Windows. Ahhhhhhhhhh windows. For people who don’t care about home improvement things, windows are sort of a dud.
They’re functional. They don’t scream “look at me!” like a kitchen remodel can. But for people in the know, windows can be a hot topic.
They can make or break your comfort. They can eat your retirement fund.
There are different opinions about every part of windows: Energy savings?
Material choices? Cost? Whether to replace or restore?
I’ve made every mistake in the book with our windows over the years and I’m here to share what I learned (the hard way) hoping it can help you when you tackle this project. Keep in mind that my experience is largely specific to windows in Arizona and in older homes. Your milage may vary!
Okay. So. When we first bought our house in Glendale it had seventies vintage aluminium windows.
Every single one of them drove me bonkers. They were always drafty, you could feel air coming through even when they were closed and we had endless condensation problems in our bathroom window. So naturally the first thing I wanted to do when we moved in was replace them all.
Then I priced it. $15,000 – $20,000 price quotes had me running in the opposite direction! I made every mistake in the book with our windows. I listened to that wizard salesman who made me believe replacing all of my windows would knock 40% off my energy bills (he wasn’t lying…but it wasn’t the full truth either).
I replaced about half of them the first year we were in the house charging way more than I should have to credit cards because let me tell you…the promise of lower energy bills is sooooo tempting! The bills did go down. But not by 40%.
And the comfort level was better but STILL not what that wizard salesman promised. TWO YEARS LATER one of my fancy new replacement windows developed condensation between the panes of glass. Apparently that’s what happens when the window’s seal breaks. (It’s called a failed seal because you’re gonna want to throw your window at wall when it happens to you!) Thankfully the company would replace it for free, but they’d only pay for the parts.
So not only did we have to suffer replacing half of our windows, we now had to pay to have the bottom quarter of one of them replaced too! My sage advice about window projects is this: slow your roll. So many people ask me about ours now that I’ve been posting about home projects so obsessively, and my first question is always: what’s wrong with your current windows?
Because replacing them might be the best answer. But it very likely isn’t. Start with why you want to replace your windows.
Do you hate the look of them? Are they super drafty? Condensation all over the place?
Do you feel a cold spot every time you sit next to your window in the winter? Or are you legitimately unable to open your windows because the wood is rotted and swollen shut? If you’re wanting to replace your windows because they literally falling apart, go for it.
But if it’s one of those other reasons I mentioned above, keep reading! If your current windows look like mine did before we replaced them, where the wood is super beat up and warred from expanding and contracting over the years, you may want to consider replacing them. Look past the veneer, though.
If your window looks fine on the outside but the wood is rotten on the inside, they probably need to be replaced. Same thing if your window won’t open because the hardware is shot, or if you have double pane windows that originally sealed tight but now you can see the view through the failed seal. My friend Carmen had some windows like this in her Scottsdale house.
Previous owners neglected water issues around the windows long enough that the framing of the house was starting to rot. You definitely don’t want to pour money into windows like this when the whole wall is shot. This was not our reasoning, but a lot of people DO want to replace windows because they swear they’re losing all their heat/cooling through there.
And yes, windows can play a role in your homes energy efficiency. But most of the time they aren’t the worst offender. When my sister insisted her drafty windows were making it impossible for her to heat her house, the first thing I made her do was get an energy audit.
She ended up spending several hundred dollars fixing poor insulation in the attic and around the basement rim joists and that made a *huge* difference. If she had just replaced her windows she would still be freezing every winter (probably)! My point is, unless your windows are truly terrible, saving energy isn’t likely why you should replace them.
And when I say your windows are likely not the worst offender for heat loss, believe me. I live in AZ. Of COURSE windows are going to seem like they’re leaking all your heat outside.
It’s 110°F out and 70° in your house. Yea, you can feel the loss! It’s just that when you pay $500-$1500+ per window you’re expecting a magical decline in your energy bills, right?
Here’s the reality. Even high quality replacement windows are only going to save you maybe 20% on heating and cooling costs and that’s if your old windows are truly, terribly drafted. The majority of windows out there aren’t that bad.
So if you spend $15,000 on windows and save $300/year on energy bills, you’re looking at a 50 year payback on energy savings. Yeah…don’t do it. Heck, unless you’ve already decided you WANT to replace your windows energy savings shouldn’t even factor into your decision.
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Obviously I live in them every day so I’m biased. But your house shouldn’t suck to live in. If windows are making your house uncomfortable whether it’s drafts, condensation or just plain ugly, they’re worth replacing regardless of what the payback calculators tell you.
