"Best" window for blocking heat?

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yottaflops
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:00 pm

"Best" window for blocking heat?

#1 Post by yottaflops »

I need to replace all the windows in my home with white vinyl ones. My most important criteria are:

- Having good U and SHGC ratings. The rooms get western exposure and get very hot in the afternoon.
- Easy-to-slide
- Durable, with good warranty

I went to some showrooms and got a few quotes, but honestly most of them look and feel pretty much the same to me. I looked at Polybau, Simonton, and Malibu (I haven't heard anything about Malibu).

Which ones should I go with?

Cheryl
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:15 pm
Location: California

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#2 Post by Cheryl »

Even more important than which window you choose, is the glass package that you choose.
Cardinal Loe366 is very good at blocking solar heat gain with very little color change. It is quite popular out here in the West. However, if you count on the winter sun to warm up your house in the winter, this glass blocks solar heat gain regardless of the season. Hope this helps.

Tru_blue
Posts: 72
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:21 pm

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#3 Post by Tru_blue »

Cheryl gave a great recommendation, one of the very best available. Generally speaking if you want a great heat blocker, you'll want to get a Low E coating that has two or three coats of Low E on it (actually it's coats of silver). Two coats will actually block out heat better than tinted glass, but without the significant tint. It's been around for a long time and is known by various names. Three coats is very new, having been intoduced only in the past year, so it can be hard to find with most brands. It works even better than two coats, but both double coated or triple coated Low E are SIGNIFICANT heat blockers. I have double coat in my home, and when the sun is beating through the windows, if I stand on the carpet in the sunlight it feels pretty much the same temperature as the carpet in the shade; it's that good. Low E366 (from Cardinal, the actual manufacturer of the glass) means 3 coats, 66% daylight transmission. The more common Low E272 means 2 coats, 72% daylight transmission.

JenNoCentrlFLA
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:24 am

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#4 Post by JenNoCentrlFLA »

Hi peeps...
Sorry to butt in here but, doesn't "Super Spacer" by Edgetech beat Cardinal Glass, as long as you get the Thermo-plastic-seal (TPS) glazing instead of the descicant-filled Super Saver? This is just something I had in my notes...

I, too, am in need of some windows to block the sun's heat on my southern exposure house. Please give any suggestions!

Oberon
Posts: 119
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:57 pm

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#5 Post by Oberon »

Jen,

Absolutely no offense intended, but "...doesn't "Super Spacer" by Edgetech beat Cardinal Glass, as long as you get the Thermo-plastic-seal (TPS) glazing instead of the descicant-filled Super Saver?" is kind of a meaningless question.

You are comparing apples to tomatos to cucumbers. They are all fruit, but I wouldn't want to make a tomato pie although pickled apples might be kinda tasty...

Anyway, Cardinal LoE 272 and LoE 366 are coatings. Superspacer and TPS are spacer systems. Edgetech makes Superspacer but they do not make glass, or have coatings, which is what Cardinal does.

Cardinal also manufactures IG units for window manufacturers using their own spacer system while Edgetech sells Superspacer to window makers so that they can manufacture their own IG units.

TPS spacer system is fairly common in Europe but much less so in North America. TPS is manufactured by a few different companies in Europe and then sold to the various window companies for them to use the material to allow them to manufacture their own IG units. The TPS used by Schuco / Force V is manufactured by a company called Kommerling.

As Cheryl and Tru_blue both pointed out, if blocking solar heat gain thru your windows is important, then get a "low solar heat gain" coating on your windows. Cardinal's 366 coating is the current industry leader in that area.

As far as blocking solar heat gain thru your windows is concerned, using TPS, Superspacer, Cardinal's XL stainless steel system, or even aluminum is much less important than choosing the right coating on the glass.

While different spacer systems may have an effect on edge temperature, they are very much less important to overall unit performance than are the choice of glass, coatings, or sash/frame materials.

triple_krypton

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#6 Post by triple_krypton »

i think he means super spacer not "super saver". and yeah, a spacer has absolutely nothing to do with soar heat gain. u-factor has plenty to do with a spacer though.

Oberon
Posts: 119
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:57 pm

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#7 Post by Oberon »

Although the spacer will have some effect on edge performance of an IG, the spacer typically has much less to do with overall U-factor of a window unit than some marketing programs would have people believe.

triple_krypton

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#8 Post by triple_krypton »

OKNA gets a .25 u-factor for the whole window with double pane. of course loE and argon. thats damn good and is attributed to their duralite spacer as well as thicker vinyl and the foam they use. i have yet to see a double pane with a u-factor better than that.

Oberon
Posts: 119
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:57 pm

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#9 Post by Oberon »

IG's made using identical glass, identical LowE coatings, and identical airspace width between the lites will have virtually identical U-factors whether they are manufactured with TPS, Superspacer, Duraseal, or Stainless Steel spacer systems. Swiggle and Intercept will have about a .01 higher U-factor than the other systems. Aluminum will be a bit higher yet.

This is in dual systems. If we are discussing triples then all bets are off.

While I have not seen specific independent comparisons of Duralite with other warm edge systems, based on what I have seen I would not expect to see much if any U-factor improvements in overall window performance when using Duralite versus the other warm edge systems.

If I remember correctly, Okna uses cellular PVC for several of their lines, which is an excellent material for improving the overall energy performance numbers of a window, but they also have some very nice (U-.25 or a little better) numbers using "regular" PVC as well.

There is certainly no doubt that U-.25 is an excellent number for a dual pane window, and the spacer is part of the overall package, but the choice of spacer is not as much of a consideration as sme marketing programs might suggest. And while U-.25 is certainly very good, there are other dual panes available that have as good or better overall performance numbers.

By way of comparison, Innotech Windows out in western Canada offers a dual pane with an overall U factor of .21 using a stainless steel spacer system and "regular" PVC. They have a large number of windows with overall U factors at .25 or better and triples using "metal" spacers and argon fill as low as U-.13.

http://cpd.nfrc.org/search/cpd/cpd_sear ... m=INN-A-12

Marvin has several different dual pane designs that offer U.26 thru U.28 also using stainless spacer.

http://cpd.nfrc.org/search/cpd/cpd_sear ... m=MAR-N-46

Even the much-maligned-by-some-folks Andersen Renewal has units at U.27, again using a "metal" spacer system.

http://cpd.nfrc.org/search/cpd/cpd_sear ... m=AND-N-36

If we wanted to jump into triple panes, there are more than a few units available that have numbers better than U-.2 even using aluminum spacer systems and argon fill.

And as always, I am not endorsing or specifically comparing the quality of any particular window company, I am simply using them for illustration.

Oberon
Posts: 119
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Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#10 Post by Oberon »

I kill more darn threads....... :?

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Windows on Washington
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Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#11 Post by Windows on Washington »

Oberon,

You only kill threads when self-promoters like triple krypton post up a bunch of crap.

Welcome death to his endless self-promotion. :lol:

Oberon
Posts: 119
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:57 pm

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#12 Post by Oberon »

LOL

Thanks WOW...my comments were tongue-in-cheek of course, but on this and two other threads on other sites I chimed in hoping for a discussion od some sort and in all three my reply was the last one...

I was starting to get a complex!

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Windows on Washington
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Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#13 Post by Windows on Washington »

Don't let that trend dampen your enthusiasm. I really enjoy your technically laden posts and always learn something.

I know that I might want to put Innotech windows in my home when the time comes for replacement.

Oberon
Posts: 119
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:57 pm

Re: "Best" window for blocking heat?

#14 Post by Oberon »

Not a bit, I'm still having fun!

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