Not all new replacement windows come with argon gas and there are a variety of reasons given for "why not" ranging from price issues to location issues.

These reasons are not necessarily true.

If you ask if the windows at a super store come with gas between the glass, you'll hear only what the salesperson wants to tell you-- and that will depend on whether the type window they're selling you has it or not!

Depending on who you're talking to-- inexperienced or lazy shop sales reps, or customer service from a windows company manufacturer that doesn't offer it-- you'll get all kinds of answers-- usually, that it's not needed for energy efficiency or that it "can't be put in windows going to the mountains...".

However, you will WANT the argon gas if given any choice at all.

The best windows include this generally non-toxic, "heavy" gas called argon gas put between the panes of a double or triple pane window. This is included for windows even shipped and installed in houses in altitudes. It is the last step to making a window truly energy efficient.

It's just not true that argon gas is problematic for houses that are up in altitude. It does not expand or contract like air does. The best windows are correctly manufactured with argon gas and shipped to any location without compromising the build of the window.

This "correct" way of making an argon gas window going to a home in the mountains is done using a very tiny little plastic tube, called a breathing tube, that is put into the window at the manufacturing plant and sticks out between the panes. This is then taken away upon installation. Such a minute, small amount of argon gas escapes with the air that the energy efficiency is left intact.

Adding argon gas to a window is also fairly inexpensive when considering the $100's of possible dollars saved in insulated energy costs over the life of the window. It only adds maybe $30 or $40 US dollars (as of 2006) to the cost of a window.

This is very insignificant to your final window prices in the big picture. What it does add is tons and dollars worth of insulation- big savings to your heating and air conditioning costs, and your overall home comfort. Adding $300 to window costs of $4000 or more is a very good investment.

All the better windows have it-- and the BEST windows offer it even for windows going to the mountains--because they know how to package it, ship it, seal it in so it doesn't leak back out.

Michael Dennis
 
   
 
About the author:

IPS Group, Inc. Board Member and Director of their Home Improvement Marketing Division, Michael Dennis is an avid real estate fix and flip investor, a former long-time replacement window salesman, and the author of several books and websites on home replacement windows including www.vinylwindowmanufacturer.com: How to Save Thousands on Replacement Windows: The Homeowner's Insider Secrets Manual, and the tell-all report on the big-brand home improvement centers, The 7 Myths The Big-Brand Home Improvement Centers Want You to Believe About Replacement Windows. 

 
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