I don't have fiberglass, but I recently changed to vinyl. I love my vinyl ones. So easy to open and not as heavy as the old aluminum ones. Also the frame is never supercold or hot like my old aluminum ones. Unless I'm up really close inspecting them they look fine to me.

You also need to look at the cost of them and see if it really fits with your house and neighborhood. Ie don't over improve for your area.

Unless he's using cheap, low grade caulk, and if that's his only sales advantage, then vinyl is the answer.

High grade caulk, especially fenestration caulk, will give you up to 40 years of service life on vinyl, wood, metal or fiberglas window frames.

High grade fenestration caulk is made to expand and contract with the house and the window. I would seek out advice from other qualified window installation companies.

We install mostly wood windows. Our crew knows and understands the critical aspects of caulking. Any window joint, properly cleaned and caulked with the correct caulk will perform over its (the caulk) liftime with no leaks.

Michael

The one type of window I would NEVER AGAIN install in the very cold region (northern WI) I live in is wood interior. There is almost no way to prevent condensation from forming and ruining them, at least not in our home with our big family. I have some new all-vinyl windows and like them a lot. To get a good quality all-vinyl window you have to shop around a bit and find companies that specialize in all-vinyl and can provide a quality product. The big window companies tend to offer all vinyl as their cheaper lower quality window.

What company makes the fiberglass window? Is this a new product?

Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice. I'm going to take dh to the window store to show what we are looking at. I found the vinyl windows to look so different in person. I guess I am so used to aluminum windows, the vinyl window section was a lot thicker than my current double-pane. I am sure once they are installed, I won't notice the little details.

My answer to a similar question on the Windows Forum:

"We installed Milgard Ultra replacement windows in our home approx. 5 years ago. They have performed very well. We instantly were impressed by how quiet the house became, not to mention the temperature stability. We have one casement window that got a hitch in it (difficult to close) and Milgard sent out a customer service rep (on a Saturday) who replaced the mechanism, no charge.

One of the reasons I selected fiberglass was that I could paint the frames, if I ever wanted to. I ordered the windows in a beige/almond for the exterior and white interior. I very seriously considered ordering the wood clad for the interior, but when looking at the cross section of the sample on hand, it was such a meager bit of wood, it just didn't seem like it was worth the cost increase (particularly for our home/neighborhood).

We ordered our windows through a local glass and sash store. They had the best pricing and provided great service. I was able to play around with a variety of configurations to see what worked best and provided the best value for the project. The pricing on the windows has come down some in the past 5 years (we recently installed two new Milgard Ultra as part of a home addition), but the pricing on the sliders is still quite high (when compared to vinyl)."

Besides being able to paint the fiberglass frame, I decided that any additional insulation available would be worth it - given that it would be unlikely that we would be replacing the windows again in the near future. It seemed money-smart to get the best available at the time, rather than have to repeat spend the same dollars at some later date.

Thanks tommeca. I do like the look of the fiberglass more than the vinyl. Part of it is I am specifically looking closely at it, the other part is it just feels odd to have a vinyl window as far as protection goes. I am waiting for the gc to let me know the price difference for two bathroom windows that are to be replaced as part of our remodel. That will help me decide from the cost as I plan on doing all the rest of the windows either now or after the remodel.

I do like the look of the wood clad interior, but the house just doesn't warrant it.

We got one Milgard wood-clad window in dark brown outside and fir inside for the kitchen, and I plan to finish the rest of the house with them as we can. It's great so far, no complaints structurally, and I so much love the look of the fir inside and the dark outside that I'm willing to pay for it. We're de-whiting, de-colonializing, re-modernizing the house and I don't want all metal windows for that commercial/ultra-modern look--the fir is a great simple modern look without being too severe for our tastes.

There is almost no way to prevent condensation from forming and ruining them, at least not in our home with our big family.

Yes there is! SuperSpacer Health Smart Windows.

Wood windows with Health Smart glass will prevent nearly all of the condensation.

Don't look for it on the big name brands. They are not there yet. Read about it. It's very interesting and it's all we sell.

Michael

Here is a link that might be useful: No more condensation problems

I love my vinyl replacement windows! They open and close easily, clean easily, and look good. Plus they're much better from an energy-efficient standpoint.

