In my quest to lower our electricity bill I'm attempting to demonstrate to my wife why it may be worth replacing our current windows to keep the house cooler during Houston's warmer seasons.
Two faces of the house take the majority of the intense daylight sun and the side which gets it during the later part of the day has a large amount of glass.
Can anyone recommend a light meter or some other device that helps calculate/ illustrate this?

In another life I sold replacement windows and recently purchased replacement windows. You'll never get your money back (I bet you'll save about $150/year). And despite the fact that they look great and the rooms are less hot/cold the money savings doesn't justify the cost of the windows.

For us, the aesthetics was a big deal.

You may want to look into a film to block heat and UV. Much less expressive than completely new windows.

How effective are solar screens?

rlb28 said:

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In another life I sold replacement windows and recently purchased replacement windows. You'll never get your money back (I bet you'll save about $150/year). And despite the fact that they look great and the rooms are less hot/cold the money savings doesn't justify the cost of the windows.

For us, the aesthetics was a big deal.

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Yep.

Consider the monetary value of your comfort if you want to justify windows.

I built and installed my own at my first house in NTX, the front of the house faced due west and thanks to the neighborhood layout there was no shade until right before sunset. I can't tell you how much money they saved me but the effect inside the house was very apparent, also, I was the only west facing house that didn't have to have my windows replaced when the golf ball sized hail showed up.

Your main gain in replacing old windows is in comfort and aesthetics. You will save $ in energy, but the ROI is very low.

Yes these are the original (~20 year old single pane) installed by MHI.
Yes we would also have solar window film installed to reduce heat transfer.
I guess I assumed keeping the home cooler = saving money on HVAC (electric)?