Different types of glass have distinct qualities and attributes. Selecting the best glass for each window can minimize noise issues, winter heat loss, or fading.
The following five questions can help determine the best glass for each of your windows:
1. Is your home cold in the winter?
Windows are the main sites of heat loss in most Canadian homes. Installing replacement windows will reduce drafts, but even well-sealed windows lose a significant amount of heat. Selecting glass with a high performance, energy efficient glazing can reduce your home’s heat loss, and bring down your heating bills at the same time.
2. Is your home too warm in the summer?
Excess heat gain in summer can cause as much discomfort as wintertime heat loss. Well-sealed replacement windows will reduce some heat gain, but the key culprit is heat coming through the glass. To minimize heat gain, select glazing that eliminates infrared light. Fortunately, the same glazing will also reduce winter heat loss.
3. Is fading a problem in some rooms?
Strong, direct sunlight can fade furniture, paintings and flooring. Where this is an issue, choose glass that screens out ultraviolet radiation (UV rays) to protect your furnishings from damage and deterioration.
4. Do you live on a busy street, or is it noisy inside your home?
In addition to light, windows can also let in unwanted noise. Most sound is made up of acoustic vibrations at different frequencies. Laminated glass minimizes unwanted sound transmission because the plastic inter-layer dampens vibrations across a wide range of frequencies, quieting low frequency sounds like truck traffic, as well as high frequency noise, like jet aircraft or industrial equipment.
5. Is safety or security an issue?
Safety concerns can be addressed by selecting tempered glass. The Building Code requires the use of tempered glass anywhere within three feet of an entry doorknob, in a bathtub enclosure and where a window is close to the floor.
Security concerns can be address with laminated glass as it works much like a car windshield and is very difficult to break through. This option is ideal for basements, garages or anywhere that provides an opportunistic entry point.
TYPES OF GLASS
We offer a variety of glass types to suit the needs of each room in your home.
LoE3 Glass with Argon
LoE3 (pronounced: low E cubed) addresses all three of the biggest residential window concerns. LoE3 reduces winter heat loss, summer heat gain, and blocks 95% of the UV rays that cause fading and deterioration.
Laminated Glass
Laminated glass provides increased safety and security, reduces unwanted outside noise, and blocks 98% of the sun’s UV rays.
Neat Glass
Neat glass uses the sun’s UV rays to help loosen dirt so water can rinse it away, leaving your windows virtually spotless. This low maintenance, easy to clean glass is ideal for hard to reach places.
Read more about Neat glass.
Obscure Glass
We offer a broad selection of obscure glass options for privacy.
