Browse Forums Eco Living 1 Jul 03, 2007 7:00 pm Hi everyone,
You have a house built, you want the best for your family. You want security, you want shelter. Every window is a hole in the (insulation) wall. How warm does the glass on your windows feel? How warm is the aluminium frame? Windows cost around 6% - 8% of the value of your home, increase that by another 2% - 4% and you have double glazing. It seems a small extra investment on the total cost, so why doesn't everyone consider double glazing? Ed If I write "I" please read "We"! Be good. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 2Jul 03, 2007 7:30 pm I guess if we lived in Norway or Sweden we would not bork at double glaze.
It’s a fairly new way to go for us Aussies, who have pretty good temperatures. But I agree with you Ed, anyway that you can cut back on your heat or cool escaping or entering through your windows has to be the best way to go! You will be surprised at the difference it will make to efficiency with heating and cooling in the home or office. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 3Jul 03, 2007 7:49 pm Devils advocate....
You need curtains anyway so why spend the money to upgrade to double glazing when curtains / drapes would help minimise the thermal loss? Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 4Jul 03, 2007 8:23 pm mattwalker Devils advocate.... You need curtains anyway so why spend the money to upgrade to double glazing when curtains / drapes would help minimise the thermal loss? 100% agree - but maybe you would need to keep the lights on with the curtains closed all the time. Cheaper still just brick up the openings If I write "I" please read "We"! Be good. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 5Jul 03, 2007 8:28 pm ((100% agree - but maybe you would need to keep the lights on with the curtains closed all the time. Cheaper still just brick up the openings))
hahhah Ahhh but Matt….there are some windows in some houses that do not need window dressing, privacy is not an issue, so they are not needed! So why not double glaze those windows? Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 6Jul 04, 2007 9:24 am I wonder if it's ok to double glaze some windows and not others for thermal efficiency? Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 7Jul 04, 2007 9:40 am Our reason is that double glazing does not really add to the value of the house on resale IMO.
When we have been in the house for 5 or 10 years, then I will know that we have really settled down and will consider fitting it then as it will be for our own use. Just my 3 cents (inflation) Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 8Jul 04, 2007 9:42 am Yes - that's how the software works - it calculates what you need to add to a home to achieve 5 star. But a leaky boat is still a leaky boat even if you patch some holes.
But it will certainly improve things. The new FirstRate software will change things as it rates each room in a house so there is no global fix of just double glazing a couple of windows here or there. Ed Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 9Jul 04, 2007 9:59 am 3timesbuilda When we have been in the house for 5 or 10 years, then I will know that we have really settled down and will consider fitting it then as it will be for our own use. Is it easy to change windows at a later date? Would it be cheaper overall to do it at the time of building? I'm thoroughly confused on the whole window issue! Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 10Jul 04, 2007 10:44 am Of course it is easier and cheaper to do at the time of building. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 11Jul 04, 2007 3:15 pm stonecutter1309 3timesbuilda When we have been in the house for 5 or 10 years, then I will know that we have really settled down and will consider fitting it then as it will be for our own use. Is it easy to change windows at a later date? Would it be cheaper overall to do it at the time of building? I'm thoroughly confused on the whole window issue! Generally speaking you cannot double glaze just any window, it needs to be designed in at the start. And to change your windows would add the cost of the windows plus say $200/window for installation plus redecorating, plus the cost of the original windows. Not viable... As an initial expense it should add maximum say $2,000 - $8,000 to upgrade the windows (depends on what you already have and how many windows etc etc). Some builders would charge more but that's their scale of fees for upgrades. The $2,000 refers to changing from single glazed awning to double glazed awning. It's just a rough idea... Ed If I write "I" please read "We"! Be good. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 12Jul 04, 2007 5:50 pm I'm looking at double glazing - I don't need curtains on more than 70% of my windows - so double glazing is very attractive to me.
Warmth, yet light and I can see out. But with 40 to 50 knot winds forecast for tonight - Hmm maybe I'll close my eyes if I see a pice of tree coming towards me Steve Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 13Jul 10, 2007 7:25 pm Ed kind of answered Stonecutter's question, but for people who aren't reading this discussion closely, I just wanna be clear that it's not worthwhile only double glazing some windows. Warm air will move to wherever there's a place for it to get out ... i.e. to your single glazed windows. I'm told that's physics for you!
