Low-E glass has less solar gain because it reflects some of the heat out, this is why it's not ideal for south facing windows if your goal is solar gain and you have good roof overhangs so if you were to replace your low-e glass with regular non coated glass your dinning room would get even warmer, the advantage is that low-e glass reflects heat back in and this is an advantage in the winter.
My info on solar gain from the two types of glass came from an environmental engineer that I used to work for who ran all the comparisons in choosing the best windows for his own house.
the issue with a window softening and distorting the siding of the house next door is due to the window becoming distorted in to a slight concave mirror and putting a focused beam of light on the house next door, this would not have an affect of turning the window in to a lens tho because for glass to work as a lens it has to vary in thickness.
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