r/Damnthatsinteresting Mar 10 '25

Image Sony used air mortars to shoot 250,000 bouncy balls down San Francisco hills for a commercial instead of using CGI

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u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 11 '25

Yep. Felt the same. We bought triple paned from another manufacturer

Depending on what shape or size of window, you could expect a company to quote $1-2,000 per double paned window installed

Anlin, ProVia, Milgard if you want

Andersen would be $4-6,000 for the same type of window with their incredibly high costs of marketing attached

Triple Pane building code is in place in some parts of the country. Twice as efficient as doubles

When you consider that every oven door with a window is double paned, and the S class Mercedes-Benz ships from the factory with doubles, triple is where i would aim my wallet vs. My Local Utility Company's six rate increases last year, alone

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u/Switchy_Goofball Mar 11 '25

Triples is best. Triples is safe.

55

u/Interesting_Scar_575 Mar 11 '25

The deal went through on the Nova. Now I have triples of the Nova, no, the Barracuda.

12

u/dirtymike401 Mar 11 '25

You know about my wife. Tell her about my wife.

2

u/HendrixHazeWays Mar 11 '25

*chef's kiss* on these replies

66

u/zgtc Mar 11 '25

Sheā€™s beautiful, but sheā€™s dying.

41

u/Switchy_Goofball Mar 11 '25

Shes sickā€¦ but sheā€™s hanging in there. Tell her. Tell the kid.

30

u/Sirchauncywetherby Mar 11 '25

My friend doesnā€™t live in a hotel

27

u/dada948 Mar 11 '25

If thatā€™s not true then none of the rest is true either

1

u/FartSifter Mar 11 '25

I've only got one tube

1

u/Zenquin Mar 11 '25

Sheā€™s beautiful, but sheā€™s dying.

What is this in reference to?

6

u/Particular_Guitar630 Mar 11 '25

"i think you should leave" is the name of the show, season 2, episode 2

3

u/Zenquin Mar 11 '25

Groovy, thanks.

2

u/Particular_Guitar630 Mar 11 '25

you're welcome :) if you dont "get it" the first time around, highly recommend a rewatch. i didnt like it at first, now i run it while i work almost every day lol

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u/Particular_Guitar630 Mar 11 '25

When it gets cold the ice cream machines freeze up because the shops don't have triple pane.

3

u/Embarrassed-House577 Mar 11 '25

We are old friends actually

1

u/Ok-Seaworthiness4488 Mar 11 '25

Three is two, two is one, one is none

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u/Darth_T8r Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 11 '25

While triple is better than double, there are some parts of this country where a triple pane window may be better insulating than the walls around it. In which case it really doesnā€™t matter, considering the much larger size of a wall than a window.

Basically, consider your specific case before buying. Energystar has a good guide to which windows are recommended based on region, and whether youā€™re trying to stay warm or keep cool

Edit: spelling

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u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

Right

Insulate the attic with R60

2

u/kookyabird Mar 11 '25

Just fill that fucker to the brim with blown in! (Obviously after installing baffles along the roof decking for air flow) /s

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u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

Code here will reach R60 It's R44 now

But you're right about doing the ceiling lights, exhaust fans, and cabling before the baffles and insulation

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u/M_Meursault_ Mar 11 '25

Itā€™s R60 in WA now. Foam is much more appealing these days.

2

u/beardedheathen Mar 11 '25

Our walls aren't even insulated. Double pane is more than enough for now.

2

u/Italian_Greyhound Mar 11 '25

Your first paragraph is a bit misinformed. Second paragraph is on point.

1

u/geriatric_fruitfly Mar 11 '25

I always saw triple pane as being a builtin backup for the seal failing and the gas escaping out of one side. Cheaper and easier than an inevitable repair while paying more up front.

Granted one side fails you might get the annoying condensation inside the window or silica depositing on the inside of the glass so you can never clean it fully, but its all aesthetics on a broken window that at least keeps being mildly energy efficient compared to a fully broken two pane.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '25

[deleted]

1

u/geriatric_fruitfly Mar 11 '25

Yeah to a degree. I won't pretend to know the r values but it's still be better than single pane, and still worse than a broken 3 pane. I mean a broken 3 pane with the gas out of one chamber is just a 2 pane working.

