Energy Saving Options for Glass

Also read Glass Sealed Units to learn how sealed units are constructed.

There are different energy saving options available to you when ordering your glass with us. Here is all you need to know about our various energy saving options.

pilkington_k_glass Pilkington K glass or Low E

Pilkington K glass helps save energy in your home by reflecting your heat back into your home and by letting heat enter your home from the sun by ‘passive solar gain’. Pilkington K glass is a low emissivity coated glass that entered the market around 1995 and this glass is used in the majority of the UK’s glazing projects today. This energy conserving glass fully meets with the energy conserving rules laid down by todays building regulations.

For clear sealed units, Pilkington K would be glazed on the inner leaf of glass and when ordering frosted glass, the Pilkington K leaf would be glazed externally. Pilkington K glass can be used in annealed form (standard glass) and it can also be toughened for use in doors and other ‘at risk’ areas. Pilkington K glass is almost clear but it does have a slight tint but this is very hard to notice and can only usually be spotted when comparing it with a standard piece of clear glass. Pilkington K glass can be incorporated in sealed units to help achieve high WER ratings.

swisspacerWarm Edge Spacer Bar

Sealed units can achieve a better energy rating by using a non-metal spacer bar. Warm edge spacer bars are manufactured using either plastic like material or a material similar to a compact foam rubber. A sealed unit with a warm edge spacer bar gives a better thermal insulating performance than a sealed unit constructed with a standard metal spacer bar. The reason for this is that metal bars conduct heat and cold better than a softer material so your heat can escape easier across a metal based spacer bar. Similarly cold from the outside can creep across a metal spacer bar easier and start to chill the inner leaf of glass. Higher temperatures on the inner leaf of glass result in less condensation so this is another advantage of using a warm edge spacer bar. Pictured here is a popular brand of warm edge spacer bar namely Swisspacer.


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