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Is There Such a Thing as Energy Effective Glass?

Last 7 days I experienced a blast destroying a bunch of glass samples in my shop for Component one of this glass collection. This 7 days, I’ll reveal the outcomes of my thermal testing to see if there actually is this kind of a thing as vitality efficient glass.

I’ll preface this with the simple fact that I am not a scientist and this check is not scientific. I’m just a historic restorationist and this anecdotal test receives me shut ample to see how each and every piece of glass performs so we can make greater choices when it will come to upgrading the efficiency of your old windows and doorways.



Is There Power Efficient Glass?
Marketers discuss about insulated glass or power successful glass, but in my impression it’s all smoke and mirrors. Comparing the energy performance of a single glass to one more is like evaluating gas mileage in between mega yachts. They are all negative! Glass is not designed to be energy effective.


[Tweet “Glass is made to permit light into a place not insulate it.”]

Walls, siding, plaster, insulation, individuals are all supposed to maintain us heat and secure within, but glass does not serve that objective as its main perform, so let’s not try to place a sq. peg in a round hole.

Do we want glass that excels at maintaining heat in its place? Definitely, but before you go evaluating the R-worth of glass to spray foam, think about their very different functions.



The Distinct Kinds of Heat
I’ve prepared about the three distinct kinds of warmth before, and you can go through it by clicking the website link underneath for a far more in-depth explanation.

Knowing the 3 Varieties of Heat Transfer

Fundamentally, there are three approaches warmth moves from one particular area to an additional.

Radiation – This type of warmth will come straight from the sun’s rays and moves through creating supplies with ease, until it is stopped by a radiant barrier like foil.
Convection – This is hot air relocating in and out of all the gaps (large and little) in your home. Convection calls for air trade for the heat to go.
Conduction – This what takes place on your stove. Warmth transfers via make contact with from the stove best to the pot to the drinking water and the h2o boils.
The testing I did for this post displays largely conduction and some radiation. So, enable me stop yammering and get to the examination outcomes.




The Check: How Efficient is Glass?
speedheaterI established an Original Speedheater Infrared Heat Gun 10″ absent from each piece of glass and left the glass in front of the heater for precisely 1 minute before measuring the temperature with a FLIR TG130 Place Thermal Digital camera. I measured the temperature in the centre of the glass on the inside (the facet reverse the warmth supply). The glass all measured around 82°F prior to the examination, as they had been resting in my muggy shop for a amount of hours.

The Speedheater operates at approximately 400ºF, but I was not able to get a exact temperature studying beforehand simply because The FLIR camera peaks at 302ºF which would seem like an odd temp to conclude at, but hey, that’s what FLIR made the decision to do for this entry stage digital camera.



The Final results


how power efficient is antique glass

6th Spot – 3/32″ Antique 114ºF
It was no surprise to me that antique glass conducts a whole lot of heat. It’s slender and it serves to merely enable light in and block the elements. However I enjoy it, it is the the very least strength successful when it will come to conductive warmth transfer. There are different thicknesses of antique glass, so thicker variations would most likely produce better results and thinner would likely produce worse.






how sizzling does glass get

5th Area – 1/8″ Annealed 105ºF
Predictably the modern double power glass came in just ahead of the antique glass. The added thickness is what I would attribute this advancement to, not the age. Again, the thicker the glass alternative you choose, the slower the heat transfer you can count on.





laminated glass and warmth

4th Place – 1/4″ Laminated ninety three.2ºF
I use one/4″ laminated glass a whole lot and was extremely curious to see the place it fell in the rankings. I’m not terribly surprised, but feel like in addition to the audio benefits it affords, this elevated conductive warmth blocking is a great side gain.





minimal-e glass heat transfer

third Area – one/4″ Tempered Low-E 89.3ºF
I was really amazed with the overall performance of the Lower-E coated tempered glass. The thicker 1/4″ glass helped I’m certain, and I consider the Reduced-E coating made an extra advancement that held it beneath 90º. Nicely performed, Low-E.

2nd Location – three/4″ IGU Reduced-E 85.8ºF
Any of my visitors know I am not a fan of IGU’s (aka disposable glass) due to the fact of their minimal lifespan, but I cannot deny the reality that they do an outstanding job (whilst they are nonetheless functioning) of halting heat transfer. An air gap is constantly an exceptional insulator and when blended with a Low-E coating this take a look at proved it with a almost 3ºF drop from the 3rd spot finisher.





affect glass

1st Place – five/16″ Laminated Impact 84.2ºF
This was really a big shock to me! Including a mere one/16″ of plastic amongst the two panes of glass introduced the within temperature down practically 10ºF from the 1/4″ laminated glass! And it will come at a nominal added cost since the 1/4″ laminated glass charges about $fifteen per SF and the affect glass is $18 for every SF.



6-12-6 INSULATED GLASS PRICE is just one portion of a window or door, and armed with the data in this publish, you can make far better selections on how to up grade your present home windows.

Shifting out glass in historic wooden windows and metal windows and might be something to feel about if you have currently tackled the crucial task of weatherstripping. I hope this helps examination will help!


Scott Sidler
Founder & Senior Editor

I adore aged houses, working with my hands, and educating other folks the excitment of performing it yourself! Every little thing is teachable if you only give it the chance.