Andersen 200 Series Windows Reviews

Andersen 200 Series windows reviews

Here we’ll look at Andersen 200 Series windows reviews to see if these windows are a good choice for your home. The 200 Series is the cheapest wood window option from Andersen. That means it won’t be as nice as the fancier A-Series and E-Series windows that we’ve reviewed previously.

The 200 Series is a step up from the 100 Series which uses their Fibrex imitation wood frames. Since the 200 is real wood it might be a better option. Let’s find out.

Andersen 200 Series windows and patio doors reviews, warranty, prices and efficiency.

What are the advantages of the Andersen 200 Series windows?

The main advantage of these windows is that they’re made with real wood. As I’ve said previously, my company primarily offers vinyl windows, but I do understand why someone might want wood windows. There are many tradeoffs that come with wood windows vs vinyl including higher prices, shorter warranties and less efficient results.

That said I do definitely prefer real wood to imitation wood products like composite and fiberglass windows. I’d say the fact that these use real wood is the main advantage over other products.

What are the disadvantages?

The drawbacks to these windows will include the efficiency, warranty and prices along with limited options and styles available in this model. The Parma-Shield exterior vinyl cladding can also be a concern.

Years ago my company offered wood windows through Jeld-Wen and the rep from Jeld-Wen used to pick on the vinyl cladding that Andersen offered. He would say that their extruded aluminum cladding was stronger and more durable. I have Andersen wood windows in our cabin and they have the vinyl cladding. It’s held up just fine for me, but it is something that competitors might do better.

We’ll get into a little more detail on the efficiency and warranty below. To keep it short here, the overall efficiency ratings of these windows are pretty mediocre. The air infiltration rates are higher than you’ll see from most vinyl windows meaning they let in more air when closed and locked.

The warranty is also much more limited than a vinyl window, but pretty similar to what you’d expect for a wood or composite window. For example, you get 20 years of coverage on the glass unit and 10 years on most other components. The warranty on exterior wood is 5 years.

There is a substantial limitation of your rights to sue them if there are problems down the road. You can opt-out of this limitation but only if you do it right away. If you delay you may lose those rights forever. Find more info on that below.

Are Andersen 200 Series windows energy efficient?

Not really. While they say they offer the “industry’s widest array of glass options” the efficiency ratings for those options are pretty typical. There’s nothing I’ve seen that would indicate these windows are any more efficient than anything else. In fact, there are many window options out there with far more efficient options.

The air infiltration rates are another concern. They only publish the rating as being <0.20 which is pretty high. I usually suggest looking for a window with an air infiltration under 0.05, but that’s really more geared towards vinyl windows. Wood, composite and fiberglass windows don’t seem to seal as well as they almost always have higher (worse) air infiltration rates.

Andersen 200 Series efficiency ratings and air infiltration.
Here you can see an example of the efficiency ratings for the Andersen 200 series tilt wash double hung windows.

As you can see in the chart above the U-Factor and air infiltration rates for these windows aren’t fantastic. They do offer more glass packages with different ratings but nothing about the efficiency options is remarkable.

Is the Andersen 200 Series warranty any good?

It depends. Compared to most vinyl window warranties the warranty on the Andersen 200 Series windows is not very good at all. That said, when you compare this warranty to other wood windows it looks a little better.

That said, there is one very important aspect of this warranty that you should be aware of:

Andersen 200 Series warranty restrictions and limitations.
Here you can see a change to the Andersen 200 Series and 400 Series warranty.

This is the first paragraph in the updated Andersen windows warranty. In my opinion it’s pretty important. If you don’t opt-out of this restriction within 1 year of the date of purchase your rights are severely limited.

Notice they use the date of purchase as the start of the timeline which is probably a month or two before your windows are actually installed. I would recommend everyone go to their site and opt-out of this restriction ASAP.

Beyond that limitation the rest of the warranty is pretty reasonable. You get 20 year coverage on the insulated glass, 10 years on most other components. There is no labor coverage and no glass breakage coverage either.

Andersen 200 Series window warranty has no labor coverage.

What colors are available for Andersen 200 Series windows?

The color options are pretty limited for the Andersen 200 Series windows. Here you can see the interior and exterior options.

Andersen 200 Series interior and exterior window colors.

The exterior colors are the permanent-shield exterior cladding which is a vinyl cladding. As I mentioned above it’s something that Andersen’s competitors use against them. To be fair I do have personal experience with this product and it’s worked just fine for me. It might be something to be concerned about in a very high sun area, but how much you weigh that concern is really up to you.

The only interior options are an unfinished pine or a repainted white. If you wanted to paint yourself or if you wanted a white interior these options will be perfect. Otherwise this will mean you’ll be paying someone else to paint them which will add to the cost of your project.

What’s the bottom line?

Overall, if you’re someone who has to have a wood window and you want a relatively basic solution this might be a fine product. The efficiency and warranty aren’t great, but they are similar to other wood windows.

The color, style and hardware options are very limited, but many people don’t pick the fancy options you see in many window brochures.

If you do want different colors, styles or better efficiency you’ll definitely want to look elsewhere.

Other Andersen window posts you might find helpful:

How can you find a great window company?

That part is easy.  Check this section for recommendations of window companies all over the country. There’s no better way to get new windows.

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