2013-02-13

The latest 6 star energy ranking demands mean that making a green home is no more a luxury option. Choosing enough energy efficient products all through your home to meet these specifications is really a complex method; one of the easy options is to upgrade your windows and doors.

There's a wide selection of choices to maximise the performance of your windows and doors, nevertheless the most important component is the glass you choose. Double glazed windows and doors are the best selection for power performance, particularly where argon gas was used to assist in insulation. Low e (low emissivity) glazing, is an additional selection for strong efficiency.

Typical GLASS TYPES

Annealed or Float Glass

Annealed or float glass is a simple flat glass product that is the first result of the float method, a common glass that may break into large, jagged shards. It's the main material that is turned into more advanced glass types through further processing, like laminating, toughening, covering, etc.

Strengthened Glass

Strengthened glass is manufactured out of annealed glass treated with a thermal tempering process. A sheet of annealed glass is heated up to above its "annealing point" of 600 °C; its surface areas will be then quickly cooled whilst the inner part of the glass remains hotter.

Strengthened glass is a commonly used glass type for enhanced safety and is a compulsory necessity in a number of situations (e.g. windows and doors in a moist place like a bathroom). Toughened glass is treated to be far more resistant to damage than simple annealed glass and to break in a more predictable, less hazardous way.

Laminated Glass

Laminated glass is made from several layers of glass with a number of "interlayers" of polymeric materials fused between the glass layers.

Laminated glass offers numerous benefits. This glass is kept together by the interlayer, reducing the safety hazard associated with shattered glass fragments and to a point, the security risks linked to easy penetration. The interlayer has a way to apply several other technologies and benefits, like colouring, sound dampening, ability to resist fire, ultraviolet filtering, and also technologies that may enhance power efficiency as well as general performance.

Low E (Low Emissivity) Glass

A laminated glass, which may present considerable results in regards to improved power efficiency. Low E glazing is an excellent choice for cost effective glazing on a tight budget.

Coated Glass

Surface coatings can be applied to the glass to modify its appearance and offer various performance characteristics, such as enhanced energy efficiency, unique reflection/transmission/absorption attributes, scratch resistance, rust resistance and much more.

Coatings are usually applied by controlled exposure of the glass surface to vapours, which bind to the glass providing a permanent coating. This coating course of action can be employed whilst the glass is still in the float line with the glass still warm; making what is called "hard-coated" glass. Otherwise, in the "off-line" or "vacuum" coating method, the vapour is used for the cold glass surface in a vacuum vessel.

Double Glazing

Double glazing your windows and doors, is the ideal alternative for highest energy efficiency.

Double glazing windows and doors (often called IGU's, Insulated Glass Units) are sealed items composed of two components of glass, separated by way of a sealed air space. The air space provides for a thermal break between the internal and external bits of glass, developing an efficient insulated window unit. Our double glazed units feature an 'air gap' filled with Argon gas, an inert gas, which can aid insulation.

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Double glazing your doors and windows, is the better selection for highest energy efficiency. http://www.alwindows.com.au/a-and-l-windows-and-doors/

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