They will never look like double hunts so if the home is historic or these face the street don’t do it. Frankly I can’t imagine doing this regardless, there are so many locks, guards, and opening restrictors made for this purpose.

Yes, it is possible.

They will still need to serve as egress windows in any bedroom. So it's a no go if the operable panel is too far from the floor or ends up not being big enough for .

If the windows have a full screen on them, could you open them from the top when you need ventilation?

Hallett, these windows all face the side yard, so they won't affect the look of the house at all. I would be interested in learning more about the opening restrictors and locks you mention. Can you recommend some? thank you!

toddinmn, thank you! it is good to know it is a possibility. I am still thinking through things, but was contemplating a short 20" tall picture window on bottom and 50" tall casement or awning on top. Do you recommend awnings or casements when stacking them like this?

palimpsest, very good point on egress. I just looked up code and it seems maximum sill height is 44", so I think it would be ok if I stick with a shorter window on bottom. But i will read up on the code more to understand it better. thank you!

blisscottage, i have very old windows without screens. they all need replacing, so I thought we could look into a safer configuration. I guess my default would be just to do another double hung, and try to lock it from opening on the bottom. thank you for the suggestion!

Awnings only open out about 5-6” and do not meet egress code. Some brands would not make one that tall.

thank you toddinnm, that is very helpful!

Look up WOCD devices. These are generally available from manufacturers when ordering new windows, but there are some universal applications out there as well.

If you need to replace the windows without regard to this issue (you seemed to allude to this), that's a different story.

Yes, a casement over PW config is doable. Based on the measurements that you quoted, depending on width, they'll probably meet egress just fine. You can also get the WOCD devices on the new windows in the same config as current, and likely save money by not adding to the number of main frames in this bank of windows.

Hi HomeSealed, Yes we have to replace the windows regardless. The current windows are very old and drafty, and also are not tempered, which, being so low to the floor, is not up to code. So we thought it was a good time to figure out what new configuration would make more sense. It sounds like a casement over picture window may work for us then. I will also ask about the WOCD devices when we order. Thank you for your advice!