Windows

The time has come for new windows.  Unfortunately.  I had wanted to sell and move before the windows had to be replaced - but that obviously isn't happening (especially since we have resigned ourselves to staying here for about 6 more years).  The windows in Ster's room has looked nasty for several years - the white goop in between the panes of glass has fallen and it looks nasty.  The windows in the front of the house all have a film in between the panes.  And I've noticed a draft when I stand by most of the windows.  I really don't want to spend the money on new windows.  But we don't have much of a choice right now.  If we had replaced them last year, we could have gotten the stupid tax credit - but no, we hold off and now that isn't available.  That is how our luck runs, though.
Friday night we did an experiment.  I was talking to my mom and went to sit on our couch.  And felt a cool breeze - even though we had a fire going and it was 80 degrees in the basement.  I got the bright idea to use our forehead thermometer to test the temperature in the room.  Brilliant idea, if you ask me =) 

I was SHOCKED at the results.  I held it out in the middle of the room and then right up against the blinds so I could compare the two.  I thought the batteries were getting low because by some of the windows we got a "LO" message.  It didn't happen all the time, but I thought it was the batteries.  So Saturday we bought new batteries so we could get readings.  Saturday night we tested it again and kept getting the "LO" message.  We figured it out - the temperature was too low for the thermometer to get a reading.  Scary.   Especially since the low is 60 degrees (found that out on the website).

I did another test tonight - because I wanted to post the pictures of the scanner I took.  Just so you know, our house isn't all that big.  So when I say I took the temperature in the middle of the room and then by the window, I'm talking about five to six feet from where I took the first one to the second one by the window.  Not a big distance.

Here is the living room - the middle of the room and by the blinds in the middle of the room:

Here is the middle of the kitchen and the window by the table and the window by the sink:

But here is the kicker:  Sterling's Room.

The thermastat shows that the hallway is 76 degrees - but Ster's room is less than 72 degrees?  And it is too low to measure the temperature by the window?  the family room is just as bad.  When we took the temperature last week after Tim had started a fire, the room was at 78 degrees (he had barely gotten the fire going - it gets up to 85 degrees after it is going a while) but next to our patio doors the temperature was 68 degrees.  that room is usually 5 to 6 degrees cooler than the rest of the house - but even with a fire going it shouldn't be 68 degrees by the door - unless there is some serious air leakage going on (which there was, but even after we put new seals around the door this weekend it is still really really cold by the door).

So, now we get new windows.  And hope and pray that takes care of most of the problem (if not all).

The question is:  what kind of windows to buy?  We have had 4 different companies come out to give us bids.  Next week:  I'll let you know what we decide =)