Your windows and doors can be your first step to true energy efficiency at home
Your The most recent 6 star energy rating demands imply that making a green property is no more a luxury selection. Picking enough power efficient products throughout your property to satisfy these requirements is a complex process; one of the easy choices is to upgrade your windows and doors.
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There are a wide selection of alternatives to maximize the functionality of your windows and doors, however the most significant component is the glass you select. Double glazing windows and doors are the greatest selection for energy efficiency, particularly where argon gas has been used to assist in insulation. Low e (low emissivity) glazing, is an additional choice for powerful efficiency.
COMMON GLASS TYPES
Annealed or Float Glass
Annealed or float glass is a simple flat glass merchandise that is the initial result of the float process, a common glass that tends to break into huge, jagged shards. It’s the main material that is turned into more complex glass types through further processing, such as laminating, toughening, coating, etc.
Strengthened Glass
Strengthened glass is made from annealed glass treated with a thermal tempering process. A sheet of annealed glass is heated up to above its “annealing point” which is 600 °C; its surfaces will be then swiftly cooled off while the inside portion of the glass remains hotter.
Toughened glass is a widely used glass type regarding improved security and is a mandatory necessity in a number of situations (e.g. windows and doors in a damp location like a bathroom). Toughened glass is treated to become much more resistant to damage than simple annealed glass and to break in a more predictable, safer way.
Laminated Glass
Laminated glass is made from two or more layers of glass along with one or more “inter layers” of polymeric materials fused between the glass layers.
Laminated glass provides many advantages. This glass is held together by the inter layer, lowering the safety hazard associated with shattered glass fragments and to some degree, the security risks associated with easy penetration. The inter layer has a way to apply several other technologies and benefits, like coloring, sound dampening, ability to resist fire, U.V filtering, along with other technologies that will enhance electricity efficiency as well as general performance.
Low E (Reduced Emissivity) Glass
This is a laminated glass, which can provide substantial results in regards to enhanced energy efficiency. Low E glazing on windows and doors is a good choice for energy efficient glazing on a tight budget.
Coated Glass
Surface area finishes can be applied to the glass of windows and doors to change its look and offer various performance features, which includes enhanced energy efficiency, special reflection/transmission/absorption qualities, scratch resistance, rust resistance and much more.
Coatings usually are applied by restricted exposure of the glass surface to vapors, which bind to the glass providing a permanent finish. This coating process can be done while the glass is still on the float line with the glass still heated, making what is called “hard-coated” glass. Or alternatively, in the “off-line” or “vacuum” coating process, the vapor is applied for the cold glass surface in a vacuum vessel.
Double Glazing
Double glazing your windows and doors, is the best selection for optimum energy efficiency.
Double glazing windows and doors (at times termed as IGU’s, Insulated Glass Units) are sealed units composed of two pieces of glass, separated by way of a sealed air gap. The air gap provides for a thermal break between the inner as well as external components of glass, producing an effective insulated window unit. Our double glazing windows and doors feature an ‘air gap’ filled with Argon gas, an inert gas, which may aid insulation.
By: Lenny Dalembert
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