Secondary Glazing

[Nemesis]

As well as Ventrolla, for anyone within reach of the people who do the work and who want draughtproofed windows there is this firm:

http://www.sashwindowspecialist.com/contacts.html#ThamesValley

We are looking into DIY kits (these and DIY Sash windows ones). Might actually get round to giving this a try and see if it's better than my own DIY method of loo paper pushed in the gaps.

A great deal of interesting reading on the sash window site:

http://www.sashwindowspecialist.com/woodenwindows_noise.html

I have a friend who lives in London and who has had many sleepless night owing to traffic noise. He lives in a Conservation Area and has sash windows with single glazing.

He recently had secondary glazing fitted and says the results are amazing. Wishes he'd had it done years ago. Possibly not the prettiest but does the job - wooden framing and sliding openings to match the sash openings. Everest.

The most unobtrusisve I have seen is that of Storm windows, and this looks OK from the pics:

http://www.sash-windows-uk.co.uk/secondary.html


but neither are timber frames.

A little out of date re regs etc but still useful:

http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/windows/thermal.htm

 

[NT]

We are looking into DIY kits (these and DIY Sash windows ones). Might actually get round to giving this a try and see if it's better than my own DIY method of loo paper pushed in the gaps.

Used goods take much less energy than new


NT

 

[Nemesis]

There are some lines I draw... but it is recycled (Co-op's own).

I think it's recycled waste not recycled loo paper... I think...

 

[MrT]

Looks good Biff. I've been looking into doing this on my own victorian sash windows. I
got a couple of quotes from SDG companies which were reasonably expensive but affordable. I didn't really like the look of them though.

Is it worth going for sealed DG units or would it be too heavy. If I were to do this I would
go for a single pain at about 1050 mm wide by 1350mm high. I can see this would be a large window but it's rarely opened. How much would this size of toughend glass weigh and would
the existing window frame be able to support it?

 

[biffvernon]

How much would this size of toughend glass weigh?

I would guess about 32kg for two sheets of 4mm glass. (toughening doesn't change the weight )

 

[Becka]

just bouncing a diy secondary glazing idea off you.. I had thought about just getting some sheets of perspex cut and attaching them somehow (via hooks or magnets probably) to the chunky wood surround of my (pretty small, generally 120cm wide by 80 high) windows.. cheap and cheerful and still see through.. can anyone see any obvious flaws in this? obviously not going to be as seriously draft proof as something more substantial but i figure it should make a difference and won't be too visible or take up much valuable sil space..

 

[biffvernon]

We used to have that years ago. It worked but after a while it just didn't look very nice.

 

[Penners]

I agree with Biff - perspex is a bit of an eyesore. It's also very expensive. Polystyrene sheet is cheaper, but it cracks very easily.

 

[AMc]

We used to have perspex and magnetic strip at an old house - maybe it was a kit in the 1980's?
It certainly worked and if you used strip all around then you get a very good draught seal even if the frame isn't completely square and true.
I agree it could look a bit rough compared to a nice wood and glass construction but worth pricing up I would think.

 

[Becka]

worth looking into then.. didn;t know there were kits it was just an idea I had when pondering how to warm the place up a bit in rooms where heavy curtains aren't really ideal (like the bathroom, it just wouldn't work) whilst keeping as much sil space as possible (I have no green house so the window sils take on this task as well as overflow book storage.. I'm a book addict..) in an idea world I'd replace the 1950's timber windows with double glazed wooden cornish sashes (if they exist? is what the house originally had, without the dg of course and would make much more sense than casements that open onto a right of way) but budget will definatly not allow..

 

[NT]

There is one other option that is generally not chosen, but might work for someone. A second lightweight curtain rail behind the main one, (eg a cafe rod) with a clear plastic film curtain with cord along the bottom to weight it a little. When drawn open you cant see it at all, when closed it improves things thermally, but not as good as 2ndary glazing. OTOH its easy, cheap and readily hideable.

The same trick with a silvered film reduces solar load in summer.


NT

 

[Becka]

I might try that, sounds a bit more user friendly than the perspex idea as you could still open the window without lots of faff, I've found even a light voile curtain makes some difference verses nothing at all so the plastic curtain is quite tempting as it wouldn't lose any light..

 

[lindy]

There is one other option that is generally not chosen, but might work for someone. A second lightweight curtain rail behind the main one, (eg a cafe rod) with a clear plastic film curtain with cord along the bottom to weight it a little. When drawn open you cant see it at all, when closed it improves things thermally, but not as good as 2ndary glazing. OTOH its easy, cheap and readily hideable.

The same trick with a silvered film reduces solar load in summer.


NT

What a fab idea!