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Has anyone here replaced old, single-pane windows on their home with new energy-efficient double-pane windows? Just wondering what that would cost if we buy an older home.
For those who have, what was the approx square footage of your home and about how much did it cost for the windows? What are you saving now on your electric bill?
I'm not sure of the answers to your questions, but there is an energy savings tax credit that you can take. 10% of the total cost of energy savings upgrades (following certain guidelines) up to $500 lifetime. Keep in mind that it is a tax CREDIT, not a tax deduction.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sxrckr
Has anyone here replaced old, single-pane windows on their home with new energy-efficient double-pane windows? Just wondering what that would cost if we buy an older home.
For those who have, what was the approx square footage of your home and about how much did it cost for the windows? What are you saving now on your electric bill?
I'm in the process of replacing my windows and am doing the work myself, so I can't really tell you what the labor costs would be. Probably the biggest problem for me is that my house (1955 construction) only has two windows that are any sort of standard size, so material costs are considerably higher. I'm going through a company called, oddly enough, Custom Windows that is run by a neighbor of mine. Vinyl, Aluminum & Storm Windows and Solar Screens for Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast : Custom Windows. They will give you good faith estimates of your material costs very quickly. His guys will do the installation as well. I'll follow up with you when I complete the project for a better dollar figure, but good windows aren't exactly cheap. I don't know how long this operation will take to pay out in terms of energy savings, but you can be sure that any money you put into energy efficiency will come back when you sell.
Note: don't let anyone sell you argon filled double pane windows. The argon is great if you are in Alaska and frequently experience 40 below temperatures. Its not so great in Houston where radiant heat is the primary culprit. The "LoE2" glass is what you need here. This glass is impregnated with microscopic flakes of metal that reflect a great deal of the radiant heat away from your air-conditioned space.
I replaced 14 windows in my older 1500 sq ft brick home and it cost me right at $3,000. I had metal windows that sweated during the winter leaving puddles on the window sills, plus very very old storm windows. I used a company that you may have seen on TV where all the windows were 1 price. I called another company and they want $7,000 to do the same job. I did get the double pain windows. IIRC it was an upgrade but worth it for the little extra money IMHO
I did get the tax credit.. My electric bill went down about $30 or more a month. Sorry I can't be more specific about the savings since I was only in the house a short time.
Last edited by Keeper; 06-10-2008 at 05:47 PM..
Reason: added
I looked into replacing windows as well... Like Keeper said... I was interested in one of those ads I saw in the newspaper and also I had a friend that referred the same company. I just wanted something average that I didn't have to paint (vinyl )as what I currently have were wood windows that leaked all the time.
Anyway, the company charges.. 185.00 per a double pane, double-hung, vinyl window for any size. To add low-E.. add another 20.00 to each window. If you want argon gas. add another $20.00 and if you want mullions (the grills in the windows) add another $20.00. If you have a fixed window, the base price was more.. and I think something like $300.00 each for what I wanted (low-e and mullions). I'm glad I now know about the "argon" gas being a waste of money from the other poster (jimboburnsy). Good to know.
I'm in the process of changing sashes. The house was originally built with single pane divided lites. I'm removing the old sashes and balances and installing new balances that allow tilt-in with insulated SDL (simulated divided lites) sashes with lo-E glass. All the windows are standard sizes; 2/0X3/2, 3/0X5/2, 3/0X6/2, etc. The cost has been about $180.00/per window (1 set of balances, 1 set of sashes) and my labor. And there has been a tremendous amount of difference as far as the A/C is concerned- not running as long as it use too.
I had replacement windows installed in February (13 windows for $8,000), and almost immediately noticed the difference. The house felt warmer overall, and I'm using about half as much oil.
The spouse think that now we can turn the thermostat up higher in the winter. Heh. Wrong again, buddy!
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