Glazing Calculator in Canberra

Glazing Calculator in Canberra


Now that we have a 6 star rating requirement for new homes in Canberra, it is important that you insulate your walls, ceiling, floor and windows to get this rating. Insulate windows? Yes, windows. Why, do we still put single glazed windows in our homes? Are they insulated? In a word... no. Insulation is an airgap and unless you have the airgap, then you won't retain the heat that you are hoping to.

Have you noticed when your bed gets cooler, your doona has flattened out. Fluff it up and your bed is warmer again. This is because you have air inside the filling again. The same applies to your windows and your wall and ceiling batts.

Double glazing is two pieces of glass with an airgap in between. There is a spacer bar that keeps the two at a predetermined distance. The spacer bar has dessicants inside to prevent condensation and then the whole unit is sealed hermetically. This insulated glass unit is then put into our uPVC frames. This means you have an insulated glass unit going into an insulated frame that has great seals providing the perfect window or door.

There are many varieties of glass and experts say that you should have the spacer bar at least 10mm and no more than 20mm for optimum performance. You can also have argon gas pumped into the unit at the factory which gives a further increase in your insulation.

What has this got to do with the glazing calculator? When you are seeking approval to build your extension or new home, your architect, designer or builder will arrangefor the glazing calculator to be completed. In it, there are variables added such as uvalue of each windows, solar heat gain co-efficiency, orientation, height and width and shading. If the big green tick doesn't apepar then you do not get approval to build.

I am happy to say that our windows are able to get most homes over the line. If a glazing calculator isn't succesful and you are still unable to get the green tick then you can arrange for an Energy Rating to be done on your home by an Energy Assessor. They can recommend further improvements such as better insulation etc to get your approval.