Updating your windows to be more energy efficient presents a great opportunity to spend some money in order to save some money, especially if you’re remodelling your home. Although historically glass windows have been commercially manufactured for a long time, the industry has been constantly improving them by adding things like coatings or glazes.
You usually can’t see these with your eyes, but it’s there and can often make a huge difference to how your home heats and cools. What exactly is a glass coating? Glass coatings, also known as window glazes, are created by adding a thin layer of some other material to a regular pane of glass. These extra layers are so thin that they’re very easy to see through. Although you may not see it happening, these layers can drastically change what kinds of light come in and out of your home. They Filter Harmful Light There are actually two other kinds of light that exist outside of our visible range: infrared and ultraviolet light (UV). In order to see outside, we really only need the visible range of light to pass through our windows. Properly glazed or coated windows are able to let visible light through while blocking infrared and ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light is a main contributor to color fading in wallpaper, furniture or paintings that receive direct sunlight from your windows. Infrared light, similarly, brings heat into your home. By blocking these unnecessary kinds of light, you will be better able to control the temperature in your home in both the summer and winter. Benefits of Low-E Glass Coating There are a lot of different kinds of glazed windows options. When looking for glazed glass, be sure to pay attention to its U-Value, which is a measurement of the rate of heat transfer that the window allows.
If a glazed window has a very low U-Value that means that it transfers heat very slowly, keeping heat inside your home in the winter and outside in the summer.
Low-Emittance Glass: Low-E glass is a great choice of glaze to keep UV light and therefore heat out of your home.
Low-E Glass with Argon: The addition of a layer of argon between panes of glass helps even more. Because argon is heavier than air it moves slower and therefore transfers heat slower.
At All-West Glass, we carry Energy Star products, which mean they’re energy-efficient. If you’re looking for new windows, contact us today at one of our branches. We operate in Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Yukon!