Spent 3 months researching impact windows, installed them 2 years ago here's how it actually held up
Replaced every window on our house in Miramar, FL about two years ago. Spent three months researching beforehand because I couldn't find a straight homeowner writeup anywhere, every Google result was either a manufacturer's marketing page or some contractor blog written to sell you on whoever wrote it. Figured now that we've got real time and a couple of storms behind us, I'd write the post I wish I'd found back then.
Quick context if you're not in hurricane country: in coastal Florida and parts of the Gulf and East Coast, code requires impact-rated windows or shutters on new construction and most major renos. "Impact" means the window is engineered to take a flying 2x4 at 50 ft/sec without shattering. Laminated glass with a plastic interlayer that holds together when it gets hit. Difference between your house staying pressurized in a storm vs. the roof lifting off because a window blew out. Different code zones have different requirements (Miami-Dade and Broward are the strictest, called HVHZ — High-Velocity Hurricane Zone) but most of what I learned applies anywhere you're shopping coastal-rated windows.
Stuff I thought would matter but didn't:
Brand name*.* Went in thinking PGT or Andersen were obviously the right answer because I'd heard of them. They're not better, they're just bigger. Every major manufacturer hits the same testing standards in Florida large missile impact, water infiltration, cyclic wind pressure. They all carry state product approvals. If the manufacturer is approved for your code zone, the window will protect your house. The marketing makes it sound like there's a huge difference in protection. There isn't.
Lifetime warranties*.* Read the fine print on any of these. Transferability clauses, exclusions for installer error (which is the #1 failure mode anyway), and the whole thing depends on the manufacturer still existing in 20 years. I'd take a manufacturer with a strong service track record and a normal warranty over a "lifetime" paper guarantee any day.
Frame thermal efficiency*.* Vinyl gets marketed as more efficient than aluminum which is true in a cold climate. In Florida the heat comes through the glass, not just the frame. The frame material barely matters for energy in hot climates. The glass coating mattered way more.
Stuff I thought wouldn't matter but really did:
Frame material in a hot climate*.* This one I had completely wrong going in. Vinyl is the default in most of the country and most FL homeowners just default to it because it's been around longer and that's what everyone installs. But vinyl was engineered for cold climates. It performs great where the thermal break matters and there's not much UV. In hot, sunny, coastal climates it just... doesn't hold up. UV makes it expand, contract, yellow, eventually warp on the sun-facing sides of the house. Aluminum doesn't care about UV at all. The old "but aluminum corrodes in salt air" complaint is from 30 years ago with raw or anodized frames. Modern powder-coated aluminum (2604 or 2605) is a totally different product and rated for coastal exposure.
Honestly I think vinyl shouldn't really be used in Florida at all. It's a Minnesota window that everybody just kept installing down here because that's what builders specced for decades. If you're spending real money on windows that are supposed to last 20+ years in this climate, aluminum is the right material. Pretty much every installer I talked to who specs both said the same thing.
Low-E coating tuned for the climate. This was the other thing I almost cheaped out on and would've regretted forever. Low-E is a microscopic metallic coating that reflects radiant heat.
If you're in a hot climate, you want low SHGC, not low U-factor as the priority. This one detail affects your AC bill more than any other choice you make. The upcharge for low-E impact glass over standard impact glass was meaningful but it pays for itself in a few years just on cooling costs. Two years in, our cooling costs dropped about 15% on west-facing rooms that used to be unusable in August. Floors and furniture aren't fading either.
The installer's actual relationship with the factory. This was the biggest "wish I'd known sooner" thing. Two installers can both "carry" the same brand and have completely different levels of access to factory support. One has a direct factory contact who picks up the phone same day. The other is ordering through a regional distributor and waiting weeks for callbacks. When something goes wrong mid-install (damaged frame, custom size needs to be remade, missing hardware piece) that relationship is what determines whether it's a 3-day fix or a 3-week fix.
The question I started asking every installer in the second round of quotes: "Which manufacturers do you have a direct support relationship with, not just carry?" Got really different answers from guys quoting the same product. That one question told me more about who I wanted to hire than anything else.
The five manufacturers I got quotes for:
PGT — FL-based. Biggest brand name when I was shopping, broadest dealer network. Product was most expensive but solid reputation.
ES Windows — strong product, manufactured in Barranquilla, Colombia. The entire assembly is built down there and imported. Lead times on replacement parts and warranty service reflect that. Your installer is dealing with a factory on another continent when something needs attention.
Eco Windows — FL-based, came in lowest by a meaningful margin with the shortest lead times. Sounded great until I dug in. Eco got bought by PGT a few years back, then sold back to the original owner, and the company hasn't recovered from the shuffle. Reputation took a hit, installer network thinned out. The reason their lead times are short is they're not getting orders. The cheap pricing is them basically giving the product away to win customers back, and even at those prices it's still not enough volume to fund real customer support on the back end. Multiple installers said they stopped quoting Eco because of warranty and parts concerns. Honest read is they need new management for a third time to actually stabilize. Not a company I wanted to bet a 20-year product on.
Mr. Glass Doors and Windows — the surprise of the bunch. Smaller name, FL-based, locally owned, five South FL locations, BBB A+, manufactures out of Medley. US-sourced aluminum and glass, exceeded the design pressure ratings I needed on the larger openings on the back of the house. Our installer had a direct line to the factory and got two minor issues resolved same day during install. Came in roughly 10-15% under PGT for equivalent spec. The local-manufacturer support story was the most consistent of the group.
We went with Mr. Glass Windows, installed by a windows company who'd been carrying the line for years.
One thing that's changed since we installed — and it makes me feel better about the call we made:
PGT got acquired by Miter Brands last year. NewSouth went under the same parent. Simonton is under Cornerstone Building Brands. A lot of the brands I was comparing back then aren't independently owned anymore. I've been watching this play out since the acquisitions and the installer chatter I'm hearing is that support response on warranty issues and replacement parts has gotten slower because everything routes through corporate channels now. Product is still good. Service backbone is just different than what it was when I was shopping.
Wasn't on my radar at all during the research because none of it had happened yet. But it makes me more confident about going with a local FL manufacturer that's still independent. The "Toyota vs Ford vs Chevy" framing I had during research turned out to be even more true than I realized — the product specs are interchangeable, the service models are diverging, and the smaller local guys who haven't been swallowed up are quietly looking like the better long-term call.
If I had to do it over, I'd do the exact same thing. Maybe spend a little less time obsessing over which brand and a little more time vetting installers earlier, but the outcome's been right.
If you're starting this process, here's what I'd actually tell you:
The product specs are way closer across major manufacturers than the marketing makes it seem. What separates a good install from a bad one is the installer and how good their relationship is with the manufacturer. Comparing window brands is honestly a Toyota vs Ford vs Chevy conversation. They all get you down the road. The dealer experience is what makes or breaks it.
If I had to give one piece of advice: spend less time obsessing over which brand and more time vetting the installer. Check their license, check how long they've been pulling permits in your area, and ask them specifically which manufacturers they have direct factory support relationships with. That one question is worth more than three weeks of brand research.
Happy to answer questions. Also curious if anyone else in other coastal markets (Texas, the Carolinas, anywhere on the Gulf) has run into similar manufacturer-vs-installer dynamics. Feels like this should be a bigger conversation than it is.