Keith~

There is a demo that I do, sometimes several times a day, for people who are considering replacing their windows.

I take 3 small insulated glass units, about 6"x6" each, and stand them up in front of a heat lamp. I then take  3 radiometers and place them behind the little windows. Each window has a different kind of glass.

Window #1- has regular insulated glass. Double pane, thermal break,...a good old fashioned thermo-pane window.

Window #2- The first generation of Low E glass. A single coating of silver oxide on one of the two panes of glass.

Window #3- The new stuff. Low E2 Argon. Both pieces of glass coated with silver oxide, and the air between them replaced with the more inert argon.

Turn on the heat lamp.....

Window #1's radiometer starts spinning around like a helicopter blade. Fast. No reflected heat at all.

Window #2's radiometer rotates, but very slowly. We're getting there. Heat being reflected away.

Window #3's radiometer barely turns at all. 88% heat reflectivity. It's freaking awesome stuff.

The problem when I do this demo is that people get transfixed by the radiometers. They probably did, or saw, science projects when they were kids that utilized them. but  seem to have forgotten how they work.

There I am trying to explain why the Low E2 Argon glass unit, the one with the non-spinning radiometer is the shit, but all they want to ask me about is why the little propeller inside the radiometer spins.

"It's the heat from the lamp. One side of the propeller blade is painted black, and the other side is painted white. The black absorbs the heat, and the white reflects it. (the simple, but slightly inaccurate explanation) That causes it to spin. Now, getting back to the one that isn't spinning....the one I'm terying to sell you...."

It's no use. I can't figure out a way to get them to stop staring at the spinning little propeller.

People find heat transference fascinating, and they don't seem to be too interested in hearing my explanation why, in this case, we want to interrupt that heat transference.

"88% people!!! That translates to lower heating and cooling bills. Summer sun heat gets bounced back outside, making it cheaper to cool the house. Winter furnace heat gets bounced back inside, making it cheaper to keep the house warm. All because of these silver-oxide atoms that coat the glass...."

Like talking to a kid in a toy store. I have to turn off the heat lamp and make the radiometers stop spinning before I can even begin to get their attention back. 

Nancy,

It's not that expensive. 30-40 bucks a window upcharge. (I pay 24-28 depending on size, it's not a high profit item.)

The investment in Low E argon glass will more than pay for itself  in energy savings over a 5 year stretch, and you can brag about it to the prospects who look at your house when the time comes.

There's an outfit called TRACO from Pittsburgh. (formerly Three Rivers Aluminum Company) They make good windows, not too expensive, all the options you could ever want, and a transferrable warrantee that you can pass on to the people who buy your house. Dealers in your neck of the neck probably feature TRACO windows. Ask for 'em by name, and tell them I sent you.

Normally, a house in NW Chicago has something between 13-17 windows. Replacing them with white TRACO double-hung should cost about.....mmm....depending on size,,,,$5500-$6000. Figue 350-400 per window including labor (with spinning propellers, With quiet propellers, add $30-40 per window  to that. )

Installation on that job is usually $125-$150 per window, which includes:measuring, taking out the old, hauling away the garbage, putting in the new, insulating around the frame, caulking, and capping off the wood with nice white metal to make the whole thing look fancy schmancy Nancy. Putting them in yourself, if you don't have someone who's done it before helping you, is a mistake. I could make a nice living fixing up do-it-yourselfer fuck ups alone.

If the time comes when you get ready to pull the trigger on this, get 2-3 estimates, ask for TRACO, don't buy from anyone with ads all over the place, and don't sign anything before you talk to me.

Stay as local as you can, it's very territorial. People in your neighborhood don't want interlopers shooting up the Walt Whitman Tpk and stealing work, so the local dealers will try as hard as they can to get the job.

(oh by the way, most dealers are willing to take partial jobs, as replacing windows is big$. Most want you to do 4-5-6 windows at a time, and figure they'll hear back from you next year for Phase II. Lots of my customers do it that way. God I love the edit function....no need for PS posts.)

Oh god Viv was smokin' hot.

$189 per window is a very  typical bait-and-switch newspaper ad price, and by the time they're done giving you the treatment, the real price is more like 2 or 3 times that.

If you have had estimates of 1900-2000 for a 10 window job actually put in writing I'd like to know exactly what was written. (I've had hundreds of people claim they can get their windows installed for $200 each. But when I ask them to show me the estimate, they usually admit that they got that price from the paper, and haven't actually had someone out to estimate the job.)

Beware the bait-and-switch.

(I pay more than that to get my jobs done.)

Absolutely correct? Me?

(OK, it's not my first day.)

No my friend, $189 is not the price of labor. $189 is the bait-and-switch price including labor.

Then you call these people for a price. Then they come out and tell you that newspaper ad is the price for a really crappy window, in a very small size, (the bait), but what they recommend is this really good window for ...ohhhhhh.....$250-$300 a apiece. (the switch)

Add for labor...chicka chicka chicka......measurement...chicka chicka.......haul away the old windows....chicka ckicka.....capping...chicka.....caulking...chicka.....

"Your 10 window job will cost $5247.67....but if you sign TODAY.......I'll do it for $4239......I'll get my finance guy on the phone, but don't worry I can handle him....." Blah blah blah blah.....

It's like buying a car. Shit heaped on shit heaped on shit heaped on shit. That's why my customers love me so much. I tell them the truth immediately, and then I tell them to go call one or two of these sharks out to estimate the job (to prove my point.)

I pay roughly $160-170 for a normal sized window. Add 7.75% tax to that. Add $80 per window for what I pay my extraordinarily talented installers. $250-260-270....my cost. I sell it for $400. On a 10 window job, if I don't make a mistake, I might make $1200. If you bargain like crazy, I'll knock off $200.

Nobody is going to put a decent window on your house for $189...that's just a way to get their foot in your front door. (Good luck trying to get them to leave....)

You might get it for $3000, but I doubt it.

$2000? No way...not for anything worth buying. I pay $2500-2700 to do your job with the good stuff. (not including quiet propellers)

Would I lie to you? Don't sign anything without talking to me.

Also, re: Home Equity lines of credit. A fabulous thing when the market was bent ridiculously upward, now not so much.  But still, a smart utilization of capital.

As I have advised my clients, ...A home equity line of credit is a very smart use of your money, as long as you put it back into your house, which is an appreciating asset. A home equity loan is fine when replacing windows, doors, roof, and furnace.

A home equity line of credit should not be used for hookers, blow, and Mexican donkey shows.

K~

Radiometers are $10 at the local hobby shop.

I tried the digital thermometer from my humidor, but it didn't have the same pizzazz.