We have full size windows in our lanai, and are very pleased with them. We decided not to go the route of a/c, but added cool-a-roo blinds and they work. Also have ceiling fans if needed. One thing I wish I had done was to raise the floor of the lanai. I would have kept the interior sliders, but it would have been nice not to have a step down when entering the lanai.

Do not do a single pane if West facing. The prior owners enclosed it. The heat was horrible even with solar shades (inside), then I tinted it - better but still unusable in the summer. Finally installed a mini-split (heat and air) they come with or without heat. Now I can use it 365 comfortably. The direction of the lanai and shade makes a HUGE difference. I face west with NO Shade at all.

Single pane full length sliders, mostly due to cost. Didn’t think double was necessary

Love the mini split. Use both temps seasonally. Comes to temperature within 20 minutes. Lanai is about 14x28.

We face west & have roll down shades, which are often at 1/2 down on whichever side the sun is coming in

Floor not raised.

We love it because the main house stays at a more consistent temperature year round, saving energy costs. Lanai is much cleaner. Although we hear some traffic noise (mostly fire engines) it makes our lanai a 4 season room. We no longer use our inside dining room.

The sliders are rated for hurricane cat 1. We took them out once but won’t bother again. But it is doable.

Only problem we ever had, 6 years later, is one latch snapped off (our error). It was replaced quickly at no charge

Single pane will work
 

We had a house with morning sun and we put full length single pane, shades and mini split. I have allergies and it was the best thing we ever did. That room was our go to room. Noise? If don’t want noise move to the country. The only time we had noise was when the lawn guy was out there. Cleaning the windows was easy. The sliders actually are removable and we had glass cleaners out and they removed them and cleaned the glass.

I have had single pane acrylic no mini split floor not raised, hated it. The only thing it would do is keep debris out. Too hot or cold to match the weather.

I have had double pane glass no mini split with raised floor and loved it. It was an Iris and by keeping the slider from the house open did not need a mini split to control temperature the house ac did just fine. The raise floor made it seem like a sun room and the no step made it much safer almost eliminating the tripping risk still a threshold.

Am currently replacing first scenario with dual glazed glass and raising the floor. Put in a knee wall at the end and sliders leading to the birdcage. I will wait and see if the house ac can keep the temperature good before deciding on the mini split.

Hope this helps.

Complete Enclosure
 

We decided to convert the lanai into a home theater as we never used it as a traditional screened-in lanai.

This involved constructing a knee wall, traditional framing, stucco outside, sheet rock inside, raising the floor and adding large double-paned windows with electric roll down shades. Out airconditioner was already oversized and we only had to extend the ductwork into the new room and add a ceiling fan. The sliders which separated the lanai from the living room were removed and the opening finished with sheet rock. Of course, the flooring was extended from the living room into the new room.

We added an 85" TV and reclining leather chairs. It is now the most used room in the house when it was almost never used as a screened-in lanai.

The glass sliders lift out for cleaning.

You also may want to consider which direction your lanai faces. If North, as in our case, thermopanes may not be necessary. Thus full length window sliders may be desirable. Other directions, with direct sun, you may want to thermopanes which usually demand partial partitions if you want something that opens up.

Double pane and mini split
 

We love our lanai, double pane full height sliders on 3 sides, mini split which is awesome. We raised the floor a little. Mini split is fantastic, very quick response to heat and cool. Our lanai opens to a birdcage so no screens.
Absolutely love the sliders, we can have open air or closed room.no trouble in any way, over a year now since we had them put in. My backyard is a road and sliders do a good job of reducing the noise but don’t eliminate it.

We have full length single pane sliders and a mini split. It works fine, however, since we face south the glass gets very hot. Would do double pane with a fixed glass bottom if doing over.

Mine are very heavy.

We have a knee wall, single pane enclosed, 4 full windows. If lanai will get sun, it gets very warm. Did two things to improve. Insulated attic above it and had roll up Sunsetter awnings installed. Really helped to reduce thermal impact of sun. Before we did this we got estimates for mini split system ( far too expensive ).

One thing I haven't seen posted is the wind rating for single vs. double pane. We've been in our house just under a year. Previous owners enclosed the lanai with full length single pane sliders. We also have a mini split. All good so far. During the recent hurricane, we were sitting on our lanai when I heard an unusual moaning, squeaking sound. I happened to put my hand on the window frames and discovered they were bending with the wind! Totally freaked me out! We moved heavy furniture against the frames to support them and luckily no damage. Post hurricane found out the single pane windows and frames are rated for just about where the wind speed was. Had the storm been much stronger, there's no doubt in my mind that the sliders/windows might have given way. Lesson learned: if a stronger storm passes over us, we move our belonging inside the main part of the house....just in case.
Otherwise, single pane setup is just fine and unless you can afford the upcharge for the double pane, you likely will be fine with the single pane (decision on a mini-split is separate).
I wouldn't extend the main HVAC system into the lanai - 1. the original system may not be able to handle the extra load and 2. without proper permitting, you could have a problem down the road if you ever need to sell the house. Fla is tricky about those sort of things.

wind rating- single pane acrylic lanai
 

:::We have the single pain acrylic on the palmer golf course and it clearly says on the 18 year old full length sliding doors - which are removable by lifting up and out- to take them out at winds over 74 mph. We have never had any issue leaving them. Half the lanai is in a bird cage (Which is screened of course) and half outside the birdcage with their own screens. My guess is the doors are pretty light- aluminum with the single pane acrylic- and it would be safer to store them inside the house if we had hurricane force winds. But in 20 years, no issues at all and never removed nor stored them. Our lanai faces east and with the r30 insulation installed to the attic over the lanai and installing a ridge vent to let that heat out, the lanai is used everyday summer and winter with the MiniSplit. It is basically now an extension of the great room of the house.._ TV / chairs / sofa etc.. Noise is not an issue for us with the single pane acrylic... good luck:wave:




One thing I haven't seen posted is the wind rating for single vs. double pane. We've been in our house just under a year. Previous owners enclosed the lanai with full length single pane sliders. We also have a mini split. All good so far.

1. Single or Double pane glass and why? Single Pane is $12,000 and double is $23,000. Double Pane - you won’t regret it.
2. Mini split air cond or not? Does it make a difference if you have single or double pane glass? While the double pane does insulate better, our windows face west, so we installed a mini-split (Belleview Heating & Air did a great job) - definitely needed the mini-split.
3. Knee wall or full height sliders? Any troubles with either? I have been in Florida 44 years - knee wall is better.
4. Raise the floor or not? (again, not tax talk, I don't care). We didn’t, but I wish we did.
I am in Sumter county. Please don't post an opinion if you don't have a glass enclosed Lanais in The Villages[/QUOTE]
Hope this helps.