Single glazed windows not double glazed

[Anonymous]

Oh, ?, you're very unlikely to be prosecuted for this flagrant lawbreaking, but if you want to sell your house the issue may arise. And when humankind becomes extinct due to global warming we'll know who to lame.
Anyone manage to sit through that Restoration of a railway cottage programme? They installed single glazed windows - with no mention as to how they got round the Part-L police.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I watched it.

My thought was perhaps it was a Conservation Area.

If you are suggesting that single glazing will cause humankind to become extinct, then that really is an extraordinary claim! Surely there are far more significant factors at play? The USAs and China's carbon emmissions, increasing air transport etc?

When you make outrageous claims like that it devalues your otherwise worthy arguments.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't have the facts to argue either for or against, but all tiny factors could contribute to "the straw that broke the camel's back" scenario. I read recently that basically they haven't measured the sun's output correctly and this is now thought to be the main reason for global warming.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, the Sun is indeed responsible for 'global warming'.

You can double, triple or quadruple glaze your windows. The number of wide-open windows that I see during the winter is very telling of human behaviour. The heating is turned way up, the atmosphere in the building is hot and oppressive,so the logical answer is to throw the double glazing wide open.

I'm not saying that all people with double glazing are so wasteful, but it does illustrate that human behaviour is a crucial factor when it comes to the sensible use of resources, and control of pollution.

I'm not vehemently against dg either, and have some in my house. Extreme claims about the benefits of dg and the evil of single glazing do nothing to move the argument forward.

 

[Anonymous]

An interesting (if you're into this sort of thing) piece of research has been published by the Market Transformation Programme, link below. Compares energy and carbon saved, and cost per energy and carbon saved, for about a dozen measures you can take in the home.

Obviously windows do cover a propotionately small surface area of a house, but I think a lot of the benefit of dg (and maybe secondary glazing) comes from tighter seals around them. Heat loss through warm air just leaving the house is an important factor. K-glass and filling dg with argon reduce radiative and conductive losses.

jr

ps Scientific consensus is overwhelmingly behind largely human-induced climate change. Article in New Scientist, 1 October, cites research countering claims that it is due to sun activity.



http://www.mtprog.com/ApprovedBriefingNotes/BriefingNoteTemplate.aspx?intBriefingNoteID=97

 

[Anonymous]

I think you missed the point my response slightly - that is, of course the Sun's warming the earth!

Whether or not the Sun's activity is *solely* responsible for the increasing temperatures on Earth is quite another matter.

The people claiming that humans are not responsible *at all* for climate change perhaps have another agenda, that's more to do with protecting industry and their own vested interests.

Of course, similar things could be said about people making wildy exagerated claims in order to 'sell' double glazing.

 

[Anonymous]

I knew your reply was tongue in cheek! I meant that the sun was responsible for the huge climate changes, more than had been realised.

Even so any contributary factors caused by humans will hasten this I suppose. So, I still am only flicking heating on occasionally and turning lights off obsessively.

The downside is I am still driving about in a hugely wasteful v8 discovery but as little as possible.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh my dear Bondy, my suggestion that humankind's end would come about through single glazing was indeed outrageous. So outrageous that I thought it was obvious that it was meant in jest. Apologies to you if you missed the joke. Actually, my own anecdotal experience suggests that changing to double glazing encourages people to take off their jumpers and live more comfortably rather than turn the heating down. It's the law of unintended cosequences. Even so, lowering the U-value of a window from over 4 to under 2 is a useful contribution to future of the planet, other things being equall. The draughtproofing is a different issue. I'm not too keen making windows airtight and prefer not to fit draught excluder. If the window is air tight one lives in a stuffy atmosphere with an increase in humidity and the associated damp problems. There is a real risk of death from radium in some parts of the country if ventilation is inadequate.
On Restored To Glory last night, the cottage was certainly not listed and I don't think it was in a conservation area. I've posted a message on the relevant BBC board. You have to go through a little signing in proceedure wher you have to declare your shoe size and cat's maiden name if you want to contribute.


BBC Lifestyle Message Board

 

[Anonymous]

"Oh my dear Bondy, my suggestion that humankind's end would come about through single glazing was indeed outrageous. So outrageous that I thought it was obvious that it was meant in jest"

Really? Sorry, I don't believe that.

Sounds like you're desparately back peddling there "my dear Biff".

Of course, I'm trying to be objective here, and I don't have a double glazed window product to promote.

 

[Anonymous]

No back peddling, I assure you. And I don't need to promote double glazing. It's the wooden part that I make so I would actually make more profit from a single glazed window! My favourite windows are always those I make with mouth blown cylinder glass but the law of the land and customer requirements mean that much of my work has to involve fitting dg units that I get from a big plastic conservatory factory. :-(

 

[Anonymous]

OK, fair enough then.

Someone without that knowledge of your work may not necessarily read all of your comments as a joke though. There is a strong environmental message in many of your posts on this website, and it is obviously a subject that you care passionately about. It's a great pity that more people don't have the same attitude - their change of heart may come too late, and at what cost?

There are many benefits of double glazing, I agree, but also many drawbacks. The mainstream replacement double glazing industry I am sure does not have the health of the planet at the top of its agenda. Neither do any of these companies appear to make replacement windows that do anything but disfigure historic buildings.

Your oak windows are a notable exception, and you make a good case for their like where replacement is the only option - i.e. a window that is of its time, beautiful and durable etc. There's no doubt about that.

And I also agree with you about dg being a lifestyle choice, allowing people to ditch the winter woolies.

The trouble with Part L is that in practical terms it is unlikely to make much difference to climate change where windows are concerned. Perhaps the regulations regarding the efficiency of heating systems will make a more significant impact?

Yes, it is lamentable that you have to get your double glazed units from a 'big plastic conservatory factory'. It is this very kind of organization that my 'vested interest' comments are aimed at. They must have been rubbing their hands in glee at Part L.

 

[Anonymous]

Did I say radium? I meant radon, of course. Must be from listening to that Tom Lehrer song over and over again on Radio 4 on Monday.


radon map