Mercury Excelum Windows - any thoughts?

[ConnYankee]

Just got pitched for these (the "Advantage series, I think) by a very likable installer and they look...OK...

Not thrilled by block and tackle mechanism, but only because my old, crappy windows had'em and they're falling apart.

Low-e Argon, U-Value .29, seems to be about right for this type.

Anyone have'em? Sell'em? Like'em? Hate'em?

[Windows on Washington]

Never heard of them but I would not be disheartened by the block and tackle balance system. They are very good now and days.

[mrmichaeljmoore]

I am also looking into the Mercury brand of windows.
In particular, I am looking at their Harmony series double hung (triple pane). I think the Harmony is their top of the line....
Here's a link to some of the info/specs:
mercuryexcelum.com/images/customer-files/Harmony.pdf
mercuryexcelum.com/Content/Double_Hung.asp

They are a Connecticut company...apparently been around a long time....The installer I expect to use recommended them....
Not much on any message boards about them, but that doesn't mean they aren't any good, right?
Anyone have any opinions/experiences with Mercury?

thanks.
mm

[mrmichaeljmoore]

Unfortunately, it seems that none of the pros have any experience with Mercury.....

Well, let me ask the question this way.
Mercury Excellum is on the NFRC list of approved manufacturers.

Does that make it a good window? Or are there bad manufacturers and bad windows that are certfied by the NFRC?

Thanks.
mm

[gary_73]

Has anyone installed Mercury Excellum windows? How do they stand after few years.

I am not able to find enough information for these windows.

Thanks!

[masterext]

at face value it sems to be a pretty good window.
1) great spacer system
2) .080 out wall thickness on the pvc,very thick.
3)DP rating of 50 without reinforcement
4) air leakage rate of .09;not great but under .1 so its fine.
I'd have to see the window and play around with it but i like the way it seems so far.

[Gusser]

I can give some insight on these windows. I have Marvin fiberglass windows on on floor in my home and Mercury excellun on the second floor. my personal observation is the ME windows equal the Marvin.I used my infrared thermometer on the glass surface and both read the same, as did the sill and the surrounding walls. I like the function of the half screen. they are so much better than full screens. I was very concerned about their quality so I made a trip to the factory and they gave me a tour. Do not feel uncomfortable about this purchase. They are great to deal with. I just don't understand why there is not more brand recognition.

[sootshouse]

These windows are crap. Air blows right threw the seals then up the sides. We had an audit with a vaccume test done on the house and the windows failed really bad and they are only 6 yrs old. We have been complaining about this to Mercury ever since the windows were installed about the air leak but they stand by there window saying they dont leak that bad. Do yourself a favor stay away from these windows. This was a 9000 dolar mistake for us!

[Windows on Washington]

Sorry to hear that.

All windows, regardless of build quality, will leak some air.

How did the auditor quantify the leakage around the window? Did he make a pressure pan over it and measure the Pascal differential?

[eastgranbyhomeowner]

What is interesting in all of these discussion boards, is that everybody is interested in the R value, but nobody asks about the way the window panels (sashes) tilt out for cleaning. We have 25 year old vinyl Patriot windows (manufactured by a now-defunct company n New Jersey). After about 10 years of life, these windows became warped and would not close tight. Also, when they were tilted out for cleaning, the window panels would fall out - the pins in the window panes (sashes) would fall out of their holders in the channels and it would be very difficult to align the 36" wide window panel (sash) to get the pins back into their holders. We finally decided to replace the Patriot windows. A local contractor offered the Mercury Excelum windows, which are manufactured here in CT. We went to the contractor's showroom to look at the Mercury Excelum windows and when we tilted out the lower window panel, it fell out just like our old Patriot window panels. This means, that Mercury Excelum still uses the same pin/holder technology that Patriot used 25 years ago. We could not align the pins on the window panel with the holders in the channels, so we could not reinstall the window panel back into the frame (this, by the way, was a narrow window panel, about 20" wide). Then we tried the upper window panel, and it also fell out - once again, we could not reinstall it back into the frame. Based on this, we decided to look at windows from other manufacturers which would have a better design for the pin/holder interface.

[Windows on Washington]

Not sure that I would discard a brand from consideration because it was a double hung with a tilt and wash feature. This isn't a failure point for a well designed window that uses properly built and crafted components.

The fact that the sash warped on your old windows says everything that you need to know about the build quality for this units and not the fact that they were tilt and wash types.

Been doing this for 20 years now and I have never had an issue with a tilt in product that was a failure of the product. Plenty of user error issues, but never something that just failed and the window fell in.

[Delaware Mike]

Patriot windows out of Hammonton NJ were the worst! Total builder's grade garbage, a 10-year product at best with tons of seal failure to add more grief to the poor design, cheap parts, and horrible construction/quality control. I had them in our 2003 Ryan home and ironically one of my customers was a service tech for them. We replace a lot of them. I've never even heard of Mercury and I'm out in the mix a lot as a dealer and installer? Most modern quality products such as OKNA, Vytex, Soft-Lite, Sunrise/MI, utilize pivot bars on their sashes (what you're referring to as pins) and balance shoes and cams that will tilt and work 100% better than the low grade builder's stuff.