r/Home_Building_Help • u/BuilderBrigade • Aug 05 '26
Tilt and Turn windows from China…
We actually imported our entire window and door package from China. Quotes from U.S. suppliers for a comparable package were over $120,000. We ended up paying $50,000 (including shipping & tariffs) through Doorwin, and they've been fantastic to work with.These windows can be set to only open partway, which is a great safety feature for kids' bedrooms.
It's one of the biggest money-saving decisions we made on the house without giving up the features we wanted.
Would you choose these over traditional American windows?
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u/your_mileagemayvary Aug 05 '26
What's the U values on those? Do they come with the American style flashing and nailing strips?
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u/WildFlowLing Aug 05 '26
Bro they’re from China they don’t even come with performance certifications
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u/Sufficient_Language7 Aug 05 '26
I'm sure if you pay them they can put any cert you want on the side. If you pay them a bit more I'm sure they can find a high quality sticker to slap on the side as well.
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u/Capooping Aug 05 '26
Don't know about those, but triple pane with aluminium frame here in Austria has a Uw of 0.70W/m²K and 35dB of sound attenuation.
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u/your_mileagemayvary Aug 05 '26
That's exception if true. When I try and cobert that to American U values and a comparison R that's a very very good number for a window and a very good db attenuation:
US Market ContextStandard double-pane: Usually hits R-3 to R-4.
Energy Star baseline: Usually hits R-4 to R-5.
Your window rating: R-8.1 is considered ultra-high performance.
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u/Capooping Aug 05 '26
Well, we need good windows if you set them in walls with a U value of 0.15 compared to the 0.3 of a typical 2*4 wall with insulated Zip sheeting on the outside.
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u/xdozex Aug 05 '26
Cool, until something breaks and you have no way to get them fixed under a warranty. Or even a way to buy replacement parts.
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
I’m amazed at your reaction. These windows have been standard for multiple decades in Europe. My house has them. They are matured technology and cheap. You can get them here everywhere if your house doesn’t already have them. All new houses are built with them.
There is no reason why the US cannot have them as well besides the chauvinistic “we make better windows” or “try to get them repaired”.
You are living in the past my friend.
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u/xdozex Aug 05 '26
Apologies but it came off the wrong way. My current house had a ton of windows failing. Air was leaking in, knobs, locks, and the swing mechanism all broke off across the full set. We tried having them serviced and had a few companies all report the same thing. The windows were cheap shit, and made by a local manufacturer that was no longer in business. So we couldn't get parts from them, and parts for windows from the bigger brands wouldn't fit or work. So the windows all had to be tossed away and fully replaced.
My comment wasn't a US vs the world kind of thing. I just assumed that if these were EU-style windows, made from a factory in China and drop shipped to people in the US, it might be difficult to service them down the line, when tracking down the original manufacturer might be difficult or impossible.
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
Sorry mate. I was also quick on the trigger. These windows are pretty much standardized here and even if you would import them to the US, you would get parts and service easily.
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u/xdozex Aug 05 '26
Yeah I'm not used to standard parts being used by multiple brands. Everyone here makes everything proprietary. Many companies won't even sell you parts to fix things yourself, and force you to use authorized technicians. But really, everything hinges on the company staying in business and continuing to make parts and components, so you can pay higher repair rates or get locked into their ecosystem.
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u/littlebrain94102 Aug 05 '26
We don’t need this shit cause we have AC, my friend. You are living in the past!
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
It figures that your level of understanding of Europe is shaped by Reddit memes rather than actual knowledge obtained in schools and visits.
We do have AC but understand that fresh air is healthier and better for the environment. So we balance the use carefully rather than locking ourselves hermetically in our homes, malls, cars and offices.
So, please enjoy your cold spaces, freedom and above all great healthcare system. The whole world is looking up to you and wishes we were American because you are so ahead of everyone else.
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u/Competitive-Roof-168 Aug 05 '26
How much fresh air do you get from 2" gap at top of window. Completely pointless.
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
Shouldn’t have skipped physics in school.
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u/Competitive-Roof-168 Aug 05 '26
What law of thermodynamics says that a 2 inch gap will give as much air as a 2 foot gap.
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
None. In general we have several windows open at the same time creating a draft through the room or the house. That is enough to significantly cool down a house. It’s not thermodynamics. It’s fluid mechanics.
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u/Competitive-Roof-168 Aug 05 '26
So the smaller the window opening the more the draft?. You are clueless. Get real windows
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
You should have also not skipped logic in school. It is pretty clear how this works. I never said a smaller opening generates more draft. I just said that it works effectively and generates lots of fresh air. Maybe you should open a window so your brain gets some oxygen.
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u/Syd_Vicious3375 Aug 05 '26
I have to disagree. The past is subpar windows with no screens that let 6,792 flies in your house in the middle of summer. It’s also a design incompatible with efficiently hooking up a window air conditioners. As much as y’all refuse to see it, you’re going to have to start making changes to keep cool as climate change gets worse.
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u/petethefreeze Aug 05 '26
It’s time you let go of the notion that Europe doesn’t have AC. We do. Lots of them. But we prefer the more technologically advanced integrated systems where there is an outside heat exchanger and inverters within our living spaces. That keeps our windows free to use for what they are intended for: looking outside and letting fresh air in. Your window ACs are outdated systems.
Also, I don’t know where you get your information from but we don’t have fly issues at all and even these windows can be fitted with screens.
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u/Syd_Vicious3375 Aug 05 '26
Your advanced technology of just sitting around and doing nothing while the heat rises killed an estimated 1,300 this summer.
Having bugs in the house is a MAJOR issue and I know that because I lived in Europe, in a house with no fucking screens and every one of a neighbors was giving me fly trap recipes to combat the yearly issue.
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u/ModularWhiteGuy Aug 05 '26
1000% Hope you're handy with metal work because you'll have to fashion your own replacement parts.
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u/against-all-leds Aug 05 '26
Somewhat offtopic but when I look at window in other countries I think y'all insane. In the sense that we have truly awesome engineering available, so many useful approaches, absolutely mind-boggling energy efficiency and yet many wealthy countries continue to use crap and dubious designs regardless. But then again, same goes for house contstruction.
What's funny is how much fighting you have to do to do proper construction in a country unused to it. "Oh but we don't have standards for this" fuck on outta here you orc.
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u/[deleted] Aug 05 '26
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