Category: Conservation areas

Can I save money on my energy bills by installing double glazing? Yes you can.

Black aluminium windows
Black aluminium windows double glazed in energy efficient argon-filled
sealed units with feature rectangle leads.

Did you know? 18% of heat loss occurs through windows. Across the UK, around 7% of households still don’t have double glazing. Heat is lost through single glazing twice as fast as through standard double glazing.

energysavingtrust.org.uk

All properties lose heat through their windows. But energy efficient double glazing, coupled with other energy saving measures keeps your home warmer and quieter as well as helping to reduce your energy bills.

What is energy efficient glazing?

Otherwise known as Low-e (low emissivity), this is a type of energy-efficient glass designed to prevent heat escaping out through your windows to the cold outdoors. Low-e glass has a special coating which is a poor radiator of heat and does not allow heat to be transferred to the outside. Instead, the low-e coating actually reflects the heat back into your room. Low-e glass can be used throughout your home to improve its energy efficiency. Windows, doors, conservatories and rooflights can all benefit from the use of energy-efficient glazing to help keep the heat in and save money on your energy bills.

How Low-e glass works in your windows and doors to prevent heat loss.

Window Energy Ratings (WER)

Window Energy Ratings (known as WER) are a guide to the energy performance of your windows. There are two main schemes run by the British Fenestration Ratings Council (BFRC) and the British Standards Institute (BSI). The window energy rating scheme checks all the components to ensure the final window achieves the energy efficient standard claimed. This means that you just need to look for the A-E ratings and remember the higher the energy rating, the more energy efficient it is. Windows installed by Ruislip Windows usually achieve at least an A rating, and often higher.

Examples of WER

Benefits of installing energy rated windows:

  • Reassurance of certified scheme approval of the windows.
  • Improves the energy-efficiency of your home, reducing the amount of energy you use and helping you to save money on your heating bills.
  • Significantly more effective than existing single glazing.
  • Manufactured to UK and European quality standards and meet the requirements for building regulations concerning energy efficiency of homes.

By installing double glazing into an entirely single glazed house, you could save the following each year (for a typical gas heated home):

What to consider

We recognise that choosing new windows and doors for your home is a big decision, and one you want to be confident in getting right first time. So it’s good to know that even our standard Rehau uPVC windows and doors achieve WER of A+. However different customer circumstances will determine which windows and doors you can replace with double glazing and what products you can replace them with, for instance:

CONSERVATION AREA

What if you live in a Conservation Area or a listed building? There are strict rules about what you can replace your existing windows and doors with (such as like for like) and that can restrict your choices and options.

PERIOD PROPERTY

If you’re in a Victorian or Edwardian building you may have traditional sash windows, or an Art Deco home with steel crittal windows. You may have original stained glass and leads that you would like to preserve.

ALUMINIUM

Aluminium is a popular choice for contemporary homes but is more expensive than uPVC. Energy ratings have improved significantly for aluminium profiles, but uPVC generally hits higher energy efficiency targets.

We offer a wide range of products and many of these will be suitable for traditional properties who want to preserve their aesthetic style:

  • Sash windows: “A” rated uPVC sash windows that replicate very well a traditional box sash window. Good aesthetics and great energy efficiency mean these windows will make a huge difference to your home.
  • Timber replacement windows: “A” rated premium uPVC windows that don’t skimp on authentic style. Flush fitting like traditional wooden windows and available in a range of painted wood effect grained foils. 90° timber effect corner welds and ovolo putty Georgian bars complement their traditional aesthetics beautifully. See more here >>
  • Alitherm Heritage aluminium windows and doors: perfect for all crittal replacement installs, with slim slender profiles. Also available as multi-part windows and doors – ideal for commercial premises and warehouse flat conversions and even internal doors.
Crittal replacement & Alitherm Heritage | Sash windows | Flush fitting Residence

For more information about the energy ratings of our products and how they could save you money on your energy bills, please contact us. Also, energy ratings are available in all our product brochures for each type of window and door that we install. Download our brochures from our main website >>

See also our other articles:

We hope to see you very soon! 🙂

Feeling Flush? We check out the new Flush casements that are giving wood a run for their money.

Gone are the days when people had to rely on traditional and expensive materials for older, quaint and period properties. Now you don’t have to compromise on appearance if opting for more efficient and modern uPVC solutions. 

One feature that would always stand out on a wooden casement window was that the casements would sit flush to the frame. This would give a neater, more symmetrical look, and until recently, it wasn’t something that a uPVC could emulate. Opening vents on a uPVC window sat proud from the frame, often creating unequal sightlines, and, if you chose dummy sashes to create an equal sightline (ideal for feature leads and Georgians), the vents could often appear bulky looking.

Examples of timber flush (left) and “lipped” casement windows. The “lipped” casement’s opening vent sits proud of the frame. The flush opening casement sits flush within the frame.

