Double glazing has taken over the majority of Europe, the UK and the USA as a staple of modern home design and modern home renovation. The purpose behind double glazing revolves around improving the home's insulation, which, in turn, improves the home's energy efficiency. By increasing energy efficiency, homeowners are able to save significant amounts of money throughout the year on temperature regulation, keeping their homes more comfortable for less!
Double glazing doesn't just improve energy efficiency, though. It also helps with security and noise reduction in equal measure! Upgrading to double glazing from single glazing gives your home an extensive performance boost in almost every way. So how does one product do all that, you may be wondering? Well, here at Ecovue, we have 11 years of experience installing double glazing products across New South Wales, so we have come to consider ourselves experts on the topic!
Two Panes of Glass and an Insulating Gas
As with many things, two is better than one when it comes to panes of glass in our windows and doors. Whilst a single glazed window does provide some level of insulation, the performance is no longer adequate to keep up with the modern home's energy needs. Furthermore, the consistently rising energy prices worldwide have created a necessary mandate to improve our home's thermal efficiency by the government in their increasing minimum energy ratings to six.
Double glazing matches and often exceeds the minimum energy requirements as mandated by the government. By using two glass panes, double glazing can keep the temperatures of the inside and the outside isolated from each other. Each pane of glass is in contact solely with either the outside or the inside, and a layer of insulating argon gas separates them. The argon gas is the real difference-maker in a double glazing installation. It used to be that the gap between the two panes of glass was filled with dehydrated air. However, over time, it became apparent that the insulating properties of dehydrated air were so far outweighed by argon gas that it became more cost-effective to provide argon gas as standard.
Argon is an incredibly dense gas that sits between the two panes of glass. The density of the particles within argon makes it difficult for thermal energy to pass through it. As a result, the heat transfer from one side of the window to the other is dramatically slowed compared to single glazing because of the insulating gas layer.
High-Quality uPVC Frames
In worldwide home improvement markets, uPVC and double glazing have gone hand in hand since the 1980s. The combination took off initially in the USA and the UK, and the phenomenon quickly spread throughout Europe in the decades following.
uPVC is considered a superior frame material in almost every way to traditional timber. As timber is a naturally occurring material, it is greatly affected by the weather, particularly the rain and the unforgiving Australian sun. Over the years, timber degrades, warping and rotting as the seasons change. As the quality of the timber gradually worsens, so does the level of security and thermal efficiency your home has. It can often happen long before it has noticeably deteriorated, too, so you are more vulnerable to excessive energy costs without even knowing it.
uPVC is a completely recyclable polymer that was designed to be unaffected by the weather whilst providing the same level of thermal efficiency as timber. As a result, uPVC frames retain their insulating properties for much longer timber frames, ensuring your home remains high-performance for longer, once again saving you money in the long run.
The Combination of Glass, Gas and Frames
By having all of these elements in place, your double glazing installation will dramatically improve your home's overall performance and save you money over the years. The levels of thermal efficiency provided so greatly outweigh that of single glazing, due to the insulating gas argon, that you will see a noticeable difference in your annual bills.
Furthermore, your installations will last longer and perform at higher efficiency for the entirety of their lifespan due to uPVC's weather degradation resistance. That means the security of your home remains high, as well as the thermal efficiency!
If you're interested in double glazing from Ecovue, you can start a quote with us on the website! It's super quick and easy with our online pricing tool, and you can do it right from your home. Furthermore, if you have any specific questions about our products, you can get in touch with us through our contact form or call us on 1300 326 883. Get in touch today and see how much you could save with Ecovue!
