What is double glazing?
Glazing is simply a middle-aged English word for glass.
So, double glazing is nothing but erecting two panes of glasses for windows with a gap between them filled with air. Although the air was primarily used to fill up the gap between the two panes in the past, new technologies and developments have included the use of inert gases, such as argon inside them.
These double-glazed windows are commonly used to restrict the flow of heat through them. Although a window glass seems opaque, there are several ways heat can pass through them.
It will happen by both conduction and convection. If you use these double-glazed windows with gas or air between them, the middle layer of gas will act as a resistant or insulating factor for this heat transfer.
So, the heat inside your home will not leak out. Hence, you need not use additional heating equipment.
If the weather is cold outside, you will not experience that much cold inside your home with a double-glazed window. You can erect a new window with double glazing, or you can alter the existing single-pane window with this one.
There will be several double-glazing contractors in your region to help you with these processes. You can simply search for double glazing Guildford on Google to get the list of contractors out there in your proximity. However, finding the right contractor will be tedious but necessary. In this article, let us discuss double glazing in brief.
What are the advantages of double glazing?
Using double-glazed windows in your house has several benefits. Let us discuss some.
Energy efficiency – If your interior heat is not going away, you are saving a lot of energy. There is no need for heating equipment. The same goes in the reverse also. You do not need cooling equipment when the hot air from your surroundings could not enter your home through the windows. So, the overall energy efficiency will be high when you use double-glazed windows in your home.
Noise reduction – Another benefit of using double-glazed windows is that you do not let unwanted noise enter your house. Since there are two panes of insulating glasses, there will not be any passage of noise through them. So, you can live peacefully even in crowded or noisy surroundings.
Security – If you are using a double-glazed window, it will be hard to break. So, you can have better security with these rather than a single-glazed window that is prone to breakage even with a slight impact of foreign objects.
Eco-friendly – If your energy consumption inside the home is less, you are contributing to the overall good of the environment. Hence, you should consider going with double-glazed windows.
How could you improve the efficiency of double-glazed windows?
Although double-glazed windows are efficient by themselves, you can do something to get more out of it. Some of these actions of increasing the efficiency of the double-glazed windows are as follows,
Thermal curtains – R-value is a metric of thermal insulation of your double-glazed windows. If the value is high, you can enjoy increased thermal resistance. There will be several varieties of thermal curtains out there in the market. So, instead of ordinary curtains for your windows, using thermal curtains will increase the efficiency of your double-glazed windows, acting as an additional insulator.
Insulating film – Along with double-glazed window and thermal curtains, you can add up some efficiency by the application of a thin film made of insulating material on your windows. You can apply this film to your windows with the help of an adhesive and some dryers. It will significantly raise the R-value of your windows.
Replacing older windows – Although you had installed double-glazed windows in the past, they could have worn out due to prolonged use and bad weather. Hence, the gas or air between the two panes would have leaked out. So, you should consider replacing these old windows with new ones to increase their efficiency.
What are the types of double-glazed windows?
There are several types of double-glazed windows that you can choose from the following.
- Tilt and turn double glazing
- Casement windows
- Vertical sliding
- Georgian Bar
- Awning and bay windows