To double glaze or not?

macman

jennihen wrote: »

Thankyou - that does help! I've only lived in very modern DG'd houses and they do seem to get a lot of condensation!

That's simply down to lack of ventilation usually. Modern houses are far more draughtproof.

gmgmgm

Can you repair the sash windows? This can be a LOT cheaper than replacing with new, even with DG units.

I'd go against the tone here and say that in many cases it isn't worth the expense of putting in double-glazed windows, versus the cost of repair. If you're hell-bent on replacing, then the difference in cost will likely be small.

But people who replace perfectly good single glazed windows with double glazing, with the intent of saving £10 per year on their heating bills, should buy a better calculator. ie the difference in heat efficiency isn't worth the cost.

jennihen

gmgmgm wrote: »

Can you repair the sash windows? This can be a LOT cheaper than replacing with new, even with DG units.

I'd go against the tone here and say that in many cases it isn't worth the expense of putting in double-glazed windows, versus the cost of repair. If you're hell-bent on replacing, then the difference in cost will likely be small.

But people who replace perfectly good single glazed windows with double glazing, with the intent of saving £10 per year on their heating bills, should buy a better calculator. ie the difference in heat efficiency isn't worth the cost.

it was always the plan to have double glazing. Of the 11 windows, the girls' rooms are the worst - dangerous in fact! There are another 2 that the frames are really bad and 2 with glass that needs replaced. Plus the fact that the front and back doors are not secure.
So if I'm doing major work anyway i thought I'd look at doing the whole lot in one go.

Plus the fact it was rotten freezing here over the winter!

gmgmgm

jennihen wrote: »

it was always the plan to have double glazing. Of the 11 windows, the girls' rooms are the worst - dangerous in fact! There are another 2 that the frames are really bad and 2 with glass that needs replaced. Plus the fact that the front and back doors are not secure.
So if I'm doing major work anyway i thought I'd look at doing the whole lot in one go.

Plus the fact it was rotten freezing here over the winter!

Glad you've considered repairing the windows. It's not that difficult to draught-proof or repair sash windows, and this usually is what people want, instead of some perceived difference between single and double glazing.

996ducati

gmgmgm wrote: »

Can you repair the sash windows? This can be a LOT cheaper than replacing with new, even with DG units.

I'd go against the tone here and say that in many cases it isn't worth the expense of putting in double-glazed windows, versus the cost of repair. If you're hell-bent on replacing, then the difference in cost will likely be small.

But people who replace perfectly good single glazed windows with double glazing, with the intent of saving £10 per year on their heating bills, should buy a better calculator. ie the difference in heat efficiency isn't worth the cost.

I have to disagree with you here. In terms of the slight extra cost of double glazed units over single (now pretty similar in terms of DGU being the norm and s/g being the oddball). The question is why wouldn't you?

Fuel costs will only ever go one way and even a slight saving in lost fuel/energy is surely better than losing money out of the windows?

Regards

Doozergirl

gmgmgm wrote: »

Can you repair the sash windows? This can be a LOT cheaper than replacing with new, even with DG units.

I'd go against the tone here and say that in many cases it isn't worth the expense of putting in double-glazed windows, versus the cost of repair. If you're hell-bent on replacing, then the difference in cost will likely be small.

But people who replace perfectly good single glazed windows with double glazing, with the intent of saving £10 per year on their heating bills, should buy a better calculator. ie the difference in heat efficiency isn't worth the cost.

Fuel costs aside, (although I'm sure the saving is more than £10 a year!) I've lived in a listed building where we put in brand new single glazed windows as the frame size the Conservation Officer wasn't wide enough to hold DG units, and that house was freezing in the winter.

The front of our current home is still old, low ceilings, solid walls again, not listed, and we replaced not old but unattractive single glazed windows with double glazing and it does made an immediate difference to how warm the house is.

gmgmgm

996ducati wrote: »

I have to disagree with you here. In terms of the slight extra cost of double glazed units over single (now pretty similar in terms of DGU being the norm and s/g being the oddball). The question is why wouldn't you?

Fuel costs will only ever go one way and even a slight saving in lost fuel/energy is surely better than losing money out of the windows?

Regards

I'm not disagreeing with you- if you're replacing, then the cost difference is negligible and it would be worth going with DG. I said that if the SG windows were intact, then it wouldn't make sense to replace functional windows with brand-new expensive DG ones.

Doozergirl, did you have any draughts in the old windows? Normally the perceived benefits of DG come through stopping draughts, not through any tiny improvements in u-values. Stopping draughts can of course be done with any window- no need to spend £10k on new DG ones.

jennihen

I managed to knock 31K (16%)off the original asking price due to the state of disrepair so was always looking at replacing the windows - its part of the long term budget.
I thought I'd be able to put it off a few years but this winter was unbearable.
I love this house - its a home and should be comfortable to live in. Yep, one day I will be selling it - who needs a 4 storey house when their children have left home? I would like to be able to improve it while keeping its character.
As a single mum I have a very limited disposable income at the moment so I only want to do things once!Its not so much about saving on the gas bills - more about enjoying the cosy times at home now!

I can't even commit to wallpaper usually so you can see why this is so hard for me!!

jennihen

sorry - phone rang before I got chance to say thanks to everyone - food for thought!!