Question on windows

[Wild Dingo]

What does "double glazed" windows mean?
The inlaws have just returned from the UK where apparently double glazed windows means the windows cant be opened... is that the same here?
We are under the impression that its just the glass thats treated and not the window frames so the windows can still be opened...

Which is right?
Cheers

[echnidna]

Its 2 layers of glass in the window with a gap between each sheet.
The gap is sometimes filled with an inert gas.

[TermiMonster]

The windows may still be able to be opened, but often are not due to difficulty of sealing ie loss of heat around the sash.
TM

[commoo]

The windows may still be able to be opened, but often are not due to difficulty of sealing ie loss of heat around the sash.
TM

double galzed windows are 2 seperate pieces of glass which can vary in thickness and are spaced anywhere between 8-12mm.
depending on what glass is used you can have two 5mm pieces of glass spaced with a 8mm gap.
the gas is usually argon.
i am an aluminium window fabricator and we deal in a more commercial glazed window.
we have installed double glazing in all aspects of windows from sliding ,casement awning and fixed windows.

although it is more a winter biased product it can be quite expensive but
rewarding on energy savings

[rhancock]

What, so no one in the UK can open their windows??? The double glazing unit is fitted into the movable frame just like a piece of glass is... You don't open the glass, you open the window ie the wooden bit.

Double glazed units are made to size to fit the frame - you can't cut them yourself. The have a metal seal of some sort around the outside.

I suppose in theory you could just fit a second pane of glass next to the orginal one, but the inert gas sealed in the gap gives you more insulation. In my student days you could buy a roll of some sort of cling wrap which you stuck to the window frames to improve the insulation! Worked a fair bit too!

I've fitted double glazing units into wooden frames, aluminium frames, UPVC frames, all the usuals. I've even seen 'secondary' double glazing fitted inside heritage houses, where the old, leadlight windows or whatever have double glazed units fitted inside, so you still have the heritage windows on the outside, and the insulating properties of double glazing inside.

[joe greiner]

All of the above. Same in USA. For double glazing to be most effective, the movable sash or other framing should also be engineered for reduced heat transmission; extra material and/or gasketing and such. Major benefit is in winter, as commoo said. But summer benefit is often enhanced by a reflective coating in/on the glass; substantially invisible, and I have no idea how they do that.

Joe

[les88]

Its 2 layers of glass in the window with a gap between each sheet.
The gap is sometimes filled with an inert gas.

this is right........... up here in the mountains it use is quite common

[Wild Dingo]

Soooo I take it that theyre able to be opened?... whew! But will make a double check with the company before we sign just to be sure

Cheers!

[Dan]

I was watching the "Carbon Cops" last night and they were fitting double glazing to an existing window by way of removable second sheet of glass (might have been acrylic) with a frame around it that attached by way of magnets. To open the window you would have to remove the inside sheet (maybe they only get put up in winter or on hinges?) and then open the window. Perhaps the poms had a non-removable variety installed.

[Fuzzie]

You can also double glaze for either sound or heat insulation, the design issues are somewhat different.

Most populated areas of Aus don't have to contend with the issues of cold some of our northern hemisphere friends do. Our common aluminium framed windows just wouldn't cut it in Europe/ North America. They act like cooling fins, almost a better way to get cold inside than having an uncovered single pane window. As Joe says above, a metal frame window over there is likely to be in two piece with an insulating barrier between the inside and outside metal bits.

Best joke I've seen is a survival shelter in Antarctica constructed with standard Aussie aluminium windows. The occupants had to thaw everything inside every day and it was so cold in winter they could hardly sleep.

Don't underestimate what a good job curtains can do in providing an insulating air layer between the glass and the inside either.

[dirtydeeds]

the uk is the same as everywhere else

double glazed windows open
the majority of double glazing units are either 4/16/4 or 4/8/4 and filled with argon
our building regs require K glass to reduce heat loss
windows have to be draft stripped

what the in laws might have seen is a cheap nasty diy job, ie a second sheet of glass is bonded onto the window frame, like the cling wrap somebody mentioned above