Some manufacturers make an actual french casement that would open away from eachother and have no mull in the middle. In this case you will have 1 clear opening. These windows tend to be pricey. If you are going with 2 casements mulled together they normall whould be handed 1 left 1 right and open away from eachother but their is no reason why they cant open into eachother. I think it looks better on the interior if they are handed the traditional way because of the lovation of the hardware.

Traditional they open toward each other like a french door. Up to your personal preference though.

I think I confused myself....LOL

Let's say if I open both at the same time I would reach to the middle. The left window would open to the left and the right window would open to the right. Am I correct? Like a french door? So wouldn't that tend to block any air flow into the kitchen?

Would it be better to have the left window open to the right (middle) and the right window to the left. Then both panes of glass would be back to back and I could get breeze from either window.

Or am I way off base? I just need a kitchen window so can get some airflow. 4' w by 36" tall. I assumed it would be 2 casements. I hate sliders. They never work well.

Peke

Typically you would have them hinged on the jamb sides (i.e. the walls) and not at the middle.

You are correct about the air flow being better that way. It just looks funny for some reason

Well I guess I need to decide whether to choose better air flow & looking funny and less are flow and look better. I wonder if awning windows would let in more air than a casement. Anyone know?

Peke

You will get plenty of air flow through even a single casement that is open in that case.

Awning windows will give you much less airflow as they only open approximately 5 to 6 inches.

oh don't want that. Ok back to looking at double hung, I guess.
Thanks,
Peke

lol... can't go wrong with double hung.
On the casements, as mentioned above, while the circulation would be better, it would be unconventional for them to open back to back. It is better IMO to have the hinge on the wall side jamb as it will provide better reinforcement being anchored into the wall stud.

That makes sense. It just seems that two open casements would block all wind from coming in except if the wind is blowing straight toward my sink. East side. I will post a picture of what I mean.

My house is on the lake and as you can see, they dug out a lot of rock and dirt to put the foundation. The wall is over my head so it is about 6-7' tall. We will eventually finish building the concrete retaining wall.

So we do not get a lot of air since we are sort of in a hole. This is a window over a kitchen sink and the only window. Not a lovely view either! LOL Peke

Sorry, wrong picture. Here is the lovely view! I know I am not supposed to put a double hung over the sink, but it seems like it would be the best one for air flow. Not that there is much air flow anyway.

Peke

I've had windows both ways over the kitchen sink - in one house it was a dh and in my current house it is a double casement. There is no question that I would do a double casement again. They are much easier to open when reaching over the sink. Much. And we get plenty of air flow with even just one open.

Consider this. Even with two side by side dh's open, you won't have as much screen space as with both casements open. (I hope that makes sense.)

Good luck!

That is true, Sippimom! Did your casements open away from each other? Peke

Again Peke, I believe and this will be the opinion of most pros as well that you will achieve the best airflow with the units LR as opposed to the same hinging. The look will be much better with them open form the outside as well with a LR configuration. Believe me your not the first person who thought otherwise but they have been doing this LR configuration as a standard for a good many years, it is done everyday and I am certain will not cause any issues whatsoever.

+1. We install this config on a regular basis and no complaints about lack of airflow. I see what you are saying theoretically, but it just doesn't translate. In addition, as mentioned by siipimon, even one casement open will give you as much ventilation as two dh's open, if not more.

I concede to the pros! I am just a worrier. I don't want to do the wrong thing. I wish I could afford someone to come in and do everything for me, but I can't. Thank you to all the experts here that are helping me do the right thing. Peke

By over thinking you will do more damage to yourself!!

LOL Too late.....already damaged. I am sure it will happen again when I choose counter top slab. LOL Peke