Most homes have single-pane windows, which have been the typical choice for new and older homes. While not entirely new, double-glazing windows have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. If you have heard about them and want to use them in your home but do not know how they work, this article provides you with that information.
Understanding Double Glazing
Double glazing is a term used to refer to windowpanes made from two individual panes. These two windowpanes are part of the double-glazed sealed unit (insulated glass unit), which sits in a frame made from timber, uPVC, or aluminum.
The double-glazed sealed unit consists of two sheets of glass separated by a spacer to create an air gap that is filled with an inert gas. This inert gas is typically argon and is what gives these windows their additional heat and noise insulating properties.
Thermal Insulation
The main benefit of having double glazing windows installed is thermal insulation. This entails retaining heat inside the home or stopping cold air from entering. These mechanisms allow for better thermal regulation, thereby making the home more energy efficient.
Energy efficiency is very important at this current time, so everything counts, not only your household appliances like your oven or even a home beer tap. There is a common misconception that double-glazing windows trap heat between the two panes. This is not how they work. First, two panels do a much better job of protecting the home from radiant heat. Second, the gap between the two panes slows thermal transfer by adding another poor thermal conductor and a great insulator between the outside and inside. This reduces the movement of heat into the home, thereby keeping the temperature stable.
Also, air cannot circulate in the narrow gap, which is typically 0.6 to 1.2 centimeters wide. Eliminating such circulation reduces air convection and thereby reduces heat transfer.
Reducing Heat Loss
Double-glazing windows reduce heat loss mainly through thermal cushioning and insulation. When cold air hits the outside glass pane, the lower temperature is transferred from the pane to the argon gas. Argon has a much lower thermal conductivity than air and therefore reduces thermal transfer between the two panes of glass. This then reduces thermal transfer between the outside glass pane and the inside one providing the required insulation and reducing heat loss.
The opposite also happens where the argon slows down the transfer of heat from the inside pane to the outside one. Both these mechanisms are what cause the inside and outside glass panels to be at different temperatures.
Reducing Noise
Another common reason for installing double-glazed windows is noise reduction. Sound travels in waves that vibrate molecules in the air and other matter it comes into contact with. Sound is difficult to contain, and the only way to do so is to stop the propagation of its waves.
Double-glazing windows do this better than typical windows because sound waves have to travel through three layers before entering the house. This reduces the energy and frequency of the sound waves while also disrupting different sound frequencies, thereby reducing the level of noise heard from outside.
Double-glazing windows are highly advantageous over typical single-pane windows. While you do not need to understand how they work to have them installed, you need to do so to understand how they provide different benefits and advantages.
