Glass and Glazing – Safety Glass, U Values,
Low E glass and Double Glazed Windows Information – in association with
WindowsToday.co.uk
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Glass and Glazing for Replacement
Windows
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The appearance of the glass or glazing in a
replacement windows has a major impact on the overall appearance of the
windows.
In this section we will consider the main options
available to you. These include:
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"U"
Values and Insulation |
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Safety Glass
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Low E
or Pilkington K type glass |
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Of all the possible "additions" or "extras"
you can add on to your replacement windows perhaps Low E glass is one of
the least visually "impacting". Because of this we want to, in particular,
draw your attention to it. To have replacement windows that perform to the
very highest standards then Low E glass is virtually
essential.
Low E or Low Emissivity
Glass
Low E glass is a form of glass which when added to
double glazing allows you to save even more energy.
Typically
double glazing using Low-E glass has energy conservation properties as
good as normal triple glazing but without the 50% increase in
weight.
The advantages of using Low-E glass are:
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Better
heat insulation |
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You
save money with reduced heating bills |
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Reduced carbon dioxide emissions into the
atmosphere |
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Reduces condensation on your window frames
internally |
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Installing argon gas within the sealed units
instead of air can have even greater energy savings. Argon is an inert
gas, which has better thermal properties than dry air. In the UK we
express the rate of heat loss in 'U values'. The lower the U value, the
greater the thermal insulation and savings on your fuel
bill.
Typical U values:
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The U
value of single clear glass is 5.4 |
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With
ordinary double glazing this is improved to 2.6 |
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With
Low-E glass the U value is reduced to 1.8 |
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If
argon gas is used to fill the air gap, the U value will reduce to
1.6 |
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Special Note:
Whilst we
recognise that replacement windows are still available single glazed we
will on this web site concentrate on the double glazed versions
only. |
