Triple or double glazed?

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Just been collecting a few estimates for having replacement windows, ours are currently 25 years old, most are now suffering from misting and the upvc frames are the sort that have the glass fitted from the outside. So time to replace.I’m on a budget so need to be careful with money.

We have the back wall of our main living room having French doors with full length windows either side of them. In all the opening is roughly 8ft 6” wide and about 6ft 6” high.

we have been quoted approx £240 to upgrade from double to triple glazing on that window/door combination - my question is would it be worth it, and am I going to feel that much warmer? Are my heating bills going to benefit?
 
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That's 3 no's

It's just not cold enough in this country, also it's the air gap that does the insulating so the bigger the gap the better, triple glazing means your giving up 4mm of that gap to a third piece of glass, personally I'd stick with double glazed but spec high, at least planitherm total plus or better for the inner pane, warm edge spacer bar and argon filled cavity, ask for A rated frames too and you'll get the high spec units as a matter of course

Triple glazing will also play havoc with your hinges as well, just don't!
 
Totally agree with Crank39 , just not worth the extra. I was recently asked to quote Triple Glazed and double glazed on a new build . Triple glazed had a lower U value than the double glazed for a start and the profile company also said that triple would be a nightmare on the hinges for that particular job due to the requirement of 6.8Lami glass too ( Doc Q ... not relevant in your particular case ). I really do not see the why specifers are pushing Triple Glazed in the UK , just no need and a pure sales gimmick for the average homeowner who thinks they are getting a ' better ' window
 
It is about diminishing returns really -theres hardly any energy saving going from double to triple glazing

single glazing has a u value of about 5.0
the best double glazing has a u value of about 1.2
triple glazing has a u value down to about 0.7

Triple glazing needs to have 16mm air cavities really -thats a 44mm unit with 4mm glass.

on he other hand, triple glazing has a significant effect on the temperature of the internal glass face. That might not sound important but it can make a difference to how a room feels near glazing.

If your French doors and sidelights are a part of the room that feels a bit chilly or draughty, you might consider triple glazing just for that reason, but OTOH if the house is a few decades old, its likely other elements like an uninsulated floor will compromise any slight benefit of triple glazing



on a building, the glass is always the part of the structure that has the worst u value. Walls with thermalites and cavity fill have a u value of 0.24, a flat roof to current regs has a u value of 0.18
 
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Passivhaus properties often have quad glazed windows #justsayin
 
Totally agree with Crank39 , just not worth the extra. I was recently asked to quote Triple Glazed and double glazed on a new build . Triple glazed had a lower U value than the double glazed for a start and the profile company also said that triple would be a nightmare on the hinges for that particular job due to the requirement of 6.8Lami glass too ( Doc Q ... not relevant in your particular case ). I really do not see the why specifers are pushing Triple Glazed in the UK , just no need and a pure sales gimmick for the average homeowner who thinks they are getting a ' better ' window
Because 3's a bigger number than 2, so it must be better, right?

;)
 

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