The type of glazing used in your home plays a crucial role in its energy efficiency, comfort, and performance. While single-glazed windows were once the norm, today’s homes can be built with double-, triple-, or even quadruple-glazed windows to meet modern standards.

If you decide to install new windows in your home, double-glazing should be your minimum standard. It offers a significant improvement in terms of insulating properties, comfort and wellbeing.

What is Double-Glazing?

Double-glazing (also known as thermal insulation glazing) refers to a window unit made of two panes of glass that are sealed together at a fixed distance.

A spacer, typically made of stainless steel, aluminium or plastic, separates the panes creates an airtight cavity. This design ensures that no air can escape or moisture enter. The gap between the panes is effective for sound and heat insulation and acts as an insulating air cushion.

Despite being only a tiny part of a window, the spacer is one of the most critical components. Its effectiveness is measured in its ability to create a warm edge, which refers to the interaction between the panes, the window frame and the spacer to ensure optimal insulation.

Enhanced Thermal Protection

To improve the performance of standard double-glazing, two key technologies are used:

• Low-E (low emissivity) coatings reflect heat back into the room, helping maintain indoor temperatures.
• Argon or krypton gas fills replace air in the cavity between the panes, reducing heat transfer due to their lower thermal conductivity.

At ECOWINDOWS, both of these enhancements come as standard in all our window systems.

Performance Values

The most important criterion to measure the energy efficiency of windows is the heat transfer coefficient, the so-called U-value. The U-value measures the heat permeability of building elements and indicates the heat flow through the window.

In contrast to the desired high R-value, a lower U-value indicates better performance and insulation. The R-value is the reciprocal of the U value and vice versa (R = 1/U and U = 1/R).

In most countries, U-value is expressed in the modern form of the metric system, in SI units, as watts per square metre-kelvin: W/m²K. The rule here is that the lower the U-value, the better the thermal insulation.

As depicted in the graphic below, there is a clear difference in performance values between single-, double- and triple-glazing.

With triple-glazing, a second Low-E coating is applied on the outer glass pane to reflect heat from the outside, which prevents overheating of the house, especially in the summertime.

ECOWINDOWS standard triple-glazing offers values as low as Ug 0.5. This performance can get further enhanced depending on the selected window system.

Why Choose Double-Glazed Windows?

Compared to single-glazed windows, double-glazing saves a lot of energy that would otherwise be lost. So investing in high-quality glazing does not only save a lot of energy and heating costs but also increases the comfort of your home and your overall wellbeing.

Double-glazing outperforms conventional and outdated single-glazing in many areas, particularly offering:

⦁ Superior Thermal Insulation

With single-glazing, much of the heat in a room escapes through the windows. However, a particularly low thermal conductivity characterises double-glazing on the other side.

Especially windows that are enhanced with Low-E coating and noble gas filling offer the best performance values. Therefore, these two enhancements are standardly included in all our products. As a result, these high-performance windows effectively ensure maximum thermal insulation for your home.

⦁ Effective Noise Reduction

The choice of glazing can positively influence the level of noise entering your home.

Modern double-glazed windows effectively reduce noise transmission through the glass into the house, ensuring efficient soundproofing and a comfortable and quiet living atmosphere.

Our windows standardly provide a noise reduction of 32dB and can be enhanced up to 60dB for particularly noisy environments, such as residences located nearby the airport.

Energy-Efficient Homes Made Simple

Investing in quality glazing is one of the most effective ways to improve home comfort and energy efficiency. With rising demand for better performing buildings, double- and triple-glazing are becoming essential features for modern living.

ECOWINDOWS offers a full range of European and German double-, triple-, and even quadruple-glazed window systems. We deliver our products safely to any destination in New Zealand nationwide, including remote locations – with expert support throughout the process.

Get in touch with us today to learn how our advanced window solutions can transform your home.