Sunrise Essentials Windows Reviews

sunrise windows reviews, warranty, prices and features.

If you’re looking for Sunrise Essentials Windows Reviews you’ve come to the right place. Sunrise is a smaller window manufacturer based in southeast Michigan. The company was founded by former Great Lakes windows executives a while back.

Since then Great Lakes was purchased by Ply Gem and Sunrise has been purchased by Mi Windows. There has been a lot of consolidation in the window business over the last several years.

The Sunrise Essentials windows are the lower end option from Sunrise. Generally speaking I don’t tend to recommend buying the lower end options as you’ll have the windows for decades. The windows will be around long after you’ve forgotten the cost. That doesn’t mean you should overpay for windows, but it does mean buying quality is a good idea.

Just look how happy she is cleaning her Sunrise windows. You could be that happy too if you bought Sunrise windows.

What are the advantages of the Sunrise Essentials windows?

Since this is a lower end window there isn’t a long list of advantages. One real advantage is that Sunrise uses upgraded block and tackle balances in their windows vs the lower end constant force hardware you’ll see elsewhere.

Of course Sunrise isn’t the only manufacturer to use nicer hardware, but it’s not the most common choice.

Beyond that they also offer a pretty solid warranty. Since they’re now owned by Mi Windows which is a pretty large manufacturer I’d say that warranty is more reliable than it might have been in the past.

What are the disadvantages?

The downsides to the Sunrise Essentials windows have more to do with efficiency than anything else. The air infiltration rate is higher on this model than on the nicer Sunrise windows. You’ll also have fewer efficiency packages and you don’t have foam in the frames.

Overall it’s hard for a manufacturer who is trying to make nicer windows to offer a lower end option. The product just doesn’t necessarily fit anywhere. It’s probably too expensive for a customer with a flip house or lower end rental, but it’s not nice enough for someone looking for a top quality solution.

Is the Sunrise Essentials windows warranty any good?

Overall I’d say the Sunrise windows warranty is pretty decent. We’ll have a full warranty review posted soon and it’ll be linked on this page. For now I’ll give you the summary.

Sunrise windows will come with a lifetime transferable warranty. You’ll hear those same terms from most vinyl window manufacturers, but Sunrise does something interning in their brochures. Check out this picture:

Sunrise windows warranty comparison chart.
Here is a comparison chart that Sunrise publishes.

If you were to only look at this chart without knowing much about window warranties you’d think Sunrise has the best warranty in town. But, if we look a little closer something stands out.

What do all of those other companies have in common? They’re not vinyl windows. Andersen, Renewal by Andersen and Marvin are all wood or composite windows that do have shorter warranties. So, they’re acting like their windows have this super duper warranty when they’re really comparing themselves to different types of products.

To be fair the Pella example is a vinyl window, but they’re mostly new construction windows with shorter warranties.

Most nicer vinyl windows will have very similar lifetime transferable warranties so there’s really nothing too special about that despite what this chart tries to claim.

I would bet there’s a salesman out there who also tries to tell you those other companies offer “limited” warranties and theirs is different. That’s a post for another day as it’s a silly thing to even say out loud.

Some basic limitations are that the exterior colors are warrantied against fading for 10 years, there’s no coverage for caulking and the commercial warranty is 50 years which is definitely better than you get from most companies.

What colors are available?

Sunrise offers their windows in a range of standard colors and they also offer custom colors. Before we get into why you might not want to order a custom color let’s look at the standard options.

Sunrise essentials exterior colors.
Here you can see the standard colors available for Sunrise windows.

The standard colors offered by Sunrise are pretty typical. These are the types of colors you’ll see from most manufacturers. One difference that Sunrise offers is custom colors.

I know you may be concerned about matching your existing trim or shutters or doors, but before you jump into a custom color I’ll offer a word of caution.

You may need to reorder parts one day and matching a custom color might be a real hassle. Often times it’s easier to repaint your trim or your door to match a standard window color than it is to mess around with custom colors.

Let’s say in 5 years you have a window break. It’s much easier to replace the sash (with the vinyl frame around it) than to replace just the insulated glass unit. If you have a custom color you’ll then need to have the replacement sash painted which can be expensive and time consuming.

If you really need a custom color they are available, but I would only order one if you really have no other options.

How energy efficient are Sunrise Essentials windows?

Overall Sunrise offers decent efficiency packages. Like almost every manufacturer they’ll have a range of options that you can choose from. Every package will not be available on the lower end Essentials window line. If you’re looking for the most efficient choice you’ll want to look for a nicer window model.

For double hung windows with double pane glass you’ll typically be looking at packages with U-Factors in the range of 0.26-0.29 which is pretty common. This is about what you’ll see from most manufacturers.

So, the efficiency of these windows is perfectly good, but not really remarkable.

What’s the bottom line?

Overall the Sunrise Essentials windows are certainly nicer than some low end options you’ll see from other companies. You still get upgraded hardware and decent efficiency.

My company considered carrying Sunrise windows a few years back, but we decided against it. If you’re completely in love with the Sunrise brand I would suggest picking one of the nicer window models.

Other popular posts about Sunrise Windows:

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