Archive for the ‘low emissivity glass’ tag
Window Glazing For Homeowners Explained
Double glazing your windows is one of the most successful ways of improving the energy efficiency of your windows and therefore your home. You can get in professionals to do the work for you, or if you have some home imporvement talents, you can carry out DIY double glazing on your windows.
In this article we will try to explain window glazing briefly and as un-scientifically as possible. This can be a bit difficult when you start to talk about such things as ‘spacers’, ‘solar heat gain coefficients’, ‘low emissivity glass’ ‘secondary double glazing‘ and the many other terms that arise when we talk about double or triple glazed windows and doors. However we will attempt to keep the terminology to a minimum and see if we can break down glazing for your windows into some basic and understandable points.
• Multiple glazing is the assembly of various panes of glazing into one unit. This could comprise two panes of glazing windows (double glazing), or three panes of window glass (triple glazing), and so on. If we are talking about double glazing, then between the two sheets of glazing will be present a gas or a vacuum. This gas or vacuum will be thermally efficient and will also have properties that assist in insulating your home against sound pollution.
• The glass in a window unit is necessary, not surprisingly, in order to allow in light and allow the homeowner to see out of the property. This may sound obvious, but in terms of insulating a building properly, it would actually make more sense to leave out windows altogether, because they are one of the highest contributors to heat loss in a building. The thickness of each glazing sheet can range from a high of circa 10mm down to 3mm and are usually all of the same thickness.
• Different and specialized types of glazing can be used when carrying out window glass replacement or installing new windows. These can include low-emissivity glass, which has the ability to reflect radiation from the heat of the sun, tinted glass, which can help to reduce heat build up in the room and coated glass, which is a glass with a coating on it, which can improve the insulation of heat and noise in the home.
• Spacers are the strip of metal or foam that you see between the panes of glass when you look at a double glazed window. These spacers keep the panes of glazing apart and create a seal which traps the gas between the panes, or helps to seal and create the vacuum. These spacers are used whether you are dealing with timber, aluminum or uPVC windows.
• The manufacturers of double glazed house windows will most often carry a warranty for ten to about twenty years and this lifespan can be effected by various factors, including whether the units are installed in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres. Typical reasons for homeowners changing window units or having to get them repaired would include seal failure and desiccant saturation. Desiccant is present in the spacers and its function is to remove the moisture from the sealed area that has formed during the manufacture of the window and also it stops moisture formation inside the gas or vacuum area.
These are some of the basic points that come to the fore when you are considering window glazing or replacement glass for your home. Many homeowners face the choice of replacing their windows at some stage after they have exhausted the idea of carrying out window repairs to their existing window units. Consider getting a double glazing quote for your home as double glazing windows are now the most popular choice with homeowners, as they provide excellent energy efficient units at a competitive price.
