Quality Double Glazing to Beat the Energy Price Rise

Nobody sets out to have poor quality windows at their home or office. The windows you have may be the ones installed when you moved in but having such windows can have a major impact on so many things.

Let's look at some of the reasons why having good quality double glazed window units fitted makes sense, not just for your pocket, but for your overall wellbeing.

Recent energy prices make better double glazing a must

Many people were left feeling extremely anxious over the proposed hike in energy costs recently. The increase was to see many paying more for their energy usage than they would be paying on their mortgages.

This was such a massive concern for so many, as they simply didn't have enough money left over to pay for this eye watering increase and were left feeling that they would either starve or not be able to feed their families or pay other bills this winter.

The biggest concern was for the elderly, as if a family with two people working full time jobs couldn't afford the rise in energy bills, how on earth could a pensioner living on a state pension manage?

Here the concern for the welfare of the elderly was genuine, they really would have to choose between heating or eating. The younger and healthier amongst us, although uncomfortable or inconvenient, could at least wrap up warmer, or make good use of a spare duvet or blanket to keep warm, but an elderly person will not have this option open to them. The fact is that as we age, we generally find it more difficult to generate and retain heat. Our blood tends to thin as does the dermis or skin, leading to a more rapid loss of internal temperature. Once the core temperature has dropped in an elderly person, their health can deteriorate more rapidly than it would in a younger, fitter individual.

Good quality double glazing can not only save you money on your energy bills, but it could literally save you from freezing in your own home. Although we tend to concentrate on cold weather badly affecting the elderly, it would be prudent to look at things from the other end of the heat spectrum too and how good double-glazing units can help in both instances.

Hyperthermia: Old or young, it's serious

As soon as you hear the term Hyperthermia, people mostly think of a condition when the body temperature of an individual has dropped to a dangerous level. However, hyperthermia actually refers to when the body is subjected to temperatures that are too hot to cope with.

Hyperthermia can easily bring about heat-related illness for people, with older people being particularly susceptible.

The hot summer weather can pose special health risks to older adults. The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has some advice for helping older people avoid heat-related illnesses.

What is hyperthermia?

Hyperthermia is an abnormally high body temperature caused by a failure of the heat-regulating mechanisms of the body to deal with the heat coming from the environment. Heat fatigue, a sudden dizziness after prolonged exposure to the heat, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are commonly known forms of hyperthermia. Risk for these conditions can increase with the combination of outside temperature, general health and individual lifestyle.

Certain lifestyle factors that exacerbate hyperthermia can include not drinking enough fluids, living in a property without suitable air conditioning, lack of mobility and access to transportation, overdressing, being in overcrowded places and not understanding how to respond to hot weather conditions. Older people, particularly those with chronic medical conditions, should stay indoors on hot and humid days. Keeping out of the direct sun is particularly important when air pollution is high, as this can trigger asthmatic episodes in the individual. People without air conditioners should try to go to places that do have air conditioning, such as centres that cater for the older generation, shopping centres, and libraries.

It should also be stressed that good quality double glazing can also help to keep the home cooler too.

Double glazing is a great way to keep heat inside buildings in order to make them more energy efficient, and their benefits tend to be targeted during the colder and longer winter months. However, it's not just during winter that double glazed windows are a good idea, they also keep heat out during the summer to keep your home cool when the hot weather hits.

Although most people think of changing to double glazing in autumn or winter months, we know that a double-glazed window or door will be better than a single glazed unit all year round, especially during the summer.

Double glazed windows control the inside temperature

Double glazing is effective in all weathers because it stops heat transferring from one side of the window to the other. That means during the winter months, it stops heat escaping from the inside of the property and in hot weather it limits the amount of heat energy from outdoors transferring to the inside of the building. As a result, double glazed windows will benefit you all year round, whether you want the room to remain cool or stay warmer.

Hyperthermia: What to look out for in older people

Health-related factors, some especially common among older people, that may increase risk of hyperthermia include:

It's vital to ensure that older people do not become dehydrated.

The skin changes as we get older and as such, blood circulation becomes impaired and inefficient sweat glands can also interfere with the ability of the person to thermos-regulate efficiently. Be on the lookout for reduced sweating, caused by medications such as diuretics, sedatives, tranquilizers and certain heart and blood pressure drugs.

Heart, lung and kidney diseases, as well as any illness that causes general weakness or fever can also cause the person to be more at risk of suffering from hyperthermia.

High blood pressure or other conditions that require changes in diet. For example, people on salt-restricted diets may be at increased risk too.

Taking several drugs for various conditions is also likely to compromise the overall ability to thermos-regulate properly.

Being substantially overweight or underweight can also adversely affect the person too when the heat increases.

