Extra glaze layer.

spurdog1

My single story has a south facing kitchen. That means in the summer the sun is overhead midday. Burning hot in the summer freezing in winter. Double glazed. Is there a way i can add a further glaze onto the plastic frame of the window, detachable in the summer? Anyone know a supplier?

Krakkkers

You can buy UV film that can be applied to conservatory roofs for the hot summers and presumably removed in the winter.

markin

How old is it, Newer glass and triple are better at keeping the heat out as well as keeping heat in.

For summer heat an awning is great at keeping the heat off the glass.

spurdog1

the house was built in 1970

FreeBear

Replacing the double glazed sealed units with triple glazed ones is an option. It probably won't reduce solar heating by much though.

I have a south facing bay window, so lots of glass in it. When I had scaffolding up last summer, it acted as a huge great awning and certainly didn't experience the massive temperature rises that I have seen in previous years. Unfortunately, I have no way of attaching an awning over that window, but it might work for you.

Green_hopeful

An awning or shading can help in the summer. We have wisteria plants growing across our kitchen window and it’s consistently 5 degrees cooler in there in the summer. There is also evidence that having plants growing on the outside keeps houses warm in the winter. https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/articles/ivy-homes

Depending on how old your double glazing is you  might benefit from magnetic secondary glazing. We have old double glazing and the air gap is narrow so it isn’t very insulating. We are thinking about getting magnetic secondary glazing. We have lots of condensation so that might be an indication of whether the windows are not very good. Magnetic glazing is much cheaper than replacement double glazing or triple glazing. 

The other thing is if you have a flat roof you might not have insulation in the roof which would make it hot in the summer and cold in the winter. 

QrizB

spurdog1 said:

My single story has a south facing kitchen. That means in the summer the sun is overhead midday. Burning hot in the summer freezing in winter. Double glazed. Is there a way i can add a further glaze onto the plastic frame of the window, detachable in the summer? Anyone know a supplier?

Is the kitchen a flat-roofed extension to the original 1970s house?

If it is, the window is unlikely to be the problem. It's more likely that the roof lacks insulation.

markin

spurdog1 said:

the house was built in 1970

I actually meant the age of the glass, my new window is cool to the touch compared to the glass from 2001 on the same wall side by side, it also gets condensation on the outside in mornings as its so cold that wet air condenses on it, Its now a common thread on the forums with people thinking something is wrong.

If it is a cold flat roof it can be insulated on top with a new roof.

spurdog1

Thanks all for your input. Windows are "more recent", looks about 2010, but as we didn't live here then and legal pack has no clues, we're a bit stumped. Love the idea of rampant wisteria, honeysuckle clematis to shade. As garage is close to one facing  window, it may be worth a small porch wooden(coloured perspex/whatever).

Scot_39

markin said:

How old is it, Newer glass and triple are better at keeping the heat out as well as keeping heat in.

For summer heat an awning is great at keeping the heat off the glass.

You can fit reflective coating to double glazed panels to reflect much of the heat in summer if a problem.

We have it at the office now as the heat was unbearable on the sunny side on a hot summers day - its far better now.  Its also meant to reflect heat back in winter too.

But don't see those bills - so who knows.

mmmmikey

I automated the blinds in my conservatory over the summer so they close automatically when the conservatory heats up and it was transformational. There's nothing special about the blinds, they're just standard slatted venetian blinds. A room I could barely use was brought back into almost daily use. I wonder if something similar would help here - not too expensive for a few windows?