Paradigm Windows
bdrfab
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
Who’s used them and what do you think of them? None of the references I found here were from people actually using them, curious what the drawbacks are. Aside from vinyl isn’t for everyone.
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We considered, but didn't use Paradigm for our house build in NH. I heard their service is good from a builder that has used them. They are based in southern Maine and I suppose that could be helpful if you are in New England. Maybe contact Paradigm or one of their dealers for references from a builder or homeowner?
Our final window choice came down to Alpen and Intus.
I live about 5 miles from their plant in Portland and would love to use them but I don't think of them as building a particularly high-performance product. They're my first choice for vinyl replacement windows but I've never used them for new construction.
Because of the low SHGC numbers? My house is set up like crap for passive solar anyways. Brian, how did they compare to Alpen $ wise?
I'm not sure if we got a quote for a our window schedule from Paradigm. We may have ruled them out because we decided at some point to go fiberglass or the Intus uPVC. I do remember that it wasn't that much more money to go with the Alpen 525 versus the double glazed Marvin Integrity...and the Alpen performance specs were much better.
I just got a quote from them for a triple glaze window and the u-factor came back at .23. Not impressive, especially since the price for just one 3'x5' was $1,000. MI Windows have a .18 u-factor or their triple pane casements and they are much cheaper at around $550 for the same size casement!
I just checked out the MI Windows available in my region--Maine--and the only one I saw with a U-factor less than 0.20 was a fixed picture window. Which of their many different product lines did you use that had U-0.18?
It's not really posted well on their site that I could find either. Also, the window I received the quote on (the 9770) isn't shown on their site as having a triple pane option, but it indeed does. I confirmed by calling them directly. Here's a screenshot of my quote showing one of the many casements, with triple pane and .18 u-factor.
Thanks for the additional info. U-0.18 is very good. The SHGC of 0.21 and the VT of 0.34 are both quite low; in heating-dominated climates it can be better to go with a slightly higher U-factor to get a higher SHGC, but it depends on the situation. When the VT is lower than about 0.4, the windows appear tinted; that's not always a bad thing but most people in northern climates prefer windows that appear to be clear.
Thanks for that info Michael! I also found this link to all their lines and options for the 9770 casement on NFRC's site - wow there are a lot of options! https://search.nfrc.org/search/cpd/cpd_search_detail.aspx?cpdnum=MEI-A-170
So my home is in north central Indiana, near Notre Dame (climate zone 5). Unfortunately, due to the layout of my lot, 99% of my windows all face East (toward the gorgeous view). I have a just a couple windows facing West (the front of the home), only one small window facing South, and none facing North. Based on the link above, with all the different combos they have available, what would be the best configuration? I'm still confused on whether I want to block the solar heating from the rising sun, or let it come in to help heat in the winter. We have just as long of hot summers as we do cold winters, and equally long shoulder seasons.
The only way to know what will work best is to create an energy model that simulates your conditions. My guess is that with your location and glazing orientation, keeping the SHGC low is probably wise, though east-facing windows that get a blast of morning sun and are in shade the rest of the day can also work, as they don't tend to overheat the house. As a rule I never go below a VT of 0.40, but I was recently in Mexico at a house with large windows and appreciated their dark tint.
I use BEopt, a free download from the DOE, to model my projects and to look at different window specs. It's not perfect but it's very good, especially considering that it's free.