Double Glazing – Retrofits

[Scott Willis]

Double Glazing in itself raises enough questions, but retrofitting double glazing opens a can of worms. And yet as we begin to address fuel poverty in the South, we can’t expect just to complete new builds. There are plenty of homes seeking retrofitted double glazing now and providers offering all kinds of offers.

Is anyone aware of guidelines, or what to look out for, for the retrofit situation? This can’t be easy as the range of situations is so wide – but here’s hoping someone has written a simple guide / decision pathway somewhere.

Scott

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[Vicki Cowan]

Hi Scott,

Just mooching in best practice library for Energy Cultures research as meeting them this week and saw your post.  I have personal experience here as well as Beacon insight.  We retrofitted double glazing in our double hung sashes at home and doing the rest as part of a massive renovation we’re doing (have I got lovely pictures of my retrofitted wall insulation or what!).

I don’t know of a simple pathway document, perhaps we should be challenging ourselves in the HUB to develop one..why not have a go and we all edit and contribute? here’s some started points… Hows’ this for a potential structure to help homeowners make a decision (isn’t that what we are trying to help them do?)

outcomes sought (warmth, sound, saving furniture from sun, overall maintenance upgrade…more?)
consider windows in wider upgrade plan: i.e. assume already done ceiling, underfloor insulation? considering wall insulation too (YES do it for warmth and energy savings!)
window maintenance (build into plus side – you were going to have to deal with this sometime!)
aesthetics (if front picture window might be prepared to spend more than on a toilet window facing back yard?)
total budget envelope (!),
technical choices: secondary vs retrofit double glazing, frame choice, glass choice
Add thermal curtains (I still have tight fitting curtains on my double glazed windows..I do live in Welly!).  remember pelmets and floor length and decent thermal drapes!

Lois and I have written about our own homes in HomeSmart Renovation newsletters.  I ahve provided links – hope they work here?

http://beaconpathway.co.nz/files/docs/HomeSmart_Renovations_Homeowner_newsletter_Mar10.pdf

So choose Low E glass!

decide on frames (make sure thermally broken!)

Secondary vs double glazing – factor in cost…double glazing was coming down when this was written.

http://beaconpathway.co.nz/files/docs/HomeSmart_Renovations_Homeowner_newsletter_Dec09.pdf

bit I wrote about mine at the time in those newsletters

http://beaconpathway.co.nz/files/docs/HomeSmart_Renovations_homeowner_newsletter_Jun09.pdf

We decided to retrofit into wooden frames.  Lynda Amitrano from BRANZ told me during a work meeting at my kitchen table that my glass looked original ~1901!  Gravity was doing it’s work on that glass!  So the windows were due some maintenance and owed me nothing..!

I asked my tradesman to ‘give me the whole package’ and convinced him to paint windows while he had them (he tried to save me money, but it would have been an enormous pain and inefficient to do after he’d re-installed so he went off with my left over paint tins from under house and I received a full window solution).  Also his joiner did a great job of addressing some of my old house movements which had created gaps as they reinstalled…  I would recommend double glazing: rooms warmer and quieter (not to be underestimated feature!).

Hope this helps!

Vicki

 

 

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[Sally Blackwell]

Increasingly I’m starting to think that one of the most useful things we can produce from the Hub in the medium term is a set of quality assured “Hub” guidelines/decision tools on key issues. (I have to credit Heidi for this insight really…) I’ll have this on the agenda for the workshop we’re starting to plan. More on that soon…!

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[Heidi Mardon]

I don’t know of any guidelines that help in decison-making about double glazing; a friend is asking me these questions at the moment as she is trying to decide should she rip her existing windows out and double glaze, get retro-fitted DG or just spend more money on heating…… The Guideline series that BRANZ is developing at the moment could be a good format for a suit of decision-making tools – each subject is about 4 pages with the following concise info:

1. overview, what is [the system in question], how does it work?

2. case study findings from the system installed,

3. computer modeling results

4. questions for homeowners and designers to answer

5. checklist – minimum criteria for installing the system

Heidi

 

 

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[Jo Wills]

Really interesting reads, thanks for posting the Beacon newsletters Vicki. As a result of reading through the newsletters, I have discovered I’ve used the wrong seal for my wooden joinery. The seal hasn’t closed all of the gaps, and in some places it has created new gaps and is putting so much pressure on the fixtures.

Double glazing would be the preferred option for us (as well as eliminating the gaps), but we can’t afford that, and I guess we would be joined by a large number of other home owners who have to tackle the more basic causes cold draughty windows/gaps.

So my contribution to this post is to ask; what is the right seal to use for wooden joinery? We have now used both self-adhesive foam strip and self-adhesive rubber strip, the foam causing issues mentioned above and the rubber not really doing much and peeling off in a matter of months.

Double glazing is going to be out of reach for a lot of people so when we are thinking about guidelines, it’s important we consider all levels of retrofitting basic through to extensive. I know a lot of the houses being assessed in the BOP (seperate project) are in the low income brackets and have draughty windows, brands aside, what is the best type of seal for wooden joinery?

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[Norman Smith]

Hi Jo, if you you mean to eliminate drafts my ‘silver bullet’ answer is V-seal.

Norman

 

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[Norman Smith]

Hi All,

What might be starting to happen is something which other long standing discussions groups have experienced – a general topics emerges, is discussed and the issue runs its course and disappears. Then later it comes up again and the insights from the earlier discussion have to be revisited.

I wonder if its possible to create a word search facility on the site so before people initiate a topic or ask a question they can sight everything that has already been said.

Cheers Norman

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[Sally Blackwell]

Hi Norman

If you scroll up to the top of the screen there is a search function in the top right hand corner. Its pretty good and will pick up forum posts, blogs and items in the best practice library (pretty much anything with the text in it).

I’ve flagged this function on the front page so I think people just need to get used to knowing its there and using it.

Sally

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[Norman Smith]

Thanks Sally, I’d missed that feature. Norman

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[Scott Willis]

Hi all,

Really appreciate the replies here. Vicki, your ‘rich’ info on the retrofit challenge is very engaging and the type of thing that makes decision making documents lively. Yes Sally for ‘assured “Hub” guidelines/decision tools on key issues’ – are you thinking as per the Eco Design Service that Eion pointed  to (http://www.ecodesignadvisor.org.nz/advice-and-info/)? Everyone – all of this chain is very helpful.

Scott

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