Our house will be 40 years old soon. The original windows are a pretty sturdy steel or aluminum, I'm not sure which, but they need replacing, as we can feel the heat and cold standing next to them, and some are very hard to open or close. Husband is saying to save money, get storm windows, but I'm thinking just replace them.

We had Window World and another company come here a few years ago, but our windows are tall and narrow - not enough light in the house. It seemed the vinyl windows were so "chunky" that they would let even less light in. We got a Sola tube for the living room. But all the other windows are on the front of the house, and we don't want to install Sola tubes on the public side of the roof.

Does anyone make vinyl windows that aren't so chunky, or should we go with a metal window again? I had one of the companies tell me they are less expensive than the vinyl and would still save us on energy, but I'm reading on the web that they are higher. Budget is a concern. Thanks for any help.