Condensation on double glazing

dodgy_damo

Hi all
Just a quick Question. I have aluminium double glazing throughout my property. The front windows (spare bedroom and living room) have leading on them and there is a build up of condensation inside the windows. The rear windows dont have the condenstaion problem and have no leading. Is it the leading, or simply the sealing that needs renewing? With all the work going on at the moment I am in no position to replce any windows!

paddy's_mum

As far as I remember, and others more expert may be along shortly, condensation between the panes of double glazing mean that the vacuum has gone and therefore the glass is not acting as a thermal barrier. When this happened to ours, eventually we had to replace the windows. Sorry!

malamute

Paddy's mum, your spot on units are us and will need replacing we have 2 at the rear of the house and there's not a week goes by without her indoors going on about replacing them!

missile

I don't think condensation between the panes reduces the insulation properties.

adandem

I agree with others, it's nothing to do with leading, the seals have gone. Is it possible to replace the sealed units on aluminium windows? If not, the whole witll need replacing.

missile

It is not possible to replace the seal, but you can replace the sealed unit if the frames are OK.

dodgy_damo

I'm no expert but the frames look OK. How much would I be looking at to replace the sealed units?

dodgy_damo

Or would it work out cheaper completelty replacing with PVC?

economiser

We had our house double glazed in 1975 (aluminium frames were the only choice in those days). Most of the south facing units have failed in that time and the sealed units (not the frames) have had to be replaced. The current cost is pretty high particularly if you have patio doors which need safety glass and I suspect replacement costs have just about wiped out any savings we have made on our heating bills over that time. I wonder, is double glazing really cost effective?

harryhound

If you can do it yourself, it is not expensive.

In the last year I have done my windows for 27.55 per sq meter PLUS VAT.
That was using ordinary glass on the outside and GUARDIAN (see web site) heat saving glass on the inside.

If you have patio doors or low window cills you are required to use toughened glass these days.

(My windows are wooden, so the job takes me a long time. The units should be mounted on blocks, especially the opening casement windows.
You might be able to get more free advice on say the Screwfix site)

Beware of all this talk of Vacuum between the glass. Houses with this system tend to look very strange in the sunshine, as the glass is slightly bowed inwards by the vacuum. My units have air in the gap and water absorbing stuff in the metal beading that holds the glass together. Specialist inert gases can be used if you want to screw the last little bit of energy saving out of the units but I would not bother. Double glazing has never been an economic proposition on energy saving alone, good thick curtains are the first step BUT it does stop the condensation running down the glass, because of the high temperature inside the souse and all the draught stripping you have installed.
j

dodgy_damo

It's a pain as I've other more pressing jobs to get on with! I would've assumed replacing the sealed units would work out cheaper, this is because the windows in bathroom and bedroom do not need replacing. Just spare bed, living room (bay windows, not the sides of the bay tho) and kitchen. would an option be to replace just the front windows with PVC and leave the back? Wouldnt it look odd, and in essence put off future buyers?