re: Replacement windows - what’s the cost now?

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WW wanted $6400

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Just remember that you get what you pay for. Watch the installation with an eagle eye.

That's not entirely true. The vacuum process of inserting argon into an ig unit is almost more valuable than the argon itself in that it removes the air trapped inside the ig at the point of assembly, which has impurities in it, therefore delaying corrosion. Most window companies that make their own igs and warranty them will insert argon into the window regardless of whether or not it is a selected option believe it or not because if this, a non gas filled unit will fail sooner than a gas filled unit. This is especially true of windows manufactured in the south central and Southern region. ( check out energy star version 6 document for definitions of these regions.) You are correct though, the argon itself effects Uvalue or insulation value which is not as important in southern regions as northern. Your window has to have less than .25 shgc to even qualify for energy star in southern region. So anything close to .4 pretty much sucks. You should be in the low to high .20s for the glass itself and the window's shgc should be somewhere between .19 and .22 if you have a window worth a damn for thermal performance for the southern region. Lower than that only comes with significant loss of visible transmittance. Pretty much all non tinted loe ("clear loe") is green by nature as it is deposited layers of silver on the glass. Other colors are result of other additives.

If you replace your windows and you aren't getting the best loe you can get in the southern region you are wasting your money, pretty much the only thing that matters down here is the loe glass performance (lowest shgc possible) and the installer and the installation warranty. To be clear, not the window warranty, that barely matters at all, lifetime window warranties from manufacturers are worthless and exclude improper installation, the window itself will not fail unless you are dealing with a clown company, the installation is what fails. I have worked for multiple major manufacturers in the central region of the south.