k glass

Bennifred

Funnily enough, my OH was just commenting to me about how dark and dingy it seems in his office now the windows have been replaced.....

JGal

Is there any way to check if the glazing in a house is the 'k' type (or equivalent), such as a marking inside the frame of the glass?

I have just moved into a new-build house and have had problems with the glazing which required some units being changed. I would like to be able to make sure the correct replacements have been used and not the cheaper type.

I have access to a basic lightmeter, or is a more specialist piece of kit required?

thanks.

Rex_Mundi

Is there any way to check if the glazing in a house is the 'k' type (or equivalent), such as a marking inside the frame of the glass?

The inside of the units are not normally marked whether the glass is 'k' or not.

I have just moved into a new-build house and have had problems with the glazing which required some units being changed. I would like to be able to make sure the correct replacements have been used and not the cheaper type.

If you are only changing the glass. You are allowed to change like for like. If the units are clear glass both sides you should replace them with clear glass units. You will notice a colour difference if you get the wrong type. You only have to glaze with 'k' glass if you change the frames for new ones.

I have access to a basic lightmeter, or is a more specialist piece of kit required?

It's a special meter for this job.

If you are unsure what type of glass you have. Either get a glazing company out to measure the units for you. They will tell you the type of unit, or take out a small unit and take it to the glass shop. They will tell you there and then what type of unit it is. You can always put the unit back in temporary till you get your new ones.

gromituk

Rex_Mundi wrote:

Nowadays you don't have a choice on installing K glass in new windows. Due to changes in the building regs (part L) All new windows HAVE to be glazed using K units.

And about time too! To be strictly correct, it's the insulation value rather than the method which matters, so you could use something else, such as triple glazing (might be useful if you are interesting in sound insulation), so long as the U value is sufficiently low. (To the OP:) But you can't just keep increasing the air gap in a double glazing unit because convection will occur and the insulation value will start to fall.

nev1_2

its easy to tell if you have k glass just look through it, I have just had an extension built, all the windows have k glass as required and its awful, the utility room window is completly cloudy, when i look at the hedge at the bottom of the garden its blurred, the same view from the kitchen with normal glass look perfect even though the unit is about 6 years old, when i cleaned my windows in the past it looked like the glass had dropped out it was so clear, not with these babies, why dont building regs give guidence not orders, I now have a house full of cloudy glass and smoke alarms, and its cost me a fortune for the privilige. :beer: cheers local borough council

quoia

nev1 wrote:

its easy to tell if you have k glass just look through it, I have just had an extension built, all the windows have k glass as required and its awful, the utility room window is completly cloudy, when i look at the hedge at the bottom of the garden its blurred, the same view from the kitchen with normal glass look perfect...

Get them all replaced - sounds like a faulty batch or they may even be "seconds" - it's almost impossible to tell with ours - just the very, very, very, very, very faintest tint !!!

nev1 wrote:

why dont building regs give guidence not orders,

Because everyone would totally ignore everything that cost a little bit more to implement.

gromituk

quoia wrote:

Because everyone would totally ignore everything that cost a little bit more to implement.

Absolutely. And you could consider it guidance anyway - they don't say you have to have K-glass, just a decent insulation value. If you wanted to have triple glazing to achieve this instead, you could.

economiser

The short answer to rwster's question, if it's a replacement of course, is:

Yes it is better but no it's not worth it, if you are thinking of saving money that is.

gromituk

I agree. But if you are thinking of saving the planet, you might come to a different conclusion.

economiser

Yes, life if full of contradictions isn't it gromituk. A smaller window might save more but then you might use more electric light? Turning down the thermostat and wearing more clothes might help but then I suppose one should think of the energy required to make and distribute the clothes? How does one get the balance right.