Wooden windows would often have a much more pleasing finish than a uPVC window, which at the time, would inevitably look like the smooth white plastic it was. Over years, the clean white finish would often fade, and take on a more grubby looking appearance.

Even the introduction of so-called “woodgrain effect foils” some time ago now, simply looked like a uPVC window pretending to be wood. It didn’t help that these foils were only available in a limited colour range – including the rather tangoed-tones of “golden oak” and the 80s inspired mahogany rosewood, neither of which looked anything like a genuine stained wooden window.

Example of an oriel bay window in the classic orange tones of Golden Oak, with dummy sashes throughout (so that all the leads line up). Does it look like wood? Not really.

uPVC windows may have been maintenance free with better thermal and security properties, but they were no match aesthetically for their wooden counterparts.

The problem was actually quite simple: that a uPVC window is constructed differently to a timber window. And until the construction of a uPVC window could match that of a timber window, it was never going to cut the mustard.

Finally some innovative companies began to push the boundaries in design and manufacture, producing windows and doors that included genuine timber aesthetics with improved woodgrain foils and traditional ironmongery. These windows, now usually marketed as “timber replacement” led the way in revolutionising the window industry. Consequently today we now have products that much more closely resemble the handcrafted qualities of genuine timber windows, but with none of the maintenance issues – the very best of both worlds!

Deceuninck Heritage flush casement window in English Oak with 90° timber effect corner welds and traditional pewter handles and stays. Does it look like wood? Yes it does!

Here at Ruislip Windows, we have not one, not two but THREE different Flush systems that we can offer our customers – the Heritage Flush from Deceuninck, The Rio from Rehau and our premium windows from the Residence Collection.

Residence 9 Flush casement window in light oak with 90° timber effect corner welds and ovolo putty horizontal Georgian bar. Does it look like wood? Yes it does!

Find out more about our Flush casement windows here and download the brochures from our website:

Want to know more technical details about our Flush casement windows? Then give us a call on (020) 8868 1133 or drop us an email – we look forward to hearing from you soon! 🙂

 

Solutions for planning and conservation areas

Conservation area woes – now you can have the best of both worlds with our Residence 9 windows!

 

“I’d love to replace my rotten old timber windows with a maintenance free option but I’m in a conservation area and need to obtain planning permission. The council won’t allow uPVC windows – what can I do?”

A conservation area is an area of specific architectural or historical interest, the character or appearance of which is desirable to preserve or enhance. Many towns and villages rely on historic windows for much of their architectural impact and character and inappropriate, poor quality replacement windows can easily erode traditional features on historic buildings.

ARTICLE 4
Article 4, as it is known, is when a planning authority applies to restrict development rights in a conservation area and replacement windows will then need to be approved by planning. Some planning authorities precluded the use of modern materials because the window designs were considered inappropriate in size, shape and design. However with the recent introduction of new profiles that are designed to resemble traditional wood, some authorities have now adopted a more modern approach and will approve the use of specific profiles because of their consideration of the Article 4 directives. Residence 9 has been specifically designed to replicate the documented historical window designs from the period.

Looks like wood – Residence 9 Window showing authentic looking ovolo/putty Georgian bars, flush sashes and 45 degree “timber effect” welds.

The design brief for Residence 9 was to extract the key principles, shapes and dimensions from the Article 4 Conservation Area guidelines for windows and integrate market leading technology into the design using virtually maintenance free materials.

Residence 9 is thermally and acoustically brilliant. It features the latest security, maintenance and performance innovations, whilst appearing completely traditional. Your windows won’t warp, swell, flake or need sanding and painting.

  • Residence 9 has nine chambers and is 100mm wide, resulting in superior thermal, acoustic, strength and security performance.
  • Achieves a certified window energy A+ rating
  • Can accommodate 44mm triple glazing and 28mm double glazing.
  • Attains U-values of 0.8 with triple glazing, PassivHaus Standard, and 1.2 with double glazing, far surpassing the British Building Regulation requirements.
  • All of this contributes to lower energy bills, keeping you cosy in the winter and cool in the summer.

Interior view of a Residence 9 window clearly demonstrates the authentic timber styling and feature monkey tail handles.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Residence 9 windows are not only stylish, they will withstand the test of time too. They include state of the art design features and champion British craftsmanship using time honoured traditions and modern manufacturing processes. With a range of splendid styles and configurations, Residence 9 allows you to create an individual design statement for your home – choose from a vast colour palette and a series of decorative options such as peg stays, authentic looking Georgian bars and weather bars to truly personalise your windows.

The devil is in the detail – these small but very important design features create an authentic looking window beyond comparison.

Download our latest Residence 9 brochure from our website here or give us a call and have a chat with John about how Residence 9 could work for you. We hope to see you soon!