frame.  The more chambers they have, the stronger they are going to be.  We find that they are ten times stronger compared to vinyl-framed windows.  Just to give you an idea, the Euro-vinyl windows support over 350 lbs of glass.  So like wood and aluminum they can make them in large sizes.

Review:

After reading through all this, hopefully, you have a better picture of what is out there in the market.  If you would like to understand more about pricing, I would recommend getting an estimate.   Without knowing what types of windows you have now or how big of window space you have, it’s hard to say an exact price when each home is different.  If you have any other questions about windows, please email me or leave a comment.  I would be happy to explain in more detail.