On 15 Mar 2006 23:56:36 -0800 someone who may be "Alan"
wrote this:-

Double glazing prevents relatively little heat loss, unless it
replaces badly fitted windows. However, double glazing has other
advantages.

Eh? Think you've got your wires crossed there,

No.

a single pane of glass
offers near enough no thermal insulation. A standard 28mm air gap
coupled with K-glass makes a huge difference

You miss the point. Windows are a small part of where heat is lost
through conduction. Most of the wall is not window and it is far
better to insulate the non window part of the wall, before
insulating the windows. Insulating the loft before the windows is
also a good idea. Having done both of these (and the floor in some
cases) then double glazing the windows makes more sense. All this
can easily be demonstrated by simple steady state heat loss
calculations.

Badly fitted windows can cause the loss of a fair amount of heat, by
letting cold air in and hot air out. Double glazing will eliminate
these draughts, to the extent that it often has trickle ventilators
to provide some ventilation. However, there are cheaper ways of
blocking the draughts.

Someone who is looking on how to spend their money to reduce bills
should first get the walls, roof and possibly floor insulated. They
should also insulate hot pipes inside. Only after doing this do
things like double glazing and a more efficient boiler start to make
sense.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54