Most Melbourne homeowners look at double glazing to fix one of a few things: noise from a train line or freeway, a bedroom that never warms up in July, a west-facing lounge that bakes in the afternoon, or glass that drips onto the sill on winter mornings.
Each one has a different fix, so the glass and frame you ask for depend on what bothers you most. Some need a different glass, and some need a thermally broken frame, which has an insulating strip through the aluminium so the cold doesn't travel through the metal.
Traffic, Train And Freeway Noise
Around Melbourne, the noise people want to shut out is usually a train line or a freeway. A single sheet of glass is the easiest way in for that noise. A double glazed window gives sound two panes and a sealed gap to get past.
For a busy road, ask for acoustic glass. It's laminated glass, two sheets of glass bonded to a plastic layer between them, and in acoustic glass that layer is made to damp sound.
Plane noise is harder. Double glazing helps with it, though it won't stop it. Noise also gets in through gaps around old frames, which is one reason people replace the whole window instead of only the glass. Read more on noise reduction windows in Melbourne.
Losing Heat On Winter Nights
Glass is a poor insulator. With one sheet between a warm room and a cold night, the heat moves straight out, and the room near the window always feels cool.
Double glazing slows that down. Heat has to cross the first pane, the sealed gap and the second pane. Two glass choices do more:
- Low-E glass has a very thin, clear coating on one pane that reflects heat. In winter it sends warmth back into the room.
- Argon filled glass has argon, a gas heavier than air, sealed in the gap instead of air. It slows the heat moving across the gap.
Cold Coming Through The Frame
An ordinary aluminium frame is solid metal from the outside face to the inside face. Metal carries cold well, so on a winter night the frame goes cold and carries that cold into the room. Put double glazing in a plain aluminium frame and the frame still carries the cold into the room.
A thermally broken frame has a non-conductive break through the frame, so heat and cold don't travel through the metal.
Our thermally broken range is the ML102-TB series: awning windows, which are hinged at the top, sliding doors, and casement doors, which are hinged at the side. Here's how thermally broken windows work.
Hot Rooms In Summer
In summer it works the other way. The sun heats the room through the glass, and a west-facing room takes the worst of it in the afternoon. Double glazing lets the heat through more slowly.
- Low-E glass turns back some of the sun's heat.
- Tinted glass has colour through it. It cuts glare and some of the sun's heat.
Foggy, Dripping Glass
Condensation forms when warm, damp air meets cold glass. On a single glazed window it can happen most winter mornings, with water running down onto the sill.
The inside pane of a double glazed window stays warmer, so it fogs up less. A thermally broken frame stays warmer too. Airing the room still matters, because cooking, showers and drying clothes all add damp to the air.
The Heater And Air Con Running All Day
When less warmth escapes in winter and less heat gets in in summer, the heater and air con have less to do. How much less depends on your house, its size and which way it faces, so be wary of anyone promising an exact saving.
Glass In Doors And Near The Floor
Some glass has to be safety glass. AS 1288, the Australian Standard for glass in buildings, sets where it must go, such as in doors and in glass close to the floor.
Laminated glass is one kind of safety glass. If it breaks, the pieces stick to the plastic layer instead of falling out of the frame. It's worth asking about for a glass door, a low window or a window beside a bath. What your job needs is confirmed on the quote. Our guide to glass options for double glazing explains each kind.
What To Ask For With Each Problem
| If this bothers you | Ask for |
|---|---|
| Traffic, train or freeway noise | Double glazing with acoustic glass |
| Cold rooms on winter nights | Low-E or argon filled glass |
| Cold coming off the frame | A thermally broken frame: ML102-TB awning windows, sliding doors or casement doors |
| A hot room in the afternoon sun | Low-E or tinted glass |
| Foggy glass every morning | Double glazing, and an ML102-TB thermally broken frame |
| Glass in a door or near the floor that could break | Laminated safety glass |
Plenty of homes have more than one of these. You can choose the glass room by room, so a bedroom on the street can have acoustic glass while the west-facing lounge has low-E.
Where To Start
If you can't do the whole house at once, start with the room that bothers you most: the bedroom on the street, the lounge in the afternoon sun, or the room with the coldest windows. Plenty of people do one room first and the rest later.
Send us how many windows and doors you have, your suburb and a few photos. We'll come back with a ballpark, then measure every window ourselves before anything is ordered. See our double glazed windows for Melbourne homes, or work out your square metres with the double glazing cost guide.
