Ka-ching!

I'm back in Grand Haven.  On the way home I met Kyle and Dave at Rycenga Building Center, which will supply most of the materials, to make some decisions about windows.  The most important decision involved glazing.  Cardinal makes glass for the major window manufacturers.  Their LoE-179 glass was the type Anderson used to use.  Anderson has since replaced it with a new "low-E" glass which, I'm told, simply moves a special film from one pane of glass to another.  The result is that the new glass fends off more of those nasty UV rays, and thus reduces fading of fabrics on furniture.  However, if you want to enhance solar gain — the basic idea behind passive solar heating — you want more sunlight (those nasty UV rays) to enter the dwelling.  Thus the old glass is better for my purposes than the new.  Unfortunately, Anderson makes a steep up-charge if you want the old glass.  Ka-ching!  This is essentially a charge for disrupting their production system, i.e., for being a nuisance.  I resolved the issue by using the old (more expensive) glass for the first floor bath, bedroom, and living room, which are the windows which will have the greatest impact on solar heating, and the new (less expensive) glass for all the other windows in the house.

It seems to me that Anderson, as a major window manufacturer, ought to be supportive of solar heating.  Instead, they effectively penalize people for "going solar."  I think I'll write a letter to their CEO. •••