Pilkington Activ (self cleaning glass)

midflight

Hi there,

Does anyone have any experience with Pilkington Activ "self-cleaning glass" double glazing windows?

I think they're quite popular in conservatory roofs, and other awkward access areas, but we're currently gathering quotes to have all of the old single-glazed wooden windows in our house replaced with modern uPVC, and are thinking of having Activ installed in all of them. I have a long-standing & deep-rooted dislike of window cleaners (which is another story...) and self-cleaning glass seems like an ideal solution, as well as being more eco-friendly.

Does it work? Is it worth it? etc... cheers in advance!

adandem

All our recently fitted upvc windows have special hinges which allow you to clean them from inside. No need for window cleaners or special glass.
I'm not sure if the 'activ' is the same as the usual Pilkington but we opted for a different type of glass a as Pilkington can look smokey or smeared in the sunlight.;)

midflight

Hi, thanks - yes, I've seen the "easy-clean hinges" you're talking about, but they only really work on side opening windows, and all but one of our windows are top opening. The other alternative is "tilt-and-turn" windows, but we've decided against those also.
What kind of glass have you had put in then? I thought Pilky K was standard these days?

adandem

There are other types, in fact the company that did ours said that very few people were going for Pilkington K.

Not sure what ours is called but 'low e' rings a bell.

midflight

:huh:

I thought Pilkington K glass was Low-E (low-emissivity) ?

http://www.windowstoday.co.uk/pilkington.htm

I also thought Pilkington K glass was pretty much industry standard?
(all 3 quotes I've had so far have implied that it is)

I'm happy to be proved wrong though...?

Rex_Mundi

There may be a bit of confusion about what the OP has asked about, and the talk about Low E and Pilkington K glass.

Pretty much every new double glazed window will come with Low E (supplied by Solaglass), or Pilkington K (supplied by Pilks). It is the internal pane on a double glazed unit, and its job is to lower the U value of a unit, and cut out heat loss. You need this glass to comply with Part L of the building regs.

In my experience (nearly 30 years in the glass trade), Pilkington K is most commonly used.

Pilkington Activ has been around a few years now. It goes on the outside. This glass has a coating that reacts with sunlight. This keeps dirt from sticking to the glass, and the idea is that when it rains, it washes the dirt off the windows (negating the need for a window cleaner). I've dealt with this glass since it was introduced to the UK. My view is that it does work, although a wash with soap and water doesn't hurt them every now and then (don't use abrasive or solvent cleaner on this glass, you could damage the self cleaning coating). In a long dry summer, you can substitute rain with a hosepipe, and just wash them down. If I was changing my own windows now, I would have no problem using this glass.

midflight

Fantastic! Many thanks for the useful info

midflight

Hi williamrobb88,
Again, like Rex, great advice, many thanks!

So far we have 3 quotes (for 4 windows + 2 doors), all from small-ish local companies (lord save us from the nationals!)

After some negotiation, the cheapest ended up at £2750 (though we reckon we could get it down to £2500), the next was £3000. Both these companies seem very good, and we are having difficulty choosing between them (the few hundred quid difference is not too important, as it's not all about the money, it's also about quality of product and who can provide the best overall service). Neither had pushy salesmen, stayed less than 1 hour, are were happy for us to compare quotes elsewhere, etc. So far so good...

The third company quoted between £3250 & £4440, depending on which options we went for. However, we wouldn't go with them if they offered us everything for nothing! The "salesman" (who refused to describe himself as a salesman, despite being the absolute finest example of a salesman you could ever dread to meet) didn't leave for almost 2 hours, got increasingly irked that we wouldn't sign up with him there & then, and his answers to some of our questions were frankly laughable (example: "have you done any work nearby that we could go take a look at?" answer: "what does that matter? I could be lying!" another example: "what sort of reinforcement do you use in your doors?" answer: "who cares? how will you know? I could tell you anything and you'd never be able to tell unless you took the door apart!"). I could go on, but trust me - it was painful!
:rolleyes:

Do these prices (£2500-£3000) for 4 windows (Pilkington K with Activ coating) + 2 doors seem reasonable?

Cheers!

Rex_Mundi

Of all the glass questions I answer, I never answer questions about prices. It's like giving a quote without seeing the job first (I'd never do that either.

There are so many factors with window quotes.......

Area of the country can make a difference, so can the type of system used (Rehau, Eurocell, etc). Ripping out box sashes and making good, is a lot more work than a straight fit. How many trickle vents? Door panels can vary in price massively. There are so many factors (many more than I've listed), I wouldn't feel comfortable commenting on a quote without knowing all the details.

I always recommend getting at least three quotes locally. Steer clear of the national companies if possible, some of their prices seem so out of wack that they seem to operate on another planet (plus I've seen some terrible work done by their subbys)

tingtong

Sorry for bumping this old thread but we are just about to get a new conservatory built. We've had a quote based on a 25mm polycarb roof but have now decided to go for a Pilkington Activ glass roof instead.

Could anyone give a rough estimate how much extra this should cost ? The conservatory will be Edwardian shaped and 4.5 x 4.5mtr. I just want to have some idea so I know that our revised quote is OK.

Thanks in advance.

rando

tingtong wrote: »

Sorry for bumping this old thread but we are just about to get a new conservatory built. We've had a quote based on a 25mm polycarb roof but have now decided to go for a Pilkington Activ glass roof instead.

Could anyone give a rough estimate how much extra this should cost ? The conservatory will be Edwardian shaped and 4.5 x 4.5mtr. I just want to have some idea so I know that our revised quote is OK.

Thanks in advance.

Well I am in the process of getting quotes for replacing my polycarb conservatory roof with a glass one with pilk k self clean & argon gas filled units (for better insulation). I have a 'p' shaped conservatory 8m x 3m and the prices I am being qouted are approx 5K.