| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 140594 | 2015-11-09 04:34:00 | Experience with double glazing windows | R.M. (561) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1411130 | 2015-11-09 08:02:00 | double glazing your old wooden windows is an option but if the sashes are not airtight (highly likely) then that defeats the purpose of the double glazing I agree. The air inside the house is warm and therefore less dense than the air outside. The heavy outside air will try to get inside any way it can. It's like water trying to get inside a submarine. It helps to think of the house completely submerged in water and our job is to keep the water out The other problem with wooden windows is that there's a lot of wood in them and this conducts heat to the outside. So just replacing the glass is not a perfect solution My ordering of priorities: - ceiling insulation - heat pump(s) - seal air-gaps - curtains with air seals top and bottom - floor insulation - 400mm 'pelmet' in living room - double-glazing - exterior wall insulation The 400mm pelmet solution is just batts on the wall up near the ceiling and hidden by a curtain. It is really an extension of ceiling insulation down the wall a bit. Hot air rises and that is why ceiling insulation is the top priority. But the heat at the top of the room also leaks sideways through the wall to the outside. It's good bang-for-buck to insulate this unused bit of the room (but I've never tried it) |
BBCmicro (15761) | ||
| 1411131 | 2015-11-09 08:15:00 | Yes - I had a second heat pump installed at the bedroom end of the house at the beginning of winter. I need to talk to someone about sealing air gaps - who /what occupation does that? And what are airseals top and bottom on curtains? (I made them, so I don't think they have those...) :( |
R.M. (561) | ||
| 1411132 | 2015-11-09 11:31:00 | Eerk lost my post . Summary - timber has a very low co-efficent of conduction so it is a good insulator . Double glazing is king . 'Nugh said . Its proven all over the world and also provides noise insulation which is better than you'd expect . In North America, Canada, and Norway triple glazing is standard . Nobody even questions it . The question for many kiwis is whether they should retro-glaze by adding an outside second frame of aluminium and glass . That is cheaper and more simple than brand new windows . Not perfect but a good choice . Timber windows are harder . It can be done but seriously look at brand new windows . I have had new double glazed aluminium windows for 15 years now in the deep south and still marvel at them every day . Warmth, quiet, and reduced glare without any tinting . |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 1411133 | 2015-11-09 17:22:00 | And don't forget New Zealand's stupid penchant for downlights cutting numerous 105mm holes in your ceiling and insulation. However you can get sealed LED downlights now which son is installing in this house for us at Christmas to block another air gap. | gary67 (56) | ||
| 1411134 | 2015-11-09 18:36:00 | While I was down there some farmers up the road had it done. Wooden windows. No idea what company they used - money wasn't an issue for them, but it was very effective. Of course you still need heating - they had a woodburner but she got her desired result. She was able to walk around inside with just a thin tshirt all winter. BBCMicro - bit wrong. A lot of moisture comes from INSIDE the house - showers, cooking, breathing. The trouble today is the desire to wrap it up like a sealed plastic bag. Then there is a condensation problem. Bit of a tricky one down south, but the old (wood) house we had didn't have an issue. It had batts in ceilings and most walls. It had no double glazing on it's wooden windows. I had thermal drapes. We had a wood burner. It had original rimu floorboards - and only carpet in lounge and 3 of it's bedrooms. That contributed to ventilation I'd say....no underfloor polystyrene......and it wasn't cold. Hot air rises remember.... Anyway as for the double glazing, sure worked for the farmers we knew.... |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1411135 | 2015-11-09 19:25:00 | what are airseals top and bottom on curtains? The room air against the window is cold and sinks. It goes under the drapes and into the room, dragging warm air over the top of the drapes to complete the cycle. We have ordinary gathered drapes but a separate un-gathered lining of thermaldrape. This presses on the window sill to inhibit cold air falling. It also presses on the top reveal to inhibit warm air going towards the window. |
BBCmicro (15761) | ||
| 1411136 | 2015-11-09 21:50:00 | Hmmm, I haven't heard anyone referring to pelmets for years, except as part of a vulgar but expressive metaphor for a very short skirt... A few months ago I would have strongly recommended double glazing. Now I am confused - perhaps my normal state, but... We lived in a 1920s bungalow for 15 years, and it had replacement aluminium/double glazed windows in the front, and original wooden windows in the back. The house needed heating with a nightstore at the front, heat pump in the back of the house, and a woodburner in the middle. The only thing we did that improved the house at all in terms of warmth was to install the heat pump, and underfloor insulation. The latter not only stopped draughts, it also stopped the black staining we used to get at the junction of carpet and skirting boards. After that we lived in two brick veneer aluminium joinery double glazed houses, both on concrete pad foundations; the first of these was about two years old when we moved in, whilst the later one was brand new. Both were reasonably warm. I thought the double glazing was really important to the warmth of those houses, and the condensation in winter on the windows was much less than in the wooden windows 1920s bungalow. Now however, we are living in a brick veneer, aluminium joinery single glazed house (two storey), and it is the warmest house we have ever lived in. The vendor told us we would find it to be a very warm house (after the sale was confirmed, so he had no reason to gild the lily). Neighbours have also said the same thing. The house was built by a bricklayer for himself, and maybe there is interior insulation we cannot see. However, the house shouldn't really be as warm as it is - it is single glazed, and has one of the once fashionable 90 degree corner windows that is unframed at the angle, and that sticks out into the southerly, so I would have expected problems. However, whilst we have not yet lived through a full winter, the house seems very snug. There must be other factors in this house too - it is very difficult to get a WIFI or phone signal from downstairs to upstairs, and perhaps that is because of the insulation layer between the stories, which is that metallic material like thick tinfoil (we can see it in the downstairs garage ceiling). All I can think of from our experience is that aluminium joinery is much warmer than wooden, whether or not it is double glazed. |
John H (8) | ||
| 1411137 | 2015-11-10 02:20:00 | I am a firm supporter of having double glazing. We had this home done in two stages, mainly because good double glazing doesn't come cheap. Each time we arranged 3 quotes. Had the first company not been sold in between each section we would have probably just gone straight to them because their workmanship was second to none. Don't get me wrong, the second time the work wasn't poor and the way the glazing was done was a little different. Money well spent, as although this is a very warm house, Tauranga isn't really in the tropics. Compared to recent years this last Winter was very cold. I had been wearing enough layers to give Michelin Man some competition. An added advantage, was just how the external noise level reduced. Living on a fairly busy road, plus, up a fairly steep driveway and when Hoonville.inc decided the road was perfect for them, it could be quite noisy prior to the double glazing. Several years ago we lived in a colder area, our home was wooden with exposed beams and windows of all shapes, sizes and elevations. Nice to look at but not very practical. We knew one of the local glaziers well and knew he would do a good job on those windows we knew needed extra insulation. Others have given you any other suggestions so I won't repeat those. If you have any large trees shading the home then I would be tempted to at least have them trimmed back. |
Marnie (4574) | ||
| 1411138 | 2015-11-10 02:31:00 | Urm... how about sealing all the windows with bricks or even plywood? Then, if you want to see outside just fit a periscope through the ceiling in the lounge? :D | Greg (193) | ||
| 1411139 | 2015-11-10 04:03:00 | I like Greg's comments. :) | R.M. (561) | ||
| 1 2 | |||||