Which windows?

tina1040

Double glazed or triple glazed?

Aluclad or PVC?

Colours?


Apart from cost how do you weigh up for a decision?

anoble66

When you got your planning decision did they not specify window type and colour? Maybe it was just on my planning but it's all very specific on my permission.

kerry bhoy

tina1040 wrote: »

Double glazed or triple glazed?

Aluclad or PVC?

Colours?


Apart from cost how do you weigh up for a decision?

If money isn't a problem then go aluclad, with triple glazing. You have the choice of using 2 colours with aluclad. Would not choose black for outside frame as it would expand from the sun.

tina1040

Anoble66 - Waiting for planning still but no need to decide on colour of window where we live.

Kerry Bhoy - Money is a problem! But what else to be taken into account in deciding triple glazing?

anoble66

Ok that's good, I have to go with brown uPVC

Depending on what BER rating your going to try and attain and build spec, the engineer will recommend either triple or double glazed. To give a real example, I may have to go double instead of triple in my build or I could have a problem with part L compliance, in that the GSHP would not kick in enough to meet the requirement. I may still have the choice of going triple, but I would need to be careful with the u value.

tina1040 wrote: »

Anoble66 - Waiting for planning still but no need to decide on colour of window where we live.

Kerry Bhoy - Money is a problem! But what else to be taken into account in deciding triple glazing?

kerry bhoy

Tina.
If you go triple glazing you will loose a certain level of solar gain ,which may affect your ber rating. But triple glazing will keep heat in your home for longer. Personally Im more interested in keeping my house warm then achieving solar gain as we don't see enough direct sun for me to use double glazing.

Currently in the middle of a self build and money is a problem also thats why we didn't go with aluclad as it was about 10,000 euro extra.

BryanF

kerry bhoy wrote: »

Tina.
If you go triple glazing you will loose a certain level of solar gain ,which may affect your ber rating. But triple glazing will keep heat in your home for longer. Personally Im more interested in keeping my house warm then achieving solar gain as we don't see enough direct sun for me to use double glazing.

Currently in the middle of a self build and money is a problem also thats why we didn't go with aluclad as it was about 10,000 euro extra.

Solar gain lost by triple is irrelevant, your correct that triple will typically provide a better uvalue.
glass types and calculations are available to balance the issue of solar gain v heat losses

BarneyMc

anoble66 wrote: »

Depending on what BER rating your going to try and attain and build spec, the engineer will recommend either triple or double glazed. To give a real example, I may have to go double instead of triple in my build or I could have a problem with part L compliance, in that the GSHP would not kick in enough to meet the requirement. I may still have the choice of going triple, but I would need to be careful with the u value.

So the triple glaze would be so good your HP may cycle too much? Can this be true? Would going with a deep sand/cement floor not overcome this?

anoble66

Hi BarneyMc,

I am only in early stages of discussing all this with the engineer myself, but it certainly seems like it can be a potential problem in theory. How big a deal it is in reality I have no idea. I am waiting for prov BER and output from DEAP calc at the moment, I will know more then.

Thanks

Clseeper

anoble66 wrote: »

Depending on what BER rating your going to try and attain and build spec, the engineer will recommend either triple or double glazed. To give a real example, I may have to go double instead of triple in my build or I could have a problem with part L compliance, in that the GSHP would not kick in enough to meet the requirement. I may still have the choice of going triple, but I would need to be careful with the u value.

Barney: my reading of this is that the engineer is trying to achieve Part L compliance with just the GSHP alone. So if he increases the heat load in the house (by only putting in double glazing), the GSHP will have to work harder but will then reach the 10kwh/m2 for Part L. Really the wrong way to go about it in my mind. I remember the article in the Passive House Plus about sticking with default thermal bridging factors but building better as you still get the performance. But it sounds like in this case, they are actually building poorer.

anoble66: I'd question the rational for this from your engineer. Is it worth compromising your build to side step a piece of legislation? If it were me, I'd pay the little extra (for stove or PV panels to meet part L) and have the best building fabric as possible. If you reduce your heat load enough, PV & an oil boiler would be cheaper than the GSHP and then you can change heat producing unit in the future if you wish (to a GSHP, ASHP or other).

anoble66

Hi Clseeper,

Thanks for your advice, it does make sense what your saying and I did originally question it as well with the engineer. During those initial discussions I did say I wanted to remove one of the two stoves. But in the final layout I have both stoves back in, perhaps with the 2 stoves and the gshp I will be OK with triple, but he thought it would be border line. The HP I am looking at has a COP of 5.6. My budget is going to be very tight, so going for PV on top of GHSP is definitely not an option.

BarneyMc

Yes, I've read about this sort of stuff before, e.g. stick on solar tubes and hey presto your house is now 'green'.

I'm no expert in this field but not going with triple glazing (at least on non-south facing windows) is a big mistake in my opinion. Also just take care that you have absolutely no shading on your south/south-west elevation. Any shading will further reduce any solar gain. I have some hills and trees (nothing major) on my south elevation so solar gain takes a hit.

Maybe also ask about the floor makeup - a 'heavy' and deep floor might help with your HP issue.

stickybookmark

I'm going with PVC windows. Personally I don't like the look of Aluclad from the outside (although the ones on my neighbour's house are the square profile, and there is a round profile available which is a bit softer looking). With Aluclad from the inside they look nice but that pine look would have to be matched with the floors and window boards and skirting boards etc.
I think having white or Ivory on the inside gives you free reign then with the window boards, flooring, skirting boards, architrave adn inside doors. So I want Ivory on the inside as it's neutral. If you're shelling out for Aluclad and getting them painted Ivory it's kinda defeating the purpose.

Then on the outside I've decided to go with golden oak windows with the same colour fascia and soffit. Have seen this on a few houses and I love the effect.

So as my first choice for inside is Ivory and my first choice for outside is golden oak, then PVC windows suit me best. And an added bonus - no maintenance required on them inside or outside (not like Aluclad)