Double Glazing On The Web

Would you buy double glazing online? With the wonders of EBay, Amazon and Freecycle online, there are few material items in this world that technology and a large credit card limit can’t buy you.

I certainly wouldn’t advocate purchasing frames and or glazing through the internet and having a crack installing them yourself, but there is a lot that can be said for double glazing online. For one thing you neatly sidestep the intrusive salesman who comes into your home and tries to sell you features you don’t need. By cutting out this stage, you would also cunningly avoid the inflated costs glazing firms mark up on their products in order to pay for said intrusive salesman.

Wouldn’t it be great, once you’ve decided to replace windows or doors or even by a conservatory, if you could take some brief measurements and contact a glazing company who would quite happily take you through their products, but not send anyone to you home except the a surveyor? That for me would be the real highlight of being able to buy Double Glazing on the Web.

Are A-rated double glazed windows really the way to go, or are double glazing retailers simply taking advantage of our childhood conditioning? Surely A is always better than C because it comes earlier in the alphabet…?

Funny, but when you stop and think about it, choosing double glazing isn’t an exam. Mine is not necessary better than yours because it ‘scores’ higher. Well perhaps on paper it means something and if the letter A is very important to you, then A-rated windows are most certainly out there to buy.

Personally however, there is more to my purchasing decision than the boxes a product ticks on an industry checklist – I have to weigh that against the other crucial list in my life: my bank balance.

Browsing through statistics I came across an interesting set of figures. Money saved through installing new energy efficient, A-rated double glazed windows, on your average 3-bed semi, over 20years is roughly – wait for it… £8,300.00 Wow – impressive! BUT the savings on the same property, over the same 20 years, with C-rated double glazed windows is £7,700.00.

If I’ve got this right, and believe me I’m no mathematician, that’s a saving difference, over a 20 year period, of just £30 a year, approximately £600 in total. Given that I’m unlikely to be staying in my property for the full 20 years, probably more like five, if the cost to upgrade from A to C is more than £150 total, than I’m afraid my bank balance wins out and I’d go for C over A any day!

The benefits of double glazing are being drummed home by government into our local councils. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have already been spent upgrading windows and doors in council houses and in some cases councils are even being threatened with reduced budgets if their housing standards do not comply with government expectations.

Carbon emissions have now become priority to our UK government and the buck literally will be stopping in some cases. Wasteful Councils should prepare to be named and shamed under the new Carbon Trading Scheme. Among the plans to reduce emissions is double glazing; the insulation properties of double glazing can reduce energy use enormously. New windows and doors also provide better security for occupants, and reduce noise pollution.

Our government and local councils are striving to make a difference and double glazing is helping in that fight! Reduced energy consumption indoors due to improved insulation from your windows and doors is helping to conserve the environment. Keep up the good work folks