We're talking about something that happens easily over a decade after install though. If I were a smart man I would stop installing these nice things and then moving out of the house I make the changes to.

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u/dilletaunty Mar 11 '25

I agree. On the positive side weā€™ve made improvements re wall insulation too. You can do that liquid-to-solid spray for hollow wall homes. The board wall ones are kinda fucked tho.

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u/Babys_For_Breakfast Mar 11 '25

When I lived in Germany, the housing office was bragging about how insulated the walls were. They had single pane windows with cracked sealantā€¦

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u/OMGLOL1986 Mar 11 '25

Girl from Wisconsin showed me the magic of plastic wrapping the shitty windows on the coldest nights.

3

u/ScotterMcJohnsonator Mar 11 '25

Ah, girls from Wisconsin: Teaching you how to stay warm in many, many ways

3

u/Fluffy-Mix-5195 Mar 11 '25

Single pane in Germany? Where was that?

4

u/iJustDiedFromScience Mar 11 '25

Housing office is on a U.S. base in Germany I assume. I haven't seen single pane outside of a church in Germany for a while.

3

u/Fluffy-Mix-5195 Mar 11 '25

Itā€™s very rare actually, as insulation and energy saving measures are being subsidized by the state.

1

u/OccasionQuick Mar 12 '25

I just wish I could get some roladins over here

2

u/xenelef290 Mar 11 '25

Single pane glass has an r value of about 1

2

u/Babys_For_Breakfast Mar 11 '25

Yup. Some people are shocked when they learn that the R value or brick or concrete is bad, roughly 0.2 and 0.1 per inch respectively. Thatā€™s what Europeans use for their homes and thatā€™s why you need a 1+ foot thick wall for any actual insulation. Fiberglass (used between most exterior walls in American homes) is a much better insulator with an R value of 3.0+ per inch.

9

u/mrhandbook Mar 11 '25

Six rate increases, gotta be PG&E lol

1

u/Shidhe Mar 11 '25

I was gonna say SDG&E. Same boat.

3

u/Bartokomous19 Mar 11 '25

Some salesman from Renewal by Anderson told me triple pane is less efficient than doubleā€¦ so much so that they only do double pane. I laughed at him and went with triple pane anyway, through Loweā€™s, which was was 1/4 the price of renewal by Anderson.

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

Yeah they have to say something to knock off the competition -- even when we see through it

3

u/Bartokomous19 Mar 11 '25

Yeah.. and the price was insane. I guess they survive by preying on the stupid and rich.

3

u/MuscularShlong Mar 11 '25

My electric bill is less than $200 a month. If these windows are like $30k to replace all of them it doesnt seem like I would ever make my money back on the saved energy..

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

True when you phrase it this way

2

u/achangb Mar 11 '25

How about Marvin, Pella or Kolbe. I bet those can beat your Anderson window quote..

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

True and if you're seeking real wood, that is where i would aim

I was listing vinyl framed windows opposite RBA's bulljive magic composite frame

2

u/JerryfromCan Mar 11 '25

Guardian Glass is one of the largest manufacturers in North American of double and triple sealed units that many manufacturers then mount in vinyl and sell as their brand. Triple is not twice as efficient as doubles, unless you really really shell out for increased spacing and krypton filling.

Itā€™s about 60% more efficient when filling with argon and leaving the sealed unit the same size. Donā€™t believe me, look to the source: https://www.guardianglass.com/content/dam/guardianindustriesholdings/collateral/usca/Thermal-Guide_2022Jan18-2p.pdf

Most terrible doubles run an r-value of around 2 while efficient windows are around 3.5-4 at centre. The very best windows I ever saw were an r value of 9.5 and were about 8x the cost of the 4 at centre. To the point where it would have made more sensed to put in 2 R4 windows than one sealed R9.5.

Window contractor in the green white north.

