LowE 179

One of the chief reasons I chose Marvin windows was that they had a glazing option that worked well with passive solar design. If you know what to ask for, you can get a Cardinal Glass product called LowE 179 for the south facing windows. It's got a solar heat gain coefficient of .70 and a U-factor of .28. The high solar heat gain coefficient is what sets it apart from typical coated LowE glass. Typical LowE glass would block about 60 to 70 percent of available solar gain, a property that's awfully helpful in Florida but not in Maine. So imagine my surprise when I noticed something a little odd about the light passing through the three panels of the sliding glass door. Not long after installation a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that light passing through the two fixed panels of glass was different from the light passing through the middle operating panel. As it shows on the dark concrete floor, the light from the middle panel is clear but the light from the two panels on either side is slightly yellowish. I also noticed that the floor is cooler to the touch where it's been heated by the yellowish light in comparison to the floor behind the middle panel. I couldn't think of a reason why the panels should be different. The information etched into the glass in the upper corners of the panels didn't mean anything to me, and the stickers on the windows which normally provide glazing information were blank. To try to get to the bottom of this, I first called Cardinal Glass, the folks who manufacture LowE 179. The guy at the coated glass plant in Minnesota shared my conclusion; if it looks different and feels different, it's not the same. He said it was probably standard LowE glass in the two fixed panels, but without any other information he couldn't be sure. Armed with this information I called Marvin. Presented with the facts, the woman at Marvin directed me to Cassie at AW
Hastings, the same Cassie who was involved with arranging the repair a few weeks ago. (As I understand it, AW Hastings actually makes and distributes Marvin windows.) She said she'd look into it and get back to me, but I imagine that the same guy who helped fix and install the door will be paying me another visit. No hurry this time; I don't see those panels coming out until June. The visible difference in the panels can be seen in the picture of the slider below; it's subtle, but it's there.

Michelle and I finished the IKEA marathon in just over seven hours. We left with all the parts to assemble the kitchen cabinets, a bed frame, a sofa and a few lights. The drywall guys finished hanging yesterday and will be back tomorrow to start taping. Winter is closing in.