Comfort is kind of its own animal here. I feel like once we replaced our first couple windows the house was noticeably less drafty. Like I mentioned before, when you sit next to a window in the winter and you can feel that cold just radiate off of it even when there isn’t any visible air movement?
Not as much! But were they worth what we ended up spending on them? Still haven’t completely figured that answer out.
Condensation was the big one for us. Our bathroom window was ancient and single pane glass. Every winter we would get so much condensation built up on it that it was rotting the wood window sill.
Replacing just that one window with a double pane unit eliminated our problem completely. Sometimes you don’t need to replace every window, you just need to replace the worst offenders. This was our struggle.
Holy lord are windows expensive! At an average of $500-$1500 per window, most people have anywhere from 15-20 windows. Even if you were only spending $500/ window on high-end materials you’re looking at $7,500 – $10,000 just for the windows.
That doesn’t include installation! We broke our project up into phases partially because we couldn’t afford to do them all at once, but that turned out okay too because after the first round I learned my lesson and didn’t make nearly as many mistakes. If you do go the replacement route, you have material choices to make.
By far the most popular are vinyl windows. They’re cheaper than other materials, but even the budget end vinyl windows aren’t cheap. Expect to pay at least $500 for the windows themselves.
The worst part about those is they have a tendency to warp in extreme heat (we’ve already noticed a little warping on ours after about 5 years!) and just don’t last as long as many people expect them to. We went mid grade on our vinyl and so far so good but I’ll be upgrading to fiberglass or wood as soon as we can afford it. Fiberglass windows are more expensive but are supposed to be super durable and hold up better to expansion and contraction.
If we were doing it over, I’d probably go with fiberglass for our southern facing windows at least. Wood is also a good choice, but you have to maintain them and they’re the most expensive option by far. Just remember that you get what you pay for with windows.
Don’t be cheap and try to install them yourself if you’ve never done it before. Hiring pros to install your windows will cost you more upfront but will save you money in the long run (see my ugly double pane window above as proof that can happen when hiring the WRONG people to install them!). Do your research when choosing window material and make sure you use someone you trust to install them!
If you love old windows like I do, you do have the option to restore the ones you currently have (there are products out there that can really bring them back to life!) and then add storm windows to improve their energy efficiency. I’ve seen houses done this way that look fantastic and obviously you’re not replacing every window which can help keep costs down. It’s probably not cheaper than replacing, but it’s the next best thing if you love the look of your original windows.
Maybe replace half of your current windows? When we had planned out our next round of windows I took note of what bothers me most about the windows we hadn’t replaced. The ones that get the worst northern exposure (heat isn’t much of an issue in those for us in AZ), the bathroom window that still steams up every time someone takes a shower, the bedroom windows that make it hard for us to sleep because it’s so drafty in there.
If we had the money we’d replace ALL of them, but we don’t so those are my targets when we decide to move forward. If you live in a warm climate like me, your window needs are vastly different than someone who lives in Minnesota or Chicago. Here in AZ we want to keep heat OUT of our homes.
So window performance doesn’t really matter like it does for people who need to stay warm in the winter. If your windows are letting heat escape your house during our mild winters you’ll probably be fine. If you live where window performance is a safety and comfort issue during freezing temperatures I’d want to replace them for sure.
If you plan on moving in the next few years don’t waste your money replacing windows. Unless they’re so hideous or poorly functioning they’ll impact your homes resale value, you’ll never recoup your costs. Window replacements typically deliver a return on investment of about 60-70%.
So if you spend $10,000 you can probably sell your house for $1,000 more than you would have if you left those windows intact. Does that matter if you plan on living in your forever house for decades? Maybe.
But if you’re selling in a couple years absolutely not. So should you replace your windows? Ummm….I guess?!?
Obviously it depends on your windows.
And your climate. And how long you plan on living in your house.
And how much you HATE your current windows. There are snobby window restoration people out there who will tell you under absolutely no circumstances should you ever replace your homes original windows. And there are punk wizard salesmen who will try to sell you on new windows by promising you 50% reductions in your energy bills.
Neither of those people are right. Or at least not all of the time. Listen to your gut.
If you hate your windows and can’t stand being in your own home because of it, new windows might be the answer. If your windows aren’t horrible but you’d still love to have new ones, get an energy audit, get estimates for both replacements and window restoration, crunch the numbers and make an informed decision. But please, for the love of all that is holy…don’t let someone pressure you into thinking window replacement is an emergency project.
Take your time, do your research and decide what’s best for you and your family.
