On Feb 1, 12:28*pm, "Smarty" wrote:
Thanks Jim!

Your reply and comments are very much appreciated and very appropriate.

I hope to be in this house at least 15 to 20 years, and rising heating costs
make super-efficient windows very likely to be a worthwhile investment.

I would expect / require the installer contractor to be either manufacturer
"approved" such as the Marvin window installations done locally through
their distributor "Big L", or through a place like Loews, HomeDepot, Sears,
etc. who will stand behind their installation over the long term. In either
case, I would expect to avoid the handyman, small independent shop, or
do-it-yourself approach since this is a big and expensive job, likely to
cost many tens of thousands of dollars based on my initial research.

Also, I did find an interesting web site called replacementwindows.com with
some user reviews and testimonials. I was very surprised to see Pella dinged
so much as I had expected that it was a leading brand.

Any / all comments are much appreciated and thanks again Jim,

Smarty

"jJim McLaughlin" wrote in message

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Smarty wrote:
I live in the cold northeast, and am looking to replace 17 windows in my
60 year old house with energy efficient and easy to maintain / repair
windows. This will be an expensive and messy project, impacting
essentially every room in the house, so I want to do it right the first
time and make the best choice I can for the window supplier.

I've been to see Pella, Andersen, Marvin as a first pass. I am especially
interested in dealing with a company that will be around a long time, if
there is any way to predict such things. My current 60 year old windows
were made by a company which went out of business years ago, and parts
have not been available for decades.

If ultra high efficiency has a good return on investment, and pays back
fast, I will certainly consider the premium price as being worthwhile.

Many thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

Smarty
*Two areas of thought, no answers.

First, how long do you think you will be in that house? *How much you are
wlling
to pay for very high priced super efficient windows, with a longer
"payback" time,
may be a function of how long you plan to be in that house.

Second, while manufacturer longevity is an important part of what windows
to choose (replacement parts, warrantyserviceif a gas seal blows, etc.),
so, too is istaller longevity. *Ideed , warranty from the mfg may depend
upon "correct" installation. *Do some of the mfgrs. you mention do their
own installation? *Are you going to use "Joe Handyman" to install? *A
local remodeling contractor? *A local construction co?

Just some more things to think about. *Sorry that I have no "answers".- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I assume you mean http://www.vinyl-replacement-windows.com/ 'cuz
replacementwindows.com isn't much of a website, at least as far as I
can tell.