Archives

Home / Posts tagged 'insulation'

Four Benefits Of Double Glazed Windows

Discover the benefits of double glazed windows for your home.

Four Great Advantages and Benefits of Double Glazed Windows

 
October 30, 2014 by Viola Sacci

It doesn’t matter where you live or what you do, the benefits of Double Glazed Windows are going to make your house a nicer space to be in.

Here are the top 4 reasons why you need double glazed windows in your house.
 

1. A Double Glazed Thermal Dream

With heating and fuel costs going through the roof these days, getting double glazed windows really is a no-brainer! They’re thermally efficient and keep as much of your heat inside where it belongs. Your old windows may have been leaching out your heat (and your money!).

Not only do these wonderful inventions save you money in the winter, but they also help you save tonnes of money in the hot summer months. Your cooling costs can also be dramatically reduced by the implementation of double glazed windows. The glass acts as a barrier to the sweltering heat from outside that’s attempting to penetrate your icy fortress.

In a nutshell, it will keep you warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer!
 

2. Double Glazed Windows; are (Noise) Killing Machines

One of the best features about double glazed windows (especially when acoustic glass is used) is that they’re practically sound proof. Do you live by a busy highway? Enjoy your AFL matches in surround-sound bliss with your double glazed windows.

Perhaps you live in a school district. Are noisy kids cantering past your house every day giving you the blues? Block out their high-pitched chatter with a brand new set of double glazed windows!

Do you live near a construction site? An airport? Or maybe you just have annoying neighbours. The fact is, with double glazed windows you can seriously reduce the noise pollution affecting your home. Hooray for silence!
 

3. Less Water Damage

Have you ever poured cold water into a glass and then watch the glass get super misty? Of course you have. That’s called condensation. Welcome to 5th grade geography class! Condensation happens when warm air is cooled. Our old single-paned friends have serious issues with condensation. You see, when it comes to windows, condensation is bad.

Think of your home as a giant glass of water. When your air conditioned windows come in contact with the heat from outside, it will form water droplets on your windows. The same thing happens when inside is warm and outside is really cold. Now the water droplets are harmless on their own, the real damage comes when they trickle down to your window frames or seep into your walls.

Over time, this could cause extensive water damage and cost you quite a bit of money in the long run. Double glazed windows aren’t immune to condensation, but if they’re installed properly and made with the right material, the chances of this happening are very slim. The inner pane of the window acts as a barrier between the sharp differences in temperature.
 

4. Double Glazed Windows are Greener Living

If you’re environmentally conscious (you should be!), then you will definitely appreciate this benefit of double glazed windows. More and more glass manufacturers are opting to use recycled glass for its environmental benefits. Apart from that, double glazed windows are very energy efficient and help to reduce your fuel consumption by controlling heating and cooling losses through proper insulation.

Double glazed windows are pretty amazing. They will save you lots of cash in the long run, they’ll protect you from annoying neighbours and they will reduce your environmental impact. They are an all-around good investment for any home-owner, whether you’re planning to sell or you’re in it for the long-haul.

Continue Reading
 Categories : Climate Change Energy Efficiency Sound Insulation
 Posted on : February 24, 2018

uPVC Double Glazed Windows in Australia

uPVC Double Glazed Windows in Australia: Video

 

Available across Europe and America for the past 60 years, uPVC window profiles are the most popular choice to deliver superior and proven performance worldwide.

More than half of all new and replacement residential windows worldwide are uPVC. That’s almost 290 million window units a year.

Chosen for their durability, low-maintenance, high energy efficiency, performance and style, the US and Europe have long focused on energy-efficient windows.

However, in Australia, we’ve traditionally used either timber frames which are good insulators but high maintenance, or aluminium window frames which need less maintenance than timber, but have poor insulation .

Thermal performance is one of the most important characteristics of a window. Double glazed uPVC windows can be as much as four and-a-half times more energy efficient than standard single glazed aluminium. The energy efficiency of a window system is commonly defined by two measures.