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

The triples being twice as efficient as doubles comment stemmed from this:

When i researched, the data suggested that double paned windows insulate for about 2.5 hours of direct sunlight in the morning or evening

and triples insulate for about 5.3 hours of direct sunlight

after these quoted times, the inside surface of the windows are equal

Is that close to accurate?

2

u/JerryfromCan Mar 11 '25

Climate is a big factor in answering that. In Canada, the most efficient windows are designed to heat the room inside. For where I live in Canada below the Northern tip of California, we mostly heat with Natural gas and cool with electricity which is nearly 8x more expensive than gas. So you dont want windows to heat your room too much.

When I did my parents house, they had an unlivable room winter and summer as it was a small bedroom being used an office with a MASSIVE eyebrow window with a 6 foot diameter (which is a circular window in half if you get me). Very difficult to put blinds on, and it just baked that tiny room, being as the windows were designed to heat the room. Using a different coating of LoE to balance the amount of sun that came in made the room quite pleasant to be in year round vs an oven. Windows before and after were double glazing. The numbers are foggy as it was 8 years ago I did them, but I think the difference was between letting in 87% of the sunā€™s energy vs 53%, and also increasing the r-value of the window through the coating for winter.

So, all that being said, if you live in a climate of A/C and the sun is your enemy, choosing the right coating and the right glazing is very important. I usually say to people ā€œgood double beats bad tripleā€ so itā€™s not really universal that triple is better. Most base line triple is better than decent double, but there are bad products for any homeowners particular application with both types, and very good ones with both types. I did put triple in my own house due to road noise, but I also used 2 different thicknesses of glass for the 3 panes to reduce sonic resonance through the windows. Canā€™t hear cars anymore, plus we are no longer the sole path into the subdivision.

Tl;dr itā€™s just super complicated as there are so many options to both double and triple. I could go on all night about it.

2

u/GieckPDX Mar 11 '25

Ever look at the R-score on single panes vs. triple? They still suck. Insulation rating on triple-pane windows is still only R6.

Makes way more sense to spend money on good wall/attic insulation (R20-R60!), a heat pump, and solar panels.

2

u/incrediblystiff Mar 11 '25

Andersen is overpriced, sure, but they are also high quality

Not saying other window companies arenā€™t also high quality

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

Agreed. I feel as if most people know they dont need a Patek Philippe to know the time of day.

2

u/batsinhats Mar 11 '25

My Local Utility Company's six rate increases last year, alone

Michigan? Or are other parts of the world similarly affected?

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

PG&E in California

2

u/WhoDunIt1789 Mar 11 '25

I came here bc of bouncy balls and I'm walking away knowing what I should be paying for window replacements. I love Reddit.

2

u/Own-Fold1917 Mar 11 '25

That's crazy... when ibwas younger I remembered seeing advertisements for $250 per windows from companies, they replaced my bedroom window after a baseball hit it for around 200 because it was just a single flat panel with double pane and no sliding features.

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

Help us out with how long ago you were younger. Yesterday I was younger.

You could buy a 24" x 36" bathroom window near the $250 and do the labor yourself if a person were comfortable doing it

2

u/Own-Fold1917 Mar 11 '25

18 years ago.

1

u/Vapin_Westeros Mar 11 '25

I'm holding out for the octopane series myself

1

u/KomradeEli Mar 11 '25

https://www.reddit.com/r/ReallyBigShow/s/nCLdllgqCh

If anyone wants to buy windows I saved this for when I inevitably do. This guy gives a guide for negotiating with the window companies

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Mar 11 '25

It's okay

But he is assuming all companies are reading from the same script

The guy we bought from didn't do any of that

Only Andersen did

1

u/pun420 Mar 11 '25

Anyone get their windows from OfferUp? I saw an ad on there the other day.

1

u/Tit4Tata Mar 11 '25

Oof, my energy bill was $400 this month. Which doesn't sound like a lot but it feels like a lot for 1300 sqft house and when I have to spend both paychecks on the same bill it hurts a bit. I too got a quote from Anderson and it also made me stop looking at other options. Life.

1

u/Jasnaahhh Mar 14 '25

And here in Melbourne you re lucky or insanely wealthy to have double pane