Winters on it's way and Double Glazing will cut heat loss

If you have found yourself shivering in your home, it may be time to think about improving your windows.

They are very good at letting in light, but are unfortunately also very good at letting out heat.

About a quarter of all the heat lost from your house escapes through the windows. But this can be dramatically reduced by fitting double glazing. This is done by replacing the one pane of glass with twin panes.

Because the inner pane is relatively warm a double glazed window dramatically reduces cold down-draughts, and also suffers much less from condensation than a single glazed one.

Two methods are commonly used for double glazing windows. In the first new frames are fitted with sealed unit double glazing consisting of two panes of glass.

In the second, existing single glazed windows are fitted with secondary glazing which is a second separate pane of glass or other clear sheet of material installed in the room side of the window.

You can install sealed units in some existing single glazed window frames, but it is generally quicker and better in the long run to replace the entire window rather than to reglaze an old frame.

The simplest form of secondary glazing involves fixing a second pane of glass over each individual sash or casement of the window, or covering the whole of the window opening.

Most commonly the second pane is fixed to the window frame itself.

You can use glass, clear rigid plastic sheeting or renewable plastic film to create fixed secondary glazing.

However, if the first two materials are fixed to the window frame rather than to individual sashes or casements, they can prevent the window from being opened for ventilation, or more importantly, from being used in an emergency as a fire escape.