You and Yours today - double glazing

[piper]

I've been waiting for someone else to post this, but no-one has, so thought I would.

On "You and Yours" today, Radio 4, there was talk of the difficulty and huge investment required to secure 80% reduction in carbon emissions - particularly the problems of "retro-fitting" insulation, double glazing etc in the bulk of the housing stock which is old, and has problems such as solid walls and single glazing. Speakers stressed how important it was that this is done, government's emphasis so far being on new builds. There was an email or listener's phone comment read out (without comment) which said "we would love to install double-glazing, but we live in a Grade II listed house, and we aren't allowed to".

Please can some suitably qualified and influential person get on the programme soon, and talk about the carbon footprint implications of ripping out millions of good-condition wooden windows, to replace them with plastic DG.

 

[Nemesis]

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister sees this as a source of jobs now that the construction industry has gone down the pan.

Naturally, those responsible for flogging double glazing etc will be peddling their wares as hard as they can, although the reality is that draughtproofing, secondary glazing, using shutters, curtains etc can save a great deal of heat, and ripping out existing is not eco-friendly nor is it going to save vast sums of cash.

http://www.ewht.org.uk/Energy-Heritage-Project.aspx

 

[AndrewG]

If you want to do something positive get on to Magneglaze. We used their secondary magnetic system with our sash windows and they have help us keep our bills down nicely thank you very much. They are non invasive as they are simply stuck on inside. They dismount very easily by disengageing the magnets so in summer the windows can function as before.

Give them a click http://www.magneglaze.co.uk if I'm alowed to recommend them!

 

[AMc]

AndrewG - I've been looking for something along those lines, pretty reasonable at £100-£120 m2
Thanks for the link.

I've just hunted in vain for payback numbers on the http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk web site.
Annoying as they have them for most things and I know replacing good single glazing with double is one of the least financially viable things you can do.

 

[Nemesis]

http://www.emoove.com/Property-news.asp?page=2&story=JH1242847B

 

[GeoffP]

I am looking to do something like this on my sashes, mainly for draught exclusion and traffic noise reduction.

I think 365plastics.com are the cheapest for the DIY'er and they offer varying thicknesses from 3mm to 6mm

Geoff

 

[Taff in Glaws]

Sorry to appear a bit dim and naive (cos I am) but why is it frowned upon to replace wooden single glazed windows that are completely rotten with new wooden bespoke double glazed units with trickle vents in listed properties. A friend of mine has told me the CO has given him these instructions and insisted on fitting secondary glazing :?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Sorry to appear a bit dim and naive (cos I am) but why is it frowned upon to replace wooden single glazed windows that are completely rotten with new wooden bespoke double glazed units with trickle vents in listed properties. A friend of mine has told me the CO has given him these instructions and insisted on fitting secondary glazing :?

1. Because, often, the thickness of timber glazing bar (and other parts) that will cope with a single sheet of glass is not chunky enough to support two, so double glazing tends to lead to an increase in the thickness of the frame members, which has a significant effect on the appearance of the window.
2. Because it should be possible to reuse characterful old glass if making single glazed replacements
3. Because it is very rarely necessary to completely replace a window anyway - "completely rotten" is a situation that applies in about 0.00001% of cases though it is applied to 99%
4. Because (although there are ways round it) the trickle vents are horrid, intrusive things