Alside 8000 vs Schuco

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Matt in WI
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Alside 8000 vs Schuco

#1 Post by Matt in WI »

Hello,

I'm another of the many homeowners looking to get the best value for price I can on vinyl replacement windows for my home. After visits from Sears, Andersen, Champion, and Schuco we're sold on Schuco double pane double hung windows at $800 a piece installed. However, I just received a quote on Alside 8000 windows at $600 a piece installed. The extra $200 a window does not break our budget, but I don't want to give away money if the Schuco is not as superior a product over the Alside window as is reported here and other places.

I appreciate any comments and advice.

Thanks!

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Window4U (IL)
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#2 Post by Window4U (IL) »

Why isn't your dealer using triple glazing with you living in a cold state?

Matt in WI
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Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 12:03 pm

#3 Post by Matt in WI »

The Schuco dealer offered to upgrade to triple pane windows if I came up with all the cash by 90 days. We want the 6 month no interest no payments option so the double panes were the offered product.

harpo
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#4 Post by harpo »

I don't understand what the glass type has to do with financing options. Could you please explain?

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Window4U (IL)
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#5 Post by Window4U (IL) »

Between the 90 day period and the 6 month period the dealer must be paying the customer's interest. What he is probably saying is with the interest amount he is going to be paying on behalf of the customer, he could throw in triple instead ...if that 6 month financing option wasn't used. That's my guess, but who knows...
FenEx, is that how WF's financing works?

Matt in WI
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#6 Post by Matt in WI »

My local Schuco installer has a promotion which upgrades double panes to triple at no extra charge if you pay for the entire job at once rather than finance the payments over time. We have other needs to spend cash on this summer so the deferred payment plan is a selling point for us.

The standard double hung replacement window, in this region of Southern Wisconsin, is a double pane so we are not overly concerned about heat loss.

Matt in WI
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#7 Post by Matt in WI »

Hey Guys,

I really appreciate all the posts, but we seem to have moved away from my initial question which was if $800 Schuco's were worth more than $600 Alside 8000's?

FenEx
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#8 Post by FenEx »

Depending on the size and type ofd your windows, the $800 should MORE than cover triple panes in the Schucos and give you the financing. Alside doesn't make a product that compares to the quality and finish of a Schuco. Take a look at both again... not even close in appearance and detail.

I offer the Wells Fargo financing to my customers, 6 months, same as cash and many other optional plans. In any case, I don't use it as a bargaining chip. Like all 4 major credit cards I accept, it's just another service I offer to my customers and I don't back-charge for it. Depending on the finance volume of the dealer, they are probably paying around 2.5-3% of the finance amount to offer the 6 month SAC.

Uuummm... anywhere in Wisconsin is considered predominantly a heating climate and you should be concerned with heat loss. As you mentioned a standard double-pane as being enough, here's a bit of info. A double-pane window is only slightly more efficient than a 1960's single pane with an aluminum storm. When you here words like "thermo-pane", don't let it mislead you to thinking it's energy efficient by available standards. The addition of reflective coatings and gas fills will make a considerable difference above a standard double-pane but the jump to trip/kryp decreases the heat loss by about another 30%.

jonesing
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#9 Post by jonesing »

Talk to the Alside salesperson about a Super Spacer upgrade (8000 comes w/ Intercept spacer std.) then compare your quotes again. Alsidewindows.net mentions SST as an upgrade.

I ordered 18 Alside 8000 sliders (triple-glaze, low-e, krypton, Intercept) for ~ $500/opening. I know some of the professionals on the boards don't like Intercept all that much, but the warranty on the 8000 somewhat mitigates the added seal failure risk, IMO.

Didn't nearly have the cash for the Schuco sliders even though they are something to see. Price/value just wasn't there for me for the Schucos even though they are a better window. YMMV

Al

windowrep
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#10 Post by windowrep »

Fenex, just a quick question for you concerning my own house. i have all new windows with a u-factor of .30 ,low-e argon, double pane. if i switched them out to triple pane i would save another 30% off my heating bill? if that is the case i will do it tomorrow. of course i will want a energy savings guarantee with that. just curious.

FenEx
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#11 Post by FenEx »

Windowrep

You know better than that... silly question and NOT what I stated. A window U-factor of .20 will transmit about 30% less heat than a .30... obviously. As for your energy bill percentage, that depends on the rest of your house as a system.

Baker
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Re: Reply

#12 Post by Baker »

FenEx wrote:D

Uuummm... anywhere in Wisconsin is considered predominantly a heating climate.
How much time have you spent in wisko? Yeah the winters are cold but the summers are as hot as you'l lfind anywhere else. Spring and fall have practically disappeared the midwest in recent years. It was like 40 last week here and today it was over 80. I'm sure we'll be lucky to even see a few weeks of comfortable weather its pretty balanced april-sept is super hot and once Oct hits its freezing.

ANOTHER WINDOW GUY
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#13 Post by ANOTHER WINDOW GUY »

Matt in Wi if your 8000 can be purchased with krypton in tri-glazing now you can compare it to Schuco. The Schuco well have nicer looking corners because of the shadow grooved welds and is built a little stronger than the Alside.Energy wise the Alside has a total unit u below Schuco and has a little better air test. So you can't recover that extra $200 very easily. The Alside well also open easier because of the balance system. Point all these things out to the Schuco dealer and offer him a hundred dollars more than your final Alside quote and I'll bet you'll have Schucos if not it's not worth the difference. Another major point of contention is the warranty. If you choose to go with triple and can't get at least a 100% full 20 yr warranty, stay with the double.

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Window4U (IL)
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#14 Post by Window4U (IL) »

ANOTHER WINDOW GUY wrote:Energy wise the Alside has a total unit u below Schuco and has a little better air test.
Can you please provide a link to the the NFRC data for u-value and any other links for air infiltration to back up those remarks please. I can't find it for either.

InfoSponge
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#15 Post by InfoSponge »

For double-hung:

Alside 8000 series lowest u=.19 on page 3/6/8/9: http://cpd.nfrc.org/pubsearch/psLineDet ... &pagenum=1

Schuco 4000/InsulSash lowest u=.20 on page 1/2: http://cpd.nfrc.org/pubsearch/psLineDet ... &pagenum=1

Not a huge difference, but there is a slight one if you only want to consider the lowest possible u value in the two lines.

The Schuco web site and brochures I have seen did not have any air infiltration numbers that I could locate when I looked. Do they publish that info beyond the dealer network? If so, how does it stack up (I've heard .02 cfm/sqft)? In any case, doubt it is any worse than the 8000 series DH, since it is stated as a pretty average .13-.14 cfm/sqft here:
http://www.alsidewindows.net/Docs/test_ ... f/8001.pdf
Last edited by InfoSponge on Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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