BTW, I live in Connecticut, hence low E argon is a must

I believe Marvin makes a window that will suit your needs.

Not that you asked, but I assume you'll be adding a sufficient beam above the new (large) window opening to support your house structure? Can't tell from your post if you are DIY or not. Rule of thumb on an 8 foot span is 4X8, ie, 2 2X8's attached together as the header supporting the structure above the new window. However, if your family room is on the first of two or more floors, you may need a stronger beam, and may want to use a laminate (engineered LVL) beam. The safest thing to do is call a structural engineer or architect.

Even if you hire someone to do the whole job I would ask them some questions to make sure they aren't just winging it on the beam support.

Thanks for the advise.
My house is a colonial but there is no floor directly above the family room since it has a vaulted ceiling with a slant starting at 8 feet on the window side to 16 feet on the other end.
I am hiring a professional to do the job. He mentioned adding a beam above the window but not LVL beam. I will ask him to put the LVL beam instead.

Thanks

+1

Go with the LVL.

Why put grids in that window? I feel like it somewhat defeats the purpose of the view.

Since the existing double hung windows have grids, I decided to get the grids.

BTW, I found out today that Two 4 feet picture windows (64 inches high) can be glues/molded into a single 8 feet window. I priced it out at home depot, Anderson renewal, for $1350 (including the low E argon, grids, wood trim etc).

Home Depot doesn't sell Renewal by Andersen. You likely looked at the 400 series.

+1

RBA is dealer specific and the 400 series is a better window anyway.

FYI, it is not uncommon to see double hung flankers with grids and the center picture without.

I am not familiar with Peachtree (Know the name but haven't seen one in years)but to put an Andersen 400 Series picture window (with grids) between two Peachtree double hungs (with grids) is probably going to look terrible (my calculations based on your post is that they are 3-4" away on each side). Do further research and get the architectural details of both products to see how they match up both to the interior and exterior. It may work but it would be my recommendation to either put a Peachtree double hung picture window in the middle or replace the double hungs with Andersen or all three with some other brand.

I appreciate the feedback. I am leaning towards getting the center window w/o grids.

The existing double hungs have 3 inch trims on either side. I wanted to save cost by keeping the existing windows and only putting the center window. After reading your comment, I have decided to get pricing for the additional double hungs. I can use the existing windows in my walk out basement.

Has anyone heard of Harvey Windows, they are mostly in the north east US.
http://www.harveybp.com/

Decent local manufacturer out of Mass.