Kolbe & Kolbe vs Kensington

17 years ago

Hey everyone,

We have narrowed our window search down to Kolbe & Kolbe Inspiration vinyl and Kensington Arlington and are looking for your great input, please.

42 qty double hung windows of varying size (most 2'8" x 6'2"), vinyl, low E & argon. Many of the windows are in banks of 2 and 3 together.

Kolbe & Kolbe, U Rating of .31, SHGC of .29 $11K uninstalled

Kensington, U Rating of .23 and SHGC of .34 $15K installed

What are your thoughts? Do the small differences in the ratings, make a big difference?

We are in Birmingham, AL where it is HOT HOT HOT in the summer!

Thanks SO much!

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Comments (5)

mike35
17 years ago
I am only familiar with the Kolbe. But if warranties are the same, and the ratings have been certified (ask to see NFRC Certificate), then it's a matter of price over performance. The slight difference can make a noticable difference. Interestingly, the unit with the lower U value (which is better) has a higher Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, which is not better. The lower the SHGC, the less heat gain, and the less cooling costs will be.
The difference would be hard to calculate. It would depnd on your HVAC system, and a few other things.
The other issue is you are not comparing apples to apples, in regards to installed vs uninstalled. Can you get the Kolbe's mulled together and installed for less than $4K? 42 windows is a decent amount of windows, so I'd get a quote on installation. Wouldn't make sense to save $4k on windows, only to end up paying $6k for the install.
Michael
17 years ago
Here's some good information that will assist you in making a good choice.

Michael

Here is a link that might be useful: Alabama
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oberon476
17 years ago
donvon,

In your environment the SHGC is a bigger factor than is the difference in the U value. In the northern heat-dominated world I would suggest that the U factor was predominant.

Energy star doesn't even list a maximum U value for your neighborhood, only a minimum SHGC.

I also agree that you should see documentation of NFRC performance (if you haven't already). Salesfolks can occasionally "adjust" numbers a bit.

And as Mike said, check on install costs as well.
loves2read
17 years ago
house in my neighborhood is having windows replaced with kensington--not sure what model---
what did you finally decide to do???
donvon
Original Author
17 years ago
We actually went with the Kolbe Inspiration series. The SHGC wasn't that much less than the Kensington, but the windows were about 20% less. Since we are way over budget already, every $1000 counts significantly and any long term savings wouldn't help our bank account right now! Also, our framers wouldn't give us a credit for not installing the Kensington so we would double pay someone to install the windows. They should be delivered in 3 weeks.