Of course, if you have a room that's very well sealed off, you might get away with single glazing there, but general, double glazing only some windows is a double waste of money! We'll be going for double glazing on all windows. Do you all know about Clear Comfort? I haven't used it, but it's reputed to be an excellent and more affordable alternative to double glazing. It's not cheap either, but good to know all options. I've been wondering whether it might cut the costs for smaller windows such as laundries or cutouts in gables etc. http://www.clearcomfort.com.au It's also a tad more viable for people in rental properties. e. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 14Jul 10, 2007 7:33 pm Clear Comfort is basically a sheet of plastic that you apply to the inside of the window. A couple of problems that I see:
1) Cleaning the windows 2) Preventing condensation on the inside surface of the outer pane (could use the silica gel idea from another post?) Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 15Jul 10, 2007 8:48 pm I gather if applied properly, you should end up with a very good seal with Clear Comfort. I think the silica should do the trick nicely to absorb any remaining moisture.
Any window that's going to be 'double-glazed' after installation needs to be absolutely clean on the inside before hand. I used to live in a place with double glazed windows that were filthy on the inside. Tres annoying. Other probs I foresee with Clear Comfort are: 1. that it's basically a membrane - not suitable for homes with small children (or cats that are prone to chasing moths!) and 2. that you need the right sort of window frame (if you make and install an internal frame as they suggest on their website, then obviously that has to be then sealed up too). e. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 16Jul 11, 2007 7:10 am This looks like a good temporary compromise. But do try to keep the gap at 12mm to reduce air currents and convection in the air space which will reduce its effectiveness, less than 12mm is also less effective. Silica gel may work but the membrane may be semi-permeable and let moisture through anyway and I doubt if the seal will be perfect. I would experiment with one window before committing to a whole house.
Ed If I write "I" please read "We"! Be good. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 18Jul 31, 2007 7:35 pm our current energy bill is around $1500 to $2000
Fixed energy costs of around 25% I might save $200pa with double glazed units and that would be a stretch windows are around 2-4% of the total build until it is legislated it will come down to affordabiltiy and we all know that is at the lowest levels in history with housing stress at record high levels personally i will double glaze the second story extension we are doing as i can afford to and i intend to stay put for 10 plus years (hence will get a payback on investment) Again a personal choice DQQ Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 19Aug 01, 2007 2:02 pm Hi DQQ,
You're right, but if energy cost do start to rise, I think it may become more viable. Another issue is comfort, with good insulation, you have less heating and cooling cycles eg. with heating, the heat is turned on until a set temp is reached (usually a little above your target temp) and then heating turns off until the cold cools the house down below a certain temp. Then on again etc. The more frequent this happens., the more I find it uncomfortable. So I look at it as a luxury item adding to my overall comfort and also that I am doing my bit for the environment. I also get the reassurance that future energy price rises are not going to affect me so badly. Re: Insulating your Home with Double Glazing 20Aug 30, 2007 11:02 pm DuckyQuackQuack our current energy bill is around $1500 to $2000 Fixed energy costs of around 25% I might save $200pa with double glazed units and that would be a stretch windows are around 2-4% of the total build until it is legislated it will come down to affordabiltiy and we all know that is at the lowest levels in history with housing stress at record high levels personally i will double glaze the second story extension we are doing as i can afford to and i intend to stay put for 10 plus years (hence will get a payback on investment) Again a personal choice DQQ If I write "I" please read "We"! Be good. This is one of the reasons I decided to go overseas for my double glazed windows. As the builder indicated, he's worked on many upmarket builds, these were the most well… 13 19239 For your reference Performance Labels: Window assemblies in housing, except timber windows, must be labelled so the label can be seen when it is in situ. For timber… 6 7716 I’m in a similar position except I’m after sliding 3 stacking doors. I am on a second-story apartment of which the balcony would not adequately fit any bi-fold or… 5 16150 |