Heat stroke is a life-threatening form of hyperthermia. It occurs when the body is overwhelmed by heat and unable to control its temperature. Heat stroke occurs when someone's body temperature increases significantly, especially above 104 degrees Fahrenheit and has symptoms like confusion or combativeness, strong rapid pulse, lack of sweating, dry flushed skin, faintness, staggering, or coma.

What to do if someone is suffering from a heat-related illness

Should someone be suffering from a heat related illness, you should get the person out of the heat and into a shady, air-conditioned or other cool place. Encourage them to lie down. If you suspect heat stroke, call 911 for emergency assistance.

Encourage the individual to shower, bathe or sponge off with cool, but not cold water.

Apply a cold, wet cloth to the wrists, neck, armpits, and groin if appropriate. These are places where blood passes close to the surface of the skin, and the cold cloths can help to cool the blood down quickly.

If the person can swallow without choking, offer them fluids such as water, fruit and vegetable juices, but avoid alcohol and caffeine products.

Hypothermia

Unlike hyperthermia, which is related to excess heat, hypothermia is a dangerous drop in body temperature below 35 Celsius. Remember that normal body temperature is around 37 Celsius. It's a medical emergency that needs to be treated in hospital as soon as possible.

if you think someone has hypothermia and they have symptoms such as shivering, pale, cold and dry skin, or their skin and lips have turned blue, they will need urgent attention. They may also display slurred speech, slow breathing, tiredness or confusion.

What to do while you're waiting for help

If you suspect hypothermia, move the person indoors or somewhere sheltered as quickly as possible. Remove any wet clothing, wrap them in a blanket, sleeping bag or dry towel, making sure their head is covered and give them a warm non-alcoholic drink and some sugary food like chocolate if they're fully awake and able to take it. Do not allow them to sleep by talking to them until help arrives and do not leave them alone.

Remember not to use a hot bath, hot water bottle or heat lamp to warm them up, do not rub their arms, legs, feet or hands, do not give them alcohol to drink. These will not help and could even make matters worse.

Causes of hypothermia

Hypothermia happens when you get too cold and your body temperature drops below 35C. You can get hypothermia if you do not wear enough clothes in cold weather, stay out in the cold too long, fall into cold water, have wet clothes and get cold or live in a cold house. This is the main reason why effective double glazing for your windows and doors is essential, particularly for older people living alone, as they are particularly at risk.

Double glazing keeps you warmer in the winter

Double glazing is primarily a great way to insulate your property, it can also help capture natural heat and store it in the winter. This is a fantastic way of keeping your home insulated during the winter months. Nobody likes feeling cold, particularly in the home, but single glazed or poorly fitted windows and doors will cause you to lose a great deal of heat and allow draughts to enter the property, making you feel even colder.

Double glazing helps to cut your energy bill

This point is the most topical at the moment. All we have seen in the media lately are reports of how high the cost of gas and electricity is going to get. The price is already incredibly high and although the government have stepped in to cap further rises for two years, what will happen when this period has passed?

So many people are restricting their energy usage on a daily basis in a vain attempt to cut their energy bills. The internet is awash with advertisements for smart little plug in devices that will heat the home, using ninety eight percent less electricity than regular electric heaters, log burner sales have gone through the roof, as have the sale of fleeces, duvets and blankets, but we seem to be missing the crucial point in this frenzy of panic. In a word, insulation!

Now we are not referring to lagging of loft spaces or pipes, draught strips around windows and doors, although these clearly can help retain heat in the home. The simple truth is that effective double glazing units do help to insulate the home better than a draught strip around a single glazed window.

When one considers the enormous amount of heat loss through windows, it becomes easy to see why double glazing for windows and doors makes good sense. They are more secure by design than older windows and doors, with bolts around the perimeter of the double glazed unit as opposed to just the one. But why does a double glazed window insulate your home more effectively than single glazing?

How does double glazing work?

Double glazed windows work by trapping a layer of air between two panes of glass, in doing so, this creates a natural insulator. This stops the air from circulating which significantly reduces convection, resulting in a decrease of heat loss across the entire window.

This has a double benefit because it helps to reduce the cold getting into the property, but it also maintains the heat that is already in a house because heat transfer is greatly reduced across the thermal barrier.

Less energy will be used to heat or cool a room when double glazed windows are installed; this results in much lower energy bills and can result in a substantial monetary saving. Adding more layers of glazing will increase the insulation levels and save more money.

Therefore, no matter what heating method you use, a super efficient gadget as mentioned above, or a host of radiators throwing out enough heat to cook the Christmas turkey, without efficient double glazing, that heat will be lost very quickly indeed.

Double glazing keeps you cooler in the summer

Although we have focused on the most common reason for choosing double glazing windows and doors, it's not just an investment to keep you warmer and save money during the winter months; double glazing for your windows and doors also comes into its own during the hot summer months too. This is because double glazed windows can trap some of the sun's rays coming through the window on a hot day, helping the room to remain cooler.

