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Can anyone please help me with picking a quality replacment window. I am looking to instal the cheapest, energy efficient window, so I can get the tax credit. I will probably sell the house in 6yrs, but still want a somewhat quality window. I have looked at Home depot and Lowes. HD has American Craftsman and Lowes has Themra Star by pella. Any suggestions?

Those 2 will meet your criteria.

Hopefully you do not plan on keeping the windows for more than 7-10 years.

No they won't--he did mention quality in the first line...

"Good brands that are likely available in your area are Gorell, Okna, Sunrise, Soft-Lite, and Simonton."-WOW
...too lazy to type it myself

I definitely love vinyl (vs. fiberglass, wood, etc.). Plus, the double-hung windows I purchased are very easy to clean. Another plus My 2 choices really came down to Hansons Windows vs. Wallside. Went with Hansons and couldn't be happier.

Why would you buy a window with no independent structural rating, or air infiltration and water penetration rating?

And why are you suddenly all over the boards advertising for Hanson's?

You really need to read the site rules before posting again.

I was happy with the energy star rating.

Hopefully, you realize that Energy Star or qualifying for tax credits has nothing to do with air infiltration or water penetration. Those are just conduction and solar gain ratings. Hopefully, you also realize that windows with a poor rating in these catagories tend to get worse as time goes by and that a "Lifetime Warranty" is worthless if the manufacturer considers it "normal wear and tear ie. aging.

If not, perhaps you should have visited this site BEFORE purchasing windows.

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the info.

So, why did you purchase windows with no independent ratings? I'm truely curios about consumer motivation.

The salesman did demonstrations during my estimate that really impressed me - especially the heat lamp test. Placed a heat lamp right on the glass for minutes, and no heat came through. I also purchased kid safe glass... they did a demonstration on this, too. I guess all in all the product suited my needs. And so far so good! I guess time will tell.

Thanks for your input. Although I already purchased my windows and am happy, more knowledge is always appreciated!

The glass you saw is most likely made by either Cardinal Glass Co. (loE-366) or Pittsburg Plate Glass (Solarban 70)and is available on vitually every window on the market. Both glass paks when used in window manufacturing, will qualify the windows for the tax credit. The real differences between windows is the quality of the non-glass components such as glass seals, balance system, precision manufacturing, vinyl quality and design of the extrusion. Even the manufacturers reputation for consistant quality and customer service is something to be considered when purchasing windows.