Which type of interior storm window would you buy?
user-2310254
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
My 12-year-old townhouse has builder-grade double hung windows. They are structurally sound but also fairly leaky. Instead of replacing them, I am considering installing interior storm windows.
A number of manufacturers offer these products. Most units are made with acrylic glazing, but one company uses clear vinyl. The vinyl-based product is much more affordable than the acrylic units (think $400 versus $40 per window).
Is it worthwhile to spend 10 times as much for the acrylic storm?
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Replies
Hi Steve -
Larson (https://www.larsondoors.com/windows) and Quanta (https://www.quantapanel.com) have been in this industry for quite some time and make quality interior storms. They both make low-e storms, but exposed low-e generally means high solar heat gain more tuned to cold than mild or hot climates.
There is also IndowWindow (https://indowwindows.com).
I worked on the EfficientWindowCoverings website some years ago; take a look at the attachment selection tool there (https://efficientwindowcoverings.org).
Also, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has been working on an energy modeling tool for window attachments, called AERCalc (https://windows.lbl.gov/tools/aercalc/software-download). The tool includes storms.
I have never worked with a vinyl interior storm.