It’s a fact that people will pay a little more to a company they know and trust. Window companies are no different. Over the years there has been four or five large window companies that have taken over the industry.
You’ve all heard the names; Pella Windows, Anderson Windows, Marvin Window, etc. At some point though, the big players in the game are able to start commoditizing windows and therefore start controlling the price. Window companies that are huge pour massive amounts of money into advertisements, brand awareness, entire rainforests of postcards to send people, etc. It seems that everywhere you go you can think of these companies by name and they will have a store near you. Often times these companies make a quality window, but for the amount of money you pay for them, it may seem like just getting what you pay for isn’t really what’s going on.
The NFRC (National Fenestration Rating Council) – Rates windows (no matter how much they cost) on the same scale for energy efficiency, heat loss, and air leakage. Here is an NFRC label required to be stuck to any window manufactured under their certification. Look to the top left of the label and see the “U-factor” of “.18”. That U-factor is amongst the lowest in the industry and is just as good as any of the big guys. It may surprise you to learn that the label on that window comes at a price about $400 less than the big guys. This label is from our dealer Sunrise Windows. To learn more about what goes into an NFRC Label, click here.
If you dig a little deeper through the mountains of reviews window companies have, you might stumble across one of the smaller companies that have managed to thrive without massive advertising budgets and gimmicks; but who’ve grown through positive feedback from the people who install the windows and the customers who ultimately end up using them. Sunrise Windows hand picks the best installers for their products around the country, and we wanted to find the window that would provide the best value to our customers so we could pass the savings on to them upon installation and purchase. That’s why we actually bought a share of Sunrise. You can learn more about our replacement windows or contact us for a free estimate.