secondary double glazing units

[scarletboots]

The house we are buying has secondary double glazing units fitted onto every single window. The windows themselves are single glazed wooden frames with small panes - quite attractive. The surveyor said they would have been fitted to minimise noise from anearby road - this noise doesnt bother us. He felt they did little to conserve heat and said that most heat loss from windows is from around the frame rather than through the glass.

I had not heard this before - we would love to remove the secondary double glazing units but - here is my question - will this really not cause much heat to be lost? We cant afford to replace the windows with double glazed wooden ones and we dont like upvc.

Also, we are planning an extension and other building work next year. 2nd question - Will the planners/building regs people insist we change the windows to double glazed ones if we have removed the secondary DG units? Should we retain them until after any inspections. ?

Be grateful for any advice or opinions.

 

[mointainwalker]

Need to know total surface area of windows involved to know if it's significant. Also what is your wall construction and general level of insulation?

He felt they did little to conserve heat and said that most heat loss from windows is from around the frame rather than through the glass.

I disagree with that on two levels: most heat is lost through the glass ( excepting gaping holes in the frame ) and believe secondary double-glazing is mostly about heat but does also affect sound-levels.

 

[Richard C]

He felt they did little to conserve heat and said that most heat loss from windows is from around the frame rather than through the glass.

I disagree with that as well.

I had not heard this before - we would love to remove the secondary double glazing units but - here is my question - will this really not cause much heat to be lost?

We had secondary DG in our property when we bought in 2004. It doesn’t look very attractive but does work reasonably well although there is no comparison with the UPVC Rahau units we now have.

Also, we are planning an extension and other building work next year. 2nd question - Will the planners/building regs people insist we change the windows to double glazed ones if we have removed the secondary DG units? Should we retain them until after any inspections.

The windows in a new extension or new window opening must be double glazed &, in certain circumstances, safety glass & may need trickle vents & fire escape in order to conform to current Building Regs. If you replace any windows & doors in the existing property they must also be double glazed but your under no obligation to fit trickle vents or fire escape (although this may be wise in certain circumstances) as long as the new windows do not make things any worse than the were before. LABC cannot insist you upgrade the existing windows so you’re free to remove the secondary glazing if you wish but, depending on how well it’s been fitted, it will make a significant difference to heat loss & noise.