First, the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), a measure of the solar radiation going through the glazing into a building, and secondly by the rate of heat flow through a window system (uValue). For both measures, the lower the number, the higher the performance.

A common misconception in Australia is that double glazing is only for cold climates, to keep the cold outside. But double glazing is also just as effective in keeping the heat of an Australian summer OUT. In fact, standard glazed windows contribute to eighty-seven percent of the summer heat gain in a typical Australian insulated home. Choosing double glazed units with low solar heat gain and lower uValues reduces or eliminates the need for expensive artificial cooling. By replacing your windows with high-efficiency upvc ones, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from household heating and cooling by more than one ton a year.

uPVC windows are considered durable, with expected life spans of 35 years, and leading brands have been tested specifically for resistance to australia’s high UV radiation levels. These windows will look good for years without the need for sanding or repainting, and being resistant to salt, are ideal for coastal locations.

uPVC window profiles have been carefully engineered to incorporate multi-point locking systems, providing a high level of security. They can be used in a wide range of styles for old and new heritage or contemporary homes, and they come in a variety of colors. Choose with confidence from a range of quality suppliers in Australia.

Wherever you live in Australia- Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide or Perth, you can benefit fromt the qualities of uPVC double glazed windows and doors.

Continue Reading
 Categories : Energy Efficiency Home Security Sound Insulation Thermal Insulation uPVC
 Posted on : October 31, 2017

2016 Hottest Year On Record

Why Double Glazing? 2016 Was The Hottest Year On Record!

 

Using double glazing to  help cool your home is becoming more valuable by the year.

2016 is now officially the world’s hottest year on record. Just ask NASA and NOAA. It beat the previous record, which was set in 2015. Which beat the previous record, set in 2014. See a pattern here?

It’s a sobering thought, but anyone under the age of forty has never lived in a year that was not above the average temperature experienced over the whole of the 20th. Century.

As our summer temperatures get progressively hotter, it has a direct effect on our homes.

  • Hotter temperatures make us more uncomfortable.
  • Hotter temperatures mean that we use our air conditioning more, driving up our electricity bills- at a time when our tariffs are at a record high level, too.
  • The extra hours that your aircon runs, and extra on/off cycling, cuts down the life of your system, and increases the need for maintenance/servicing.

Fitting double glazed windows and doors to your home helps cut down the amount of heat entering in summer. If you also specify uPVC frames, you’ll get the very best combination of high thermal insulation, high acoustic insulation, and a long, maintenance-free lifetime.

 

 

Continue Reading
 Categories : Climate Change Energy Efficiency Thermal Insulation uPVC
 Posted on : January 19, 2017

Why Choose uPVC Double Glazing

uPVC double glazed winows cool your home in summer, warm it in winter.

The Case For Choosing uPVC Double Glazing Frames.

 

They Are The World’s #1 Choice.

Available across Europe in America for the past 60 years, uPVC window profiles are the most popular choice to deliver superior and proven performance.

Worldwide, more than half of all new and replacement residential windows are uPVC. That’s almost 290 million window units a year, chosen for their durability, low-maintenance, high energy efficiency, performance and style. The US and Europe have long focused on energy efficient windows.

However, in Australia, we’ve traditionally used either timber frames which are good insulators but high maintenance, or aluminium window frames which need less maintenance than timber, but have poor insulation. Thermal performance is one of the most important characteristics of a window.

 

Watch the video, or read the text!

They Have High Energy Efficiency

Double glazed PVC windows can be as much as four and-a-half times more energy efficient than a standard single glazed aluminium one.

The energy efficiency of a window system is commonly defined by two measures.

First, the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) is a measure of the solar radiation going through the glazing into a building, and secondly by the u-value- the rate of heat flow through a window system.

For both measures the lower the number, the higher the performance.

 

They’re Cooler In Summer, Warmer In Winter.

A common misconception in Australia, is that double glazing is only for cold climates, to keep the cold outside, but double glazing is also just as effective in keeping the heat of an Australian summer out.

