I have Milgard Tuscany series casements, one on either side of a picture window. The minute they were installed, I open both casements all the way. I am in Southern California, so open windows for evening breezes are key to enjoying them. What do you know, when I tried to leave the house a couple hours later, the windows would not close. I had to leave them open for a few days until someone was able to come out and look at them. Milgard sent someone who “fixed” them by preventing them from opening a full 90°. They know each only open 80°. I tried to complain about this, but was difficult to get any kind of response and they seemed to be trying to kick the can back to the dealer. It is four years later and I still have these casement windows, but specifically two provide air into the house that do not even open all the way. I regret it daily and wish I had just gone with a double slider.

Hello! Update: WIndows/Doors Choice is now between: (A) Milgard thermally improved A250 aluminum 16 windows - mixed casements and sliders, 3 sliding patio doors 96" X 82" and 1 sliding patio door 72" X 82". Quote for those installed is $44,000. or B) Milgard Ultra C650 fiberglass 16 windows - mixed casements and sliders, same size and number doors. Quote for those installed is $65,800. My understanding is choice (A) the fiberglass windows and doors will comply with Title 24 for my Bay Area home. But as they are $20K more, with fatter sightlines, we are considering hiring a company to provide us with "as built drawings" (floor plans) for our home, and we then hire a Title 24 consultant. My home will then be evaluated for energy efficiency and given a number. By undertaking other energy saving measures (new furnace, R38 insulation instead of more basic, and other measures I know not of, but hope to learn) we can make up the difference for the U value of 0.38 for Milgard thermally improved aluminum, which just misses the 0.30 of Title 24. Milgard standard aluminum has a U value 0.45. Has anyone else gone the energy survey route with a good result? Are these facts correct? Are these quotes fair for the Bay Area? This second contractor is also installing Hardie Board as I noted in my OP. (The first contractor failed to get back to us in time, and so here we are months later. Marvin still not an option, as he's not a certified installer and we'd have to buy them outright.) We are trying to move fast to avoid yet another price increase. Thanks. Should I start a new thread as Sierra Pacific is no longer in the running?

As WoW pointed out, air infiltration is your number one concern. The window and install must be as airtight as possible. I am a bit surprised at an STC 33 in that configuration, I would have expected something a bit better than that. Fixed and casement will be a bit (or more than a bit) better than double hung or sliders simply because they close tighter and have better air infiltration numbers. Also, outside of infiltration, the width of the gap between the inner and outer lites is the most important consideration. Wide = good, narrow = bad, and anything 3/8" airspace or less = very bad. And while different width glass in a dual pane will improve sound performance, my experience it that only applies when using non-laminated glass. I have never seen evidence that proves that using two different glass thicknesses in a lami unit is any better than simply using two of the same thickness....in fact while a single laminated unit consisting of two lites at 5mm each ( 7/32"x2) and a .030" interlayer has an STC 36, a laminated unit using different thickness lites at 3mm (1/8") and 6mm (1/4') with a .030" interlayer will have an STC of...36.

So basically you are suggesting ProSolarSun may NOT be energy-efficient and let through a lot of sunlight Not precisely, what I am saying is that the coating used in the ProSolarSun allows more visible light and more solar heat gain versus other coatings because that's what it was designed to do. For people in heating climates who are designing for passive solar, then this is the ideal coating for that application. But for someone in the southland, not so much. The single silver coating used in ProSolarSun U-factor is not quite as good as U-factor on the dual and triple layer coatings, but in a well designed application the very slight U-factor loss can be more than offset by the gains in free solar heat. And even in homes not technically designed for passive heat gain, some people simply like to feel solar heat in the winter, and no doubt it does feel good even though it might result in a slight energy loss when compared with the multiple layer coatings. Most of the performance numbers listed for ProSolar are very indicative of a dual-silver-layer coating, but a few had me scratching my head....despite that I still believe that the ProSolar uses a dual-silver-layer coating, and as mentioned previously Cardinal and Guardian each have two coatings that fall within that spectrum and have similar performance properties - U-factor, SHGC, VT, etc. IMO I think that the dual-layer coatings are generally going to be the best choice for most anyone who lives in a moderate heating/cooling environment, and except for more extreme or specific heating or cooling applications where the single or triple-layer coatings might be the better option, I think dual-coatings can be used almost anywhere. Without going in depth, there are even quad-layer coatings and both dual and triple layer with different shading options than the ones that I believe are used in ProSolar, but I only mention them in passing in case you hear something about them and not to discuss here. To clarify in case you have never heard this, glass-only (plus coating) visible transmittance and solar heat gain performance values are not going to be the same as whole window performance numbers. Because VT and SHGC are computed in windows using the entire assembly, not just the glass, it's entirely possible to have identical glass packages in two different windows that have markedly different VT and SHGC even when the glass specification is identical. Frame/sash, using grids, will affect the final VT and SHGC whole window values. This is something to keep in mind since Simonton is considered to have a relatively bulky frame and so those values for Simonton will be lower (VT and SHGC higher is better, U-factor lower is better) when compared to a company with the same glass package but a thinner frame. I'm choosing SuperSpacer system and wondering if ProSolarSun would make it a waste as letting thorugh a lot of sunlight? Apples to bushel basket comparison. SuperSpacer (or any spacer) is responsible for keeping the glass lites apart and maintaining an airtight seal between them. Spacers also allow conductive heat gain or loss where they bond to the glass. Some are better at blocking conduction, some are worse, but whatever coating you choose doesn't affect the effectiveness of the spacer. Both coating and spacer have their own job to do.