Fitting double glazing can significantly reduce the amount of heat you lose through windows in your home. It’s more expensive than some other kinds of insulation, but provides additional benefits, including a higher quality finish and reduced maintenance costs. If you can’t afford to fit double glazing throughout your home, think about installing it in the rooms that you use the most.
There are two types of double glazing: best thermal value and standard. Best thermal value is the more expensive option but it provides better heat saving, sound reduction and draught proofing than standard.
How it works
Double glazed windows trap air or gas between two panes of glass, creating an insulating barrier that reduces heat loss, noise and condensation. Other techniques and materials are often used to improve the performance of best thermal value double gazing even more – including specially coated low-emissive ‘K-glass’ and the use of argon rather than air between the panes of glass. Triple glazing options, which involve three panes of glass or a layer of plastic between two panes of glass, are also available.
How it’s installed
Fitting double glazing is usually a job for an experienced professional. Look for the Energy Saving Recommended logo when you select your windows – it guarantees that they’re energy efficient and that the performance of the whole unit (frame and glass) has been assessed and given an A–G rating by the British Fenestration Rating Council.
*If you are unable to view our pdf booklet then please go to adobe.com and download Adobe Acrobat Reader. It’s free of charge and will only take a few minutes to install.