"as embers can collect against homes low down and doors are more vulnerable."

Who recommended that? If "embers" collect download what is to stop them from igniting the structure? Or the porch/deck? Does not make much sense to me and I would not use a different finish on the sliding door than the windows as it will look like a mistake was made. Just my .02.

@millworkman do you live in wildfire country and know how fires behave? We have spent years now both studying and living this threat. It’s all risk assessment and nothing is guaranteed but homeowners can do their best to protect what they have so they/we might not have to live this nightmare again.

IMO in fire areas the best is to make sure the area around the house for quite a large space is cleard of trees and other issues that throw sparks . I live in S BC we have many forest fires are all told to make sure we try to keep a huge space all around our homes with no things planteed that can ignite and throw sparks we aslo are very careful to have roofing material that is a bit more fire resistant like a metal roof and certainly not cedar .I cannot see how an aluminum slider will protect anymore than any other door if the embers are hot and close enough to hit the slider you need to start protecting your house much better .

Safety at home is by far the most important value. OTOH, FEMA doesn't mention window frame material as an area of vulnerability, at least in this short summary: https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-11/fema_protect-your-property_wildfire.pdf or https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-ready/hardening-your-home/

These sites DO mention use of tempered and/or dual pane glass, and limiting size of windows, especially in the most vulnerable exposure, in your case the NE.

Given that you're definitely using some white frames, for the choice of bronze vs silver I'd choose silver, especially with light colored siding. Seems silver will be less of a contrast and thus less attention calling.

Good luck!

Oof. I did not realize I was coming here to learn things I already know about landscape management, fire-safe roofing, etc. This was a design question regarding a decision that is already made. Thank you to those who help me with the design question.

@qam999 thank you!

Vinyl windows have a different profile than aluminum. I would not mix them on a home. Have you checked into WeatherShield windows and doors?

Also, casement windows are the most expensive window you can purchase. You'd save money using sliders or double-hung windows.

Thank you for the WeatherShield recommendation. We are not using double hung because they are the least fire-safe. We are choosing mostly casement because of cooling and accessibility. But I will think about sliders.

I lived in LA and had several fires in the area in the 10 years we lived there. The most amazing videos were of the houses that just started smoldering out the roof eaves. Embers got blown into the houses through attic vents and started the fire in the attic, which quickly spread to the rest of the house. The type of windows and doors made no difference.

Sorry you've had to deal with this. Hopefully you won't have to deal with mudslides too. In my area we had more damage from the mudslides after the hills above the town lost all their vegetation to the fires.

I would find a different brand of sliding doors and get it in white, to match the windows. The difference between window and doors of a different brand in the same color, will be less that having them in the same brand, but a different color.

After living here in Florida in a concrete black house because of hurricanes. I would never go back to a wood stick house. I might consider steel though