Susan

I had an installer come out today to measure all the windows (32 of them!) and he is going to give me the quote for vinyl and fiberglass milgard. He said the fiberglass is about 30% more than vinyl. I have a feeling if we go with vinyl, which we will probably have to do from a financial point of view, after they are installed, I won't be staring at every little detail.

This guy that is going to bid this is REALLY good, he pointed out a lot of things, and was telling how he would handle the exterior and interior trim, and I was really amazed at the thought he put behind this.

One interestin comment, he said to go with aluminum for my garden window, which is rather large at 5' x 5'.

Do you have SuperSpacer Health Smart Windows in your home? If so, where did you find it?

I currently have several windows with non-metal spacers and there is still condensation. One window has a third heat-reflective mylar film in the middle of the panes and there is still condensation. The non-metal spacers perform better than the metal (aluminum) but there is still condensation.

I was trying to find where I could get such windows from the site but couldn't find specifics. I will certainly try this new technology on my next new window. We get down to -30F and we have a family of 7 in a fairly small house. I run a dehumidifier but that can't keep things dry enough to stop the condensation.

I will believe when I see but I am willing to try this new product.

The one type of window that I know works to stop condensation is a triple pane - these are VERY expensive and not available locally. I don't know why triple panes are not offered in the cold north more. My neighbor has triple panes and he had a Christmas party with 20 people crammed in his living room - not a trace of condensation with all that moisture. The triple pane is a little better than a double pane with plastic over the top. The plastic always works, even with very poor windows.

I only show and sell Health Smart Windows.

Check the link below for manufacturers that feature health smart. Mine is the Trimline series, wood only.

Michael

Here is a link that might be useful: Makers

It appears one would have to order through a dealer. The dealer would have to place an order with one of the manufacturers. I only found fentech to be in my area and they don't appear to make double hung windows but only casement and awnings.

I found some nice triple panes made in Alaska on the site - those might end up being a bit pricey by the time they get shipped all the way down.

We own a very large 1916 bungalow. When we purchased it, the beautiful leaded windows were in such bad condition (another northern Wisconsinite here!) it would have cost us 5 yrs salary to have them all restored. After much debate, we chose to replace them with Gorell vinyl windows. We've said many times this was one of the best decisions we ever made. We opted for wood-grain look on the inside, and unless you look extremely close, you can't tell they are vinyl. Take a look at our pics. We are in the process of stripping all the wood in the house, so the wood that you see next to the vinyl is bare, unfinished wood (90 year old quarter sawn oak).

Here is a link that might be useful: Vinyl windows

Joyce, that is amazing! I would not think that those are vinyl. Migard doesn't have anything like that, only white or tan in the vinyl. Their fiberglass you can get it clad with wood, but that is very expensive and beyond this house for sure.

The argument that one spacer system is inherently superior to another or all others  is ripe with the possibility of misinformation, misunderstanding, and certainly a great deal of emotionalism. Each system has its proponents and its detractors.

SuperSpacer uses an organic as the primary moisture and gas seal. It uses an acrylic as the primary structural seal. Unlike other systems, SS is "backwards" in that it places the structural seal inside of the moisture seal.

The primary structural component of SuperSpacer is silicone - which is neither moisture nor vapor resistant, so the silicone is wrapped with a moisture barrier to prevent air and other gasses from passing thru the silicone.

Does this make SS an inferior product? Nope, not in the leastÂactually SS outperforms every other system on the market in energy performance numbers.

What EdgeTech (makers of SS) does really well is market their product (for example "Health Smart Windows" is primarily a marketing tool). They have what may be an excellent product, but they also have a marketing program that totally kicks butt! They have opened areas of discussion that really didnÂt exist prior to their introduction of itÂthey have emphasized SSÂs inherent advantages while ignoring any potential disadvantages (which is what marketing folks do, of course). They have "invented" new ways to categorize window spacer systemsÂheck, they have introduced IGU spacers to the general public.