By helping to cool a room, the double glazing also saves on energy when it's hot too. When things get hot and sticky, many of us switch a fan on and the more fortunate may have air conditioning units to cool things down to a more tolerable temperature. Fans and air conditioning in summer take excess energy the same as running the heating in the winter. This means less air-conditioning is required.

Double glazing: Secure by design

As briefly touched on above, double glazed windows and doors offer higher levels of security than standard doors and windows. Double glazed doors and windows are harder to break and are sealed tighter than traditional windows. We all know that if someone wants to get in, they probably will, but by making things harder for them, they are more likely to move on to find a softer target. Slowing the bad guys down and making their lives more difficult is the best thing you can do to keep your home, office and possessions safe and double glazed doors and windows helps you achieve this.

Double glazing reduces condensation

If there is one thing that can make a cold house feel colder, it's condensation. Rivers of ice cold water running down your windows on the inside can create a damp environment as well as ruining your interior decorations, furniture and can even adversely affect your health.

Double glazed windows reduce the amount of moisture on your window panes, as the airtight seal prevents the condensation from building up. Other windows often allow condensation to build up which causes window panes to have mould growth present on the edges and seals.

A maisonette we recently visited to fit double glazed windows and doors had a terrible problem with condensation. The bedroom was badly affected with black mould spores up the walls and on the ceiling due to ongoing condensation problems. The owners had even ripped up their carpet as it was soaked every morning from water running off the windowsill, down the wall and onto the floor. They had resorted to fixing a plastic batten along the entire windowsill, secured with silicone sealant and panel pins to catch a reservoir of water overnight. They laid multiple towels and flannels there to soak up the water and had to launder and dry these every day to prevent them from smelling musty. The new double glazing certainly did the trick in reducing the condensation in this property, although they still needed to invest in a dehumidifier as the walls were incredibly damp and mouldy from years of condensation damage.

Silence is golden with double glazing

Double glazing for windows and doors equals far less noise and a much quieter living environment. The owners of homes we have fitted double glazing in have reported an almost eerie silence after the installation process is complete. Maybe they have simply got used to the constant drone of the road traffic or the sound of the neighbourhoods dogs barking or kids playing. The heat insulation properties of double glazing are great, but so is the ability to insulate against unwanted noise. Double glazing offers you a far more peaceful way to live than single glazed units.

Why keep turning the television up, just to hear it over the traffic noise? Also, with more of us working from home these days following the pandemic, you will appreciate a quieter, more conducive working environment and your children will be able to concentrate on their homework in peace too thanks to double glazed doors and windows.

So, if you want to keep warm in winter, cooler in the summer, feel safer in your home, eradicate the condensation and enjoy the peace and quiet of a double glazed property, all while saving money on your energy bills, why not give us a call today?

 

---

Other Articles on UPVC windows and doors

The Joys of Owning a Conservatory

A conservatory, along with quality double glazing, is the one thing that you can add to your home to improve your living experience and living space more than any other home improvement. A conservatory remains at the pinnacle of home improvement projects, because it not only creates more space, it creates a bright, light and airy space where you can enjoy the great outdoors, from inside your own home.

Read more about - The Joys of Owning a Conservatory...

Smart Windows Save Energy and Money

Smart windows, or smart glass is glass where the light transmission properties can be altered when voltage, heat or light is applied. The application of one of these factors can change the glass from a transparent to a translucent state, and back again when required. It may sometimes be referred to as switchable glass or windows.

Read more about - Smart Windows Save Energy and Money...

Double Glazing and the Environment

A few years ago, we started to see and hear reports about adverse effects on the environment owing to our overuse of certain fuels and CFC propellants in aerosols. Many either took little or no notice of the reports or put them down to scaremongering, whereas others would simply mock those who predicted any unprecedented climate changes. Fortunately, today we are more receptive to the changes as we are witnessing them happening for ourselves.

Read more about - Double Glazing and the Environment...

Flush Casement Windows in Conservation Areas

Replacing windows in a conservation area could land you in trouble with the authorities, particularly if you change the overall look of the building. Windows are more than a means of looking out at the scenery and keeping the rain and wind out in these areas. The window is one of the defining features of a building and one of the main visual characteristics of it.

Read more about - Flush Casement Windows in Conservation Areas...

Aspect Windows through the Pandemic

Many of our potential customers have aked us whether or not the lockdown will affect window installations. Well, it's good news! Should you have home improvements booked, we can still work in your home. Window installers along with other trades can continue to work inside their customers homes during the new lockdown period, however, COVID-secure guidelines must be adhered to at all times.

Read more about - Aspect Windows through the Pandemic...

---

Further Information

If you would like to know more or are interested in a quote we would be happy to help. Phone us on 01438 311 412, email us at enquiries@aspectwindowsanddoors.co.uk or fill in our enquiry form and we will be in touch as soon as possible.