Vinyl Bay window vs Fiberglass 3 panel slider

[neednewwind]

I am hoping for some advice. I have two big picture windows that have narrow double hungs on each side. The total opening size is about 95 inches. These are awful drafty wood windows circa 1956 and they need replacing. I have had a bunch of estimates and with our budget I have narrowed it to two possibilities. One is to do a three panel slider Marvin infinity window. The other is to put in bay windows that are Prism Gold from Simonton. (Doing a bay from Marvin infinity is way out of budget). We have replaced all the other windows ourselves one at a time over the years with mid range vinyl products from lowes and home depot and we have been happy with them all. I am in central VA so the climate is relatively mild. The house is an ordinary rancher. It is definitely not high end real estate, but we have made some nice upgrades inside and would like to boring white vinyl exterior to look a little nicer which is why I was pricing the bay windows. While we have been satisfied with our mid-price smaller vinyl windows, I am worried we will not be happy with them for this larger job. Is bowing and sagging going to be a big issue with the Prism gold product in an installation this large? What about energy efficiency? The U values look decent but since it is such a large window maybe it is worth paying up for the slightly better stats of the Marvin. The Marvin windows are clearly a better product, but are they worth it on a 1800 square foot rancher? and does the enhancement to exterior provided by the bay out weigh the better window quality? I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

[TheWindowNerd]

Sounds like the Simonton bay would be the best choice for you.
Durability should be fine as long as it is installed correctly.

[Windows on Washington]

+1

The Simonton is a fine product and the bay should easily suit your needs as TheWindowNerd stated if it is installed correctly.

[HomeSealed]

Are you saying that the Infinity slider is more $$$ than the Simonton bay? If so, that is outrageous. A bay window is a very pricey assembly and will invariably be less efficient, however they do have the aesthetic appeal. I'd toss teh Infinity option in general and look at quality vinyl whether it is as a bay, or a money saving slider or even a Ca/Pw/Ca. Simonton is solid, you might also check out the top performing vinyl options like Okna, Sunrise, and the like.

[Windows on Washington]

Are you saying that the Infinity slider is more $$$ than the Simonton bay? If so, that is outrageous. A bay window is a very pricey assembly and will invariably be less efficient, however they do have the aesthetic appeal. I'd toss teh Infinity option in general and look at quality vinyl whether it is as a bay, or a money saving slider or even a Ca/Pw/Ca. Simonton is solid, you might also check out the top performing vinyl options like Okna, Sunrise, and the like.

+1

Bay/Bows and Gardens (even more so per square foot) are expensive units because of the frame and engineering requirements.

The Bay vs. 3-Lite slider, comparing apples to apples brand and glass, will be less efficient because there is more glass and exposed area in space. Given that the Infinity numbers aren't as good as the Simonton and the air numbers are much worse...it might be closer than we think too.

[neednewwind]

The simonton Bay is more money than the Marvin slider but not that much more so they are both in our price range.

Thank you for the reassurance about the Simonton. It is such a big project, I don't want to regret out choice because we will not be redoing it.

[Windows on Washington]

Sounds good.

Install is critical.

Keep us posted and post up some before and after pictures when you are done.