For an example of longevity, EdgeTech advertises that their system goes 80+ weeks in a P1 test chamber (a standard for testing dual pane windows). They advertise that the "Stainless Steel" systems go 40+ weeks in the P1 chamber. What they donÂt advertise is exactly how long is the "plus" in the 40+ weeks of the "metallic" systemsÂhow about 80 weeks for a PIB / silicone dual seal stainless steel spacer system. By the way, at 80 weeks or so the glass begins to break down and the seal tends to be lost at that point because of glass rather than spacer issues.

The hot melt systems used with the SuperSpacer system also have a very specific application temperature range of about 275º  325º. If the applied material is outside of this range, then the P1 chamber testing can be significantly reduced  to as little as two to three weeks to seal failure. What happens in the field in this case? Only time will tell.

Am I slamming SuperSpacer? Nope, not a bit. When manufactured to strict quality control standards and exactly as specified by the manufacturer, then SuperSpacer really is a very good, even superior, product.

Energy performance and durability are what these things are ultimately about. How do different systems compare?

As I mentioned, SuperSpacer is on top  at the edgeÂand TPS is second, by about ½ of a degree or so. The Stainless Steel systems (there are a couple of different ones) tend to be about a degree or so lower  about equal to Swiggle (again, at the edgeÂthe difference may not have much of an impact on the overall U value depending on the construction of the window).

Drop another degree or so to Intercept and about another 8º for an aluminum spacer. Using a LowE coating will have more of an effect on the overall window temperature than does the choice of one of the "warm edge" systems. Of course using a LowE coating with SuperSpacer and with Swiggle still keeps SS a couple of degrees warmer at the edge. BUT, these are also ratings of the "raw" IGUÂwhat happens when the unit is in a frame? Well, how about this for thought:
Conclusion
The thermal resistance of the spacer bar material influences the glass temperature at the edge-of-glass region of an IG unit. Based on the limited testing performed at IRC and computer modelling at EMPA Switzerland, the spacer bar with the highest thermal resistance shows the warmest glass temperature on the warm side and the coldest temperature on the cold side of the glass at a distance 5 to 60 mm from the edge of the IG unit. But the effect of the type of spacer bar on the overall thermal resistance (and tote heat loss) through windows depends heavily on the window design and material. Therefore, the full impact of thermal characteristics of the spacer bar material on the thermal resistance and the condensation resistance of a window should only be determined by testing complete window assemblies.
Interesting concept  testing complete systems.

I did not author the "Conclusion" paragraph of my previous post. That information was taken directly from a report on a study conducted by the Canadian version of the DOE and in conjunction with a couple of European countries.

My original post incuded that information in a different font and in italics for emphasis - I didn't realize that THS software "corrected" the font and that it removed a few between-paragraph spaces. Sorry for any confusion...and btw, the "Intesting concept" comment at the end of the Conclusion is mine.

Drywallguy,

What you are describing is a Heat Mirror IGU. Heat Mirror consists of a piece of thin plastic suspended between two glass lites with a LowE coating applied to the plastic sheet.

This technology was originally developed at MIT in the late 60's / early 70's as a huge step up in window efficiency.

The energy numbers associated with Heat Mirror are truly amazing. This concept really does work - in the lab. Unfortunately, field numbers have not worked out as well.

More unfortunately, the concept - or at least the execution of the concept - has proven to be very unreliable. Heat Mirror has had significant seal and product failure numbers - reportedly much higher than the industry standard as a whole.

A number of companies that previously offered Heat Mirror as an option have dropped the product because of field failures and extensive warranty coverage.

I have heard that Southwall Technologies, makers of Heat Mirror, have improved the product and that seal failures, film ripples, etc. are no longer an issue, but I suspect that the word-of-mouth in the field has certainly affected peoples perception of this product. I have yet to meet someone, with Heat Mirror installed for a few years, who actually likes the product.

oberon, now that you mention this about the heat mirror, my brother told me of problems with heat mirror exposed to a lot of sun - the film breaks down. Fortunately, the one window I have (with heat mirror) is on the north side and gets virtually no sun.

Joyce, the pictures you post show some really nice looking windows. If I wanted the wood look, I would definitely go with these.

I believe the triple panes I mentioned in Alaska truly are triple pane glass.

I have considered the idea of even starting a triple-pane dealership around where I live. Triple panes are really difficult to get. With my luck however the greenhouse effect would kick in right after I started and our winters would only get down to zero instead of -30F!