"Reply to solargary...I took a look at my 'cracked' windows in relation to the return air vents and had an A-Ha moment. I also threw another blanket over the house fan in the attic. Is there some kind of special blanket or material that can be thrown over attic protruberances to deal with heat loss? I thought about sacrificing my best down comforter to the job but decided it might be better used on my bed." I have a whole house fan also, and built up a box around its perimeter made from 2 inch thick rigid foam board. In the winter I put a lid on this box also made from 2 inch foam board, and put a couple of rocks on it to make sure it seals down to the foamboard edges (high tech eh). I then throw some batt insulation over that. The foam board box seals up the whole fan in the box, and also keeps loose fill insulation out of the fan area. Another notorious leak area is the hatch to the attic. I've seen studies that concluded that a large part of the total attic heat loss can come from a leaky hatch. For other penetrations (like wiring, plumbing, can lights), I raked away the existing loose fill insulation, then used the polyurethane foam in a can (eg Great Stuff) to seal all the gaps. Its a bit messy, but easy. You have to be a bit careful insulating around can lights if they are not approved for direct insulation contact. For the problem of increased depth of loose fill blocking the soffit vents, they make thin foam board "chutes" that you staple up the roof sheathing before putting in more loose fill. The chutes keep an air channel open. Home Depot type places sell them. Bushleague -- I'm also a big fan of the Onset loggers -- I'm up to 3 of the 4 channel ones (don't tell my wife :). Gary

Just saw this thread. I had 14 windows and a bay window installed by NuView in Clifton, VA. This was was the worst disaster of any construction job I have ever had done, the latches don't work, Shucco doesn't stand behind them. I believe it is because they were installed incorrectly. DO NOT GET THE push button locks (forget what the name is really called for those locks) they look cool but do NOT work and came from the factory with stripped screws on 8 windows which NuView tried to blame me for. I called Shucco and basically they say it is NuView's fault. I think they are nice windows but the locks and the installer suck. We almost went to court. If you live in Northern, VA, I will gladly show you what a crappy job they did. The bay window was the wrong one and after filing a BBB report (which is registered to this day) they came back and installed a showroom bay window which was like 6" too small and leaks a lot of air to this day. NuView in Clifton VA is just awful and they DO NOT stand behind anything period!!! They yelled at my wife and me. I can not call them to fix the bay window since it took like a year to get one installed. I would stay away from Shucco and especially NuView.

Hi rileysmom, If you want tilt/turn impact windows then by all means get tilt/turn impact windows. Off the top-of-my-head, I can think of about six or so North American companies that offer the tilt/turn option, but only two (Schuco being one) that have an impact rated tilt/turn. Doesn't mean other folks don't have one, it is just that I can only think of the two. Tilt/turn (also known as dual action windows) are made tough. Partially because of the weight of the hardware involved and partially because it is simply a design feature of the window style. They are generally beefier (and heavier!) than a typical casement window and the ones that I am familiar with did exceedingly well on the impact/cycle test as well as structural and air/water infiltration testing. As I recall (again off-the-top-of-my-head) the Schuco unit is rated a DP65 while the other manufacturer that I am thinking of has a rating of DP75 on those windows - so both are very structurally sound windows. And as a disclaimer, tilt/turn happens to be my personal favorite window style. In fact, I specified (and installed) triple pane tilt/turn windows and patio door in my daughters new home. And I can't emphasize enough that these things are HEAVY! Tilt/turns don't install exactly like other windows that many installers would be familiar with. Not that it is overly difficult, and someone like Guy exterior man (who also posts here), would have no trouble at all installing them perfectly (I EXTENSIVELY solicited his advice a good bit before I installed my daughter's windows), but installation is really important with these units - as it is for all windows in fact - but tilt/turns can be a little less "forgiving" of being even a tiny bit out of square or off level. Anyway, I wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to go with tilt/turn impact rated windows.

Changeling depending on the size of the Double Hung say under 90 united inches, Low E, Krypton Gas, Triple Pane, White on White Vinyl, Outside Casings being covered with PVC Coil,No Grids. In my area you would be looking at around $550.00 to $650.00 per window installed for the Schuco Corona 4000 Triple Pane. .22 U-factor. Subtract around $50.00 to $75.00 for Double Pane. Hopefully this helps a little..