Glazing
Keep the heat in and save on your bills with glazing insulation
“Good evening, sir. I’m calling on behalf of Jimmy’s Double Glazing. Because we’re working in your area of London right now, we’ve got some great offers….”
Don’t put the phone down! At least, not yet.
While phone calls from pushy salespeople can be annoying, double glazing itself is useful and valuable. Gritting your teeth and talking to them might be worth your while.
Why? Double glazing works by trapping air between two panes of glass which creates an insulating barrier that reduces heat loss, noise and condensation. Installing double glazing can cut heat loss through windows by half, saving you £80 – £100 a year on your heating bills and about three quarters of a tonne of CO2 a year.
You can buy double glazing in wood (even FSC) as well as uPVC and aluminium and it’s available in many styles of frame to suit period London homes. So there’s no need to compromise the look of your property when you’re installing double glazing.
Fitting it is a job for the professionals (so DIY isn’t an option) and it can be expensive. If you can’t afford to replace all your windows, you could just install it in the rooms you heat most.
But double glazing isn’t always an option for Londoners. That’s because London’s housing stock is older than the UK average: 60 per cent of London’s housing stock was built before 1945, compared to 40 per cent nationally. That means a high number of buildings have listed status and cannot have double glazing..
If double glazing isn’t going to work for you, consider fitting secondary glazing. It’s less expensive than replacement double-glazing but will still save money by cutting heat loss and draughts.
Whatever windows you choose, make sure that they have the Energy Saving Recommended logo. The British Fenestration Ratings Council assesses both the glass and the frame of each window to rate it A-G according to effectiveness, allowing you to make comparisons between models when buying.
