Double Glazing Installers In Chesterfield – Choosing your glass

On nearly every Double Glazing installation we undertake in Chesterfield and the surrounding area, we are asked “What type of glass is the best to have?” With so much choice on the market today, it can be quite daunting but if you are having your Double Glazing replaced, it is best to do a little bit of research so you know you are getting the best for your home.

This article attempts to explain in simple language what you need to know if you are contemplating replacing your Double Glazing.

OK, so the most energy efficient glass for double glazing is what we call low emissivity (or Low-E) glass. This has an invisible coating of metal oxide on the internal pane, on the inner side of the glass. This has the effect of letting sunlight and heat in but restricts the amount of heat escaping. This is exactly what we are trying to achieve with Double Glazing to make your home as warm as can be.

So, the next thing you need to be concerned about is what is between the pane so glass. The standard and more cost effective panes simply have a void vacuum. If you want to pay a little more and get yourself highly efficient double glazing, you could opt for panes that use  gases such as argon, xenon or krypton and these have the effect on not allowing easy conduction of heat to pass out of the pane to the outside, further reducing your energy bills.

To keep the panes of glass apart, we need what we call a spacer bar between the double glazed units and this is set all around the inner edge. Many panes have a metal silver spacer bar but if you want to opt for a more efficient Double Glazed unit, you can opt for a “warm spacer” bar and these tend to be black rubber – it is said that these do not reflect the heat off so much as the metal spacer bars. 

There is such a thing called The BFRC window energy rating scheme and this sets the standards for the Energy Efficiency of the window and the ratings are split into categories from A through to G, with A being the most thermally efficient. The industry standard however is C Rated windows and a good tip is to check the glass to see if it has the Energy Saving Trust Recommended logo – it is only found on glass that is C rated or above.

So, as we are Double Glazing supplier in Chesterfield, check us out if you need a free quotation for any aspect of your home. Please feel free to contact us here and also on 07980 298930 or 07791 213822.