What did you pay for hurricane impact windows ? (Weston, Vero Beach: sales, 2013)

[froglipz]

So is the insurance discount worth the price of changing out the whole house? How many years will it take to recoup the savings?

[humeston]

We love the impact windows, best decision we ever made. It made it very quiet inside, it dropped our electric bill substantially and provided peace of mind. They resist wind but also burglars. I was surprised how it kept noise out though, an unexpected blessing. We have a small 2 bedroom house, about 1,000 sq feet. 9 regular windows, the small bathroom and kitchen and then one patio sliding door. I believe it was about $12,000 give or take. A lot of money, yes, but well worth it.

Dart

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by froglipz

So is the insurance discount worth the price of changing out the whole house? How many years will it take to recoup the savings?

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. You may need a garage door, front door, etc. etc. etc.

It may not make much of a difference on your insurance, or it might make a huge difference.

I did one of my houses because it needed the windows and sliders done anyways. Insurance savings will take about 25 years to materialize at this rate. So not worth it for that alone. The new house it's definitely not worth the cost as it's a newer house with low insurance already - plus insane amounts of windows. The added security benefit is one of the biggest upsides in my opinion.

[Papillons2]

Originally Posted by humeston

We love the impact windows, best decision we ever made. It made it very quiet inside, it dropped our electric bill substantially and provided peace of mind

Just had them installed two weeks ago on the house (1,700 square feet) we bought in June. Cost around $15K but would have been about $5K less without the Florida room, which has huge windows. We already can tell it's quieter, and I'm expecting at least some savings on the electric bill with the leaky old crank/jalousie windows gone. Along with impact garage door we put in that replaced the wooden original from 1957 when the house was built, the home's look also has been modernized considerably.

Not sure how much of an insurance discount we'll get because the house already had shutters, but they were the old-style aluminum sheets that were quite heavy and had to be put up manually (probably a hot, sweaty, three-to-four-hour, labor-intensive task). So if the NHC forecast as of 45 minutes ago changes and Hurricane Matthew does target South Florida, we're ready.

[Ben Barbosa]

This is very helpful thread/subject for folks looking to invest/buy Impact Windows and Door and if you've had a great experience, please tell us what company you chose.

[Papillons2]

Originally Posted by Ben Barbosa

if you've had a great experience, please tell us what company you chose.

Be glad to if the moderators allow it ... JVR Windows of Fort Lauderdale. The installation was much smoother than I expected and was done within eight weeks of the order being placed as promised, and the windows look terrific.

[Ben Barbosa]

The Mods should allow positive recommendations. I don't see a problem with that. If a company does a great job then they should be recommended!

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by Ben Barbosa

The Mods should allow positive recommendations. I don't see a problem with that. If a company does a great job then they should be recommended!

You haven't been around here long enough or understand the difficulties of moderating reviews. This forum gets a TON of spam from businesses and realtors... what is to stop someone from joining under an anonymous username and making a recommendation about their business? The forum would turn into a total nightmare.

Recommending a restaurant or whatever is one thing, but there is a fine line when it comes to forum spam.

[Ben Barbosa]

Originally Posted by BNBR

You haven't been around here long enough or understand the difficulties of moderating reviews. This forum gets a TON of spam from businesses and realtors. What is to stop someone from joining under an anonymous username and making a recommendation about their business? The forum would turn into a total nightmare. Recommending a restaurant or whatever is one thing, but there is a fine line when it comes to forum spam.

Agreed.

[griffon652]

Originally Posted by froglipz

So is the insurance discount worth the price of changing out the whole house? How many years will it take to recoup the savings?

Its not worth it if you have a house that was built post hurricane Andrew. I pay only $2K for insurance for my house that's 3200 sq feet. I asked them how much I would save if I upgraded to impact windows and the amount came to a pitiful $500/year. I have 14 windows (including 4 over sized huge windows, 2 french doors and 1 windowed bathroom door). I never got an exact quote but asked for a ball park estimate over the phone and multiple contractors said that it would cost $25K+ minimum. So its completely not worth it for me. Most of your insurance savings on a modern house will come from the roof. I cant remember the exact amount but I know that the amount I'm saving on my insurance premium is over $3K.

I completely agree with BNBR on the security aspect being worth it. So if you want to get it for that reason then it makes sense for a modern house.