Adventures in Windows, Part 1

It started innocently enough. I went to a green home show in Portland, Oregon to learn more about sustainable products for my business. I saw a booth for Penguin Windows, which I had seen advertised on TV, and signed up for a free assessment of my windows.

I own a manufactured home that was manufactured in 2000. I figured I didn’t have too much to worry about. The windows seemed to be working fine, and we had no comfort problems. I was looking forward to learning about their product, and curious as to how much it would cost to replace my windows with more efficient models, purely for research purposes. Little did I know ….

When the salesmen arrived, they started by explaining that they would be looking at the condition of my windows, inside and outside, taking some measurements, then give me a demonstration of their windows, and finish with the estimate for replacing the windows. So, off we went.

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To make a long story short, the condition of my windows was not as good as I thought. They weren’t too bad, but they weren’t too good either. Some were leaking water inside the home. Most had a gap around the outside of the window, leaving room for water and air to get inside the house. With no overhead eaves, the windows on the south side of my house get beaten by whatever weather comes (mostly rain here in Oregon). Not only that, but windows that were installed side-by-side weren’t even the same window type! One would have a vent at the top, and one would not. Things were not looking good.

Next came the product demo. The salesmen showed me samples of the Penguin glass and other glass placed in front of a 400 degree heat lamp. There was a substantial difference in the amount of heat transferred by their window (almost none) when compared to the other glass samples. Penguin uses triple pane krypton gas filled panes, and guarantees a 40% reduction in energy use for heating and cooling the house. They also showed me a miniature double-hung window with their construction. The window construction was solid (as in the commercial, the salesman jumped on the window, and pounded his foot on the glass).

I ended up agreeing to purchase replacements for most of the windows in my house (some could not be replaced due to size or carport posts blocking them). I intend to document the results here, including photos and energy costs after the installation is complete. Stay tuned.

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