Question about potentially good vs. very good - abv avg windows (e.g., Soft-lite)

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jesoonster
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:00 pm

Question about potentially good vs. very good - abv avg windows (e.g., Soft-lite)

#1 Post by jesoonster »

Hi everyone!

I don't want to spam too many questions but I'm down to my final buying decision and it comes down to whether it makes sense to invest more in the "top-tier" window(s) available in Austin, TX.

Soft-lite Elite line is probably the best available vinyl line available to me in Austin (minus the element line which is sold by a dealer which a lot of experts here do not recommend). My question is....is this worth it compared to say another window with slightly lower specs?

Soft-lite elite line has
Air: 0.02 cfm at 25 mph
Water: LC 55 56 mph
Structural: DP55 180 mph

Say another competitor Vistamark has
Air: 0.1 cfm at 25mph
Structural DP50

They use similar grade components to the best of my knowledge....(e.g., cardinal glass, etc.) but maybe the vinyl isn't as a great quality. Is this something I should REALLY be worried about? I want my windows to be as leak free as possible for ~17 years. After that, I'm thinking it's going to go out of style and I will want to replace.

Per Randy's rec, I'm also considering DY 8200 aluminum windows b/c it's solar coefficient is fantastic and is much more durable than vinyl (though U factor may be lower). I've dug and dug this forum and I'm still having trouble deciding.

I'm thinking of changing 30 windows in a home and the price diff can be up from 5-10k if I go with the top-tier line and I'm really wondering if it is worth it. I know Randy is a demi-god around here and I'm likely bound to listen to his advice, but it would be great to hear your opinions about this.

I look primarily at a value to cost perspective and wondering if the incremental benefit I'm getting out of the window causes me to pay an astronomical markup (e.g., say a 8k samsung QNED tv. vs. 4k OLED tv - to me the 8k while superior in specs is definitely not worth the premium to me b/c the extras are not worth the additional $).

Thank you again and I really appreciate the input everyone is providing to a newbie like myself.

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HomeSealed
Posts: 2996
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:46 pm
Location: Milwaukee, Madison, SE Wisconsin

Re: Question about potentially good vs. very good - abv avg windows (e.g., Soft-lite)

#2 Post by HomeSealed »

SL Elite is a very good window and the difference between .02 and .1 air leakage is night and day. The former is a 30+ year solution (it will still look like new at your 17 year mark), while the other is a throw away 10 year window. The difference between those two ratings tells a much deeper story than just the actually air flow in a lab. .02 to .04 can be a small difference. This is no small difference.

jesoonster
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:00 pm

Re: Question about potentially good vs. very good - abv avg windows (e.g., Soft-lite)

#3 Post by jesoonster »

Ty so much. I'm going with softlite done.

Nimblecow
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2022 5:54 pm

Re: Question about potentially good vs. very good - abv avg windows (e.g., Soft-lite)

#4 Post by Nimblecow »

jesoonster wrote: Fri Feb 11, 2022 9:21 pm Ty so much. I'm going with softlite done.
What’s the update? 😎

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Windows on Washington
Posts: 5308
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: Question about potentially good vs. very good - abv avg windows (e.g., Soft-lite)

#5 Post by Windows on Washington »

Soft-Lite, hands down.

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