Checking out insulated glass (1 Viewer)

[Eric_L]

I need a glass guru. After Hurrican Charley I paid extra to have the west facing windows in my home replaced with double-paned glass. I thought it would solve the solar oven problem in my diningroom.

Well - it didn't. The windows are quite warm to touch when the sun is on that side of the house.

I called the window installer and he came out to check them. I wasn't home when he was there. He opened the windown and felt the inside pane, then he felt the outside pane. There was a noticeable difference in temperature - the outside being much hotter. He used that as evidence that the windows were indeed insulating.

I'm not so sure I agree. I mean - the inside of my home is air-conditioned - it would seem natural that the interior of the glass would be cooler - no? It does not mean that the glass is not transferring heat into my home.

How do I check on this to make sure I'm being given the straight dope? Anyone know?

 

[BrianW]

Double-pane glass is intended to reduce heat transfer due to conduction, not radiation. It simply keeps the heat from the air outside from heating the air inside (or vice-versa) without any regard for what the sun happens to be doing that day.

But your problem is not heat due to conduction, but heat due to radiation, if I understand your "solar oven" description correctly. For that, you need Low-E glass, which helps to block radiant heat from the sun from entering the house.

You can get a Low-E film to put on the glass you now have, but honestly, if your window supplier supplier knew anything about your situation, they should have known -- or at least suggested -- that Low-E glass was really what you needed to get.

 

[Todd Hochard]

As noted, If the windows aren't Low-E, then they aren't much benefit against the Sun's radiation.
I added Low-E films to the east and west windows of my home when I lived in Orlando. It made a significant difference. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean that you can leave a vast expanse of glass uncovered, and expect no heat gain from the sun's direct rays. You can't cheat physics.

 

[Jay H]

Cool, never heard of it so I just checked it out. Sounds like a cool concept. What I do in the summertime is I simply pull down the blinds and close the windows during the day (which I'm not usually home either) and then during the evenings, I simply reverse the process. With the Low-E film, it sounds like I'd be able to stop doing that while most of the UV radiation and the heat from the sun, while not making my house a dark cave... I must check that out some more...

Any good sources for inexpensive rolls? Saw a place online for $58 for a 48'x15' roll...

Jay

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Hey I thought this was the HTF, what's wrong with the house being a dark cave? My brother always comments that he never knows when I'm home if he drives by my house (uhhh, there's a Jeep in the driveway??) because the shades are always drawn. I tell him "I never put the shades up, it causes reflections on the 55" widescreen." He just looks at me like I have 6 heads.

 

[Jay H]

I probably appear like a recluse since I bike to work, my car is almost always in my driveway except for my longer weekend trips!

Jay

 

[Eric_L]

Thanks all - apparently I got hozed. The Low-E glass won't work because the WAF refuses to accepte a mirrored finish on the windows... Maybe I'll have to get solare screens or something. Good to know that the windows aren't bad - just the guy who sold them to me.