Making the right choice for your home: What to look for when buying double glazing

There was a time, 30-plus years ago, when double glazing was…well, just double glazing. Two panes of glass in a white (always white) uPVC unit were fitted where your old single-glazed windows once lived, and with a bit of luck you felt the benefit over time.

Today, technology has helped to make the double-glazed window a more sophisticated beast than its predecessor. There is far wider choice in terms of style, shape, colour, finish, security features and window hardware. Whatever your home’s age, or your particular taste, if you’re looking for replacement windows there is almost certainly something available for you out there in the double glazing market.

In fact, there is so much choice that it can be difficult for homeowners to know exactly what they want. The period in which your home was built might dictate this to some extent – for example, if you live in a Victorian house you’re likely to prefer the traditional look of vertical sliding windows. But what about the glass itself? Did you know that there are choices to be made in terms of the actual glazing you can have? In this article we’ll have a look at some of the options we offer which will help you to choose a more bespoke window to suit you and your property.

What’s important about the glass itself?

Good question. The quick answer is that the type of glass used makes a big different to the overall performance of the window in terms of thermal efficiency, noise and security. Here at Premier we use Planitherm, a high-performance coated glass that offers the very best in glazing technology, preventing heat loss while capturing and keeping the warmth from natural daylight without overheating your space.

How does it work?

Planitherm glass is treated with a special coating that makes it heat-reflective, so it will prevent the warmth you generate in your home from escaping, while allowing heat retention from natural daylight. This technology makes for warmer rooms and lower bills, as well as working smartly in houses where certain rooms see much more daylight than others.

Are there different types of this glass?

Yes. We supply Planitherm glass in three distinctive styles – Standard, Comfort and Comfort Plus. Let’s have a look at each in turn to see how they work and what their benefits are:

1.Planitherm Energy Standard

This glass features Planitherm’s special coating and will guarantee you a warm and comfortable home while saving you money on energy bills. This window (along with all our Planitherm windows) has an extra-high efficiency rating of A++ and stops 56 per cent more internal heat escaping than older-style double glazing.

2.Planitherm Comfort

The Planitherm Comfort option has all the benefits of Energy Standard, plus it comes with enhanced security protection, making it much more difficult to break than unlaminated glass. Planitherm Comfort also has a built-in acoustic layer that helps to reduces exterior noise, so if you live near a busy road or close to a flightpath, this is a great option for you. Also, Planitherm Comfort contains what we might describe as ‘sunblock’, preventing 99 per cent of the sun’s UV rays from reaching your soft furnishing – carpets, curtains and sofas, for example. This prevents fading over time.

3.Planitherm Comfort Plus

As with Planitherm Comfort, the ‘Plus’ option has enhanced security and UV protection. Additionally, it has a special coating designed to keep out heat from the sun’s rays, for greater control of your room’s temperature. This option is very well suited to south and west facing rooms or bigger areas of glass such as bifold or patio doors.

How about triple glazing?

This is an option we offer. As the name suggests, triple glazing features three panels of glass, helping to improve energy efficiency, security and reduce noise pollution. Triple glazing can also boast extremely low U-values (the measure of a window’s thermal efficiency) and by swapping from older double glazing to new triple glazing, you can expect to achieve 60 per cent more energy efficiency.

This guide has given you some of the basics about why windows work in certain ways. However, it’s important to do as much research as possible before you commit to a particular type of window, and we’re always on hand to give you every bit of help and advice that we can. You can contact us here, call us on 0800 854 353 or visit our showroom in Aylesbury so you can see for yourself what we have to offer.