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noblehops

Should I replace glass in older windows with low-e?

NobleHops
9 years ago

Greetings,

New member, nice to be here.

I moved to Arizona this year and am making my way through my new-to-me house to make some updates. The windows are up next for some attention. They are Alenco, roughly 18 years old, double pane, a mixture of sliding and picture windows mostly.

The issue I'd like to address most of all is solar heat transmission through the glass. In the hot months of June-August the sensation of the full sun through the glass feels like putting your hand above a running gas grill. The windows are otherwise in decent condition, I cleaned all the tracks and replaced the rollers all the locks work fine and the seal is OK.

I have investigated replacing the windows, and the options aren't great. I can either go with replacement style windows at a full 2 1/2 inches smaller all around, or get into tearing into the stucco, and that's a mess, and either option is expensive - likely 15-20K minimum to do the entire house.

Looking at the window construction, they seem stone-simple. There is perimeter frame embedded in the frame and stucco, and the window itself is more or less an insert that simply screws to this aluminum perimeter frame. It looks like I could simply remove the screws, and the window, disassemble it and reinstall low-e glass with LSHG coatings.

The demos I was shown from the window companies that came were dramatic, they put an infrared heat lamp on one side of their sample and you could not feel the heat of it on the other side with the LSHG glass. On the other hand, heat passed right through the untreated glass (like mine).

So the question is really this: Do you experts think I would realize significant improvement on solar heat transmission into the house if I were to go this route? And in general, do you think this is a decent alternative to simply replacing the windows altogether?

THANK YOU in advance for your time and your valuable input.

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