Fairview windows

Beetle · Aug 04, 2007 10:30 pm

We are just about to sign off on the working drawings and wonder if anyone has heard of Fairview windows. We have agreed to semi-commercial aluminium, and wanted to put in double glazing but the builder has asked us to consider a couple of alternatives i.e.

. 7.5 mm Pilkington comfort plus single glazing (low emission) or / the
. 'evergreen' range to keep the sun off the wooden floors

He reckons the evergreen range is not as thermally efficient but will provide a better barrier for the floors (living area is north facing).

Has anyone heard of Fairview and/or the glass options mentioned earlier? How do they hold up against double glazing?

Casa2 · Aug 04, 2007 10:36 pm

Beetle,

To me, single glazing, no matter how good the glass is, can never compete with double glazing. There are window experts on this forum that can confirm or deny my view.

Also, while keeping the sun out prevents fading, it also reduces the passive solar heating, which to me is more important.

I'm going for clear double glazed low emissivity (low-e) glass.

Cheers,
Casa

Ed Perry · Aug 04, 2007 11:52 pm

Hi

Fairview is a good commecial product out of NZ, fabricated in Oz. Low-E in single glazed is not very energy efficient as it only works effectively with an air gap in double glazing.

Evergreen is unsuitable for a heating climate, I don't know its UV effectiveness.

Both are quite expensive as upgrades - I guess around $60 - $100/m2. (More than double glazing)

If you want to reduce the UV effects on your floor and furniture then I think Low-E would be the better option. If you want energy efficiency and comfort then you need double glazing. You can incorporate Low-E in double glazing and get the best of both worlds.

Ed

windowexpert · Aug 05, 2007 9:43 am

Hi Beetle,

be cautious if you use ali joinery as most of the systems in Oz and NZ provide no insulation at all and the hardware they use is not particular great too :cry:

Glazing
like Ed said before lowE requires double glazing to work properly!!
At this stage there is no alternative to double glazing and your builder should know that. BUILDERS AND PHYSICS :lol:

Beetle · Aug 05, 2007 5:36 pm

Thanks for the responses.

Casa2 - you have a good point about the passive solar heating which we would possibly reduce with the evergreen product.

Ed - again excellent advice - and we agree Low E is the best way to go.

We are in a temperate zone and it seems that we will need to consider a range of options/solutions for our windows depending on which way they are facing. We need to do a bit more research so we can feel confident in our choices. Unfortunately this means we can't rely on the builder to give us the best advice :shock:

Our eaves are 800mm in most places which should help with passive heating/cooling. It does seem a bit technical but the www.wers.net website has been very helpful.