Customer wants new windows installed in a cupola. Since the windows will be far beyond reach and will be used for ventilation I am trying to find information, or better yet, experienced opinions on motorized or automated windows. Do any of the window manufacturers do this type of thing or are all the systems an add-on. Thanks in advance fro any help you may be able to provide.
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Latest This Old House project has this solved for you. Cupola has automated windows installed.
I am using the system from http://wintrol.com/. It's rather pricey, about $650 for two windows. It has been in about 6 months with no problems. Don't have a feel for its long term reliability though the components appear to be pretty good. The installation instructions are a bit cryptic but the phone support was excellent.
Andersen makes a motor for awning windows:
http://www.andersenwindows.com/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2FpdfContent-Disposition%3A+inline%3B+filename%3D0005213.pdf%3B&blobkey=id&blobnocache=false&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1169410731548&ssbinary=true
I have a similar pair of motorized (awning) windows in my cupola. They are Marvin windows and as far as I can remember the whole units were supplied by Marvin. So far so good. (3 years, but only open them once in a while)
I have 4 motorized Andersen awning windows in my house. The motors were added to standard 400 series windows two years ago. The motors have to be wired to a power supply, which needs an outlet. And a keypad controller has to be hardwired to the power supply.
The motors work great. The windows seal tight. It does have rain sensors. However I am on my third power supply. The first two failed after thunderstorms in the first year. Nothing else in the house has ever been affected, just these power supplys. Andersen replaced them both times. After the second failure, I rewired the outlet to be switched and now only energize when the windows need to be open or closed.
I agree with the use of Andersens, relatively common addition. I think they also offer casement motors as well.