In fact, standard glazed windows contribute up to eighty-seven percent of the summer heat gain in a typical Australian insulated home. Choosing double glazed units with low solar heat gain and low u-values, reduces or eliminates the need for expensive artificial cooling.

By replacing your windows with high-efficiency uPVC ones, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from household heating and cooling by more than one tonne a year.

 

They’re Durable & Low Maintenance

uPVC windows are considered durable, with expected life spans of 35 years, and leading brands have been tested specifically for resistance to Australia’s high UV. These windows will look good for years, without the need for sanding or repainting, and being resistant to salt, are ideal for coastal locations.

uPVC window profiles have been carefully engineered to incorporate multi-locking systems, providing a high level of security. They can be used in a wide range of styles for older, new, heritage or contemporary homes. And they come in a variety of colors.

Choose with confidence from a range of quality suppliers in Australia. The uPVC Window Alliance is supported by globally leading brands committed to delivering uPVC windows you can rely on in Australia.

uPVC windows- the wise choice for windows in Australia.

Article supplied by the Australian uPVC Window Alliance.

Continue Reading
 Categories : Energy Efficiency Home Security Thermal Insulation uPVC
 Posted on : December 31, 2016

Geneva Double Glazing Law

Geneva, Switzerland introduces double glazing requirement.

Double Glazing Required In All Geneva Buildings From January, 2016

Canberra double glazing specialist, Karen PorterHow can we make double glazing compulsory in Canberra?

It’s a question often asked by my friend, Karen Porter, of Solace Creations, Canberra’s leading double glazing supplier. It’s a worthy ambition, but it’s not likely to happen anytime soon in Australia’s Capital City (or where you live).

While Canberra is close to the most renewables/environmentally-aware jurisdiction in Australia, solar (residential, commercial and utility) and wind power get the most publicity, and support. For all that, double glazing COULD be made mandatory in Canberra. How do we know?

Well, on January 1st., 2016, it became mandatory to have double glazed windows in the famous Swiss city of Geneva.

Geneva is the headquarters of many of Europe’s United Nations Agencies, the Red Cross, and a global hub for diplomacy and banking. It’s famous for being the place where the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of wartime combatants and prisoners of war were signed. It’s also a city very aware of it’s energy consumption, and a determination to reduce it.

According to an article in the newspaper GHI, all homeowners in Geneva that still have single glazing in their homes at the end of January 2016 will be fined. Double glazing incorporating non-insulated aluminium frames will also attract fines.

Housing consumes half of Geneva’s energy and generates two thirds of its carbon emission. The canton estimates that a canton-wide window upgrade will deliver energy savings of 15%.

Many have criticised the tight deadline. Christophe Ogi, an architect and member of Pic-Vert Assprop.ge, an organisation that defends the interests of property owners says “there could easily be more than 20,000 properties, showing the scale of the task. I think the main objective though, is to get started”. According to Mr Ogi, most of the work relates to around 15,000 villas (individual houses) with old windows. Many of these are owned by old people who cannot afford the CHF 10,000 to CHF 15,000 required to cover a window upgrade. He thinks some will choose to pay fines instead.

Some have also pointed out that the canton itself has many buildings that must replace their windows.

Serge Hiltpold, president of the Federation of building trades says “the date imposed by the canton is unrealistic. We cannot do all the work required because the capacity to produce new windows cannot be increased infinitely. It would make sense to extend the deadline so that we can spread the work. We are not going to replace windows during the winter.”

The Canton is not budging
Despite the complaints, Olivier Epelly, the director general of the cantonal energy office is showing no signs of budging. He says that “if they don’t respect the deadline, in the absence of an extension, they are exposing themselves to fines.”

So there we have it- a major European city can mandate the fitting, even retrofitting, of double glazed windows. They can even exclude poor-performing aluminium frames without a athermal break. Further, they’ll even issue fines for non-compliance. That’s a model we could follow, particularly in our colder cities/Regions/States.

Link to the Official Document (in French). Learn more about double glazing in Canberra.

Continue Reading
 Categories : Energy Efficiency Standards Thermal Insulation Uncategorized
 Posted on : May 28, 2016