When budgets are tight and I have to choose between benefits provided by tinting & various coatings - how does one make the choices? Location is Delaware and energy performance is higher priority than appearance.

When all of these criteria come together you basically have to prioritize in one particular area because there are performance trade offs relative to costs. No real surprise here! The least expensive alternative to go with is a tinted outboard lite of glass and a clear inboard lite, which is option #1. In your situation I would pick option #3 because it puts the Low-E on the tinted substrate, which saves you the cost of two value added products if you went with option #2 or option #4. Option #3 gives you less costs and better solar performance(lower SHGC, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) & glare control than option #2. It also gives you the insulation value or the U-Value that you get with Low-E. It is also more competitively bid because no certification program is required to fabricate the product, which restricts the supply. Option #1:Bronze, Blue-Green or Grey outboard w/ ½ airspace & clear inboard(least costly) Option#2: Bronze, Blue-Green or Grey outboard w/ ½ airspace & Energy Advantage Low-E inboard Option#3:Eclipse Advantage Low-E on Bronze, Blue-Green or Grey w/ ½ airspace & clear inboard Option#4: Eclipse Advantage Low-E on Bronze, Blue-Green or Grey w/ ½ airspace & Energy Advantage Low-E inboard(most costly) Option #3 where you put the Eclipse Advantage Low-E on the tinted glass w/ ½ airspace and clear inboard is the best option because you get the lower U Here are the performance values that demonstrate the various options. · The lower the SHGC the better! · The lower the U-Value the better! · Tinting helps lower the SHGC! · Low-E + Tinting help lower the SHGC. · Low-E in an insulated unit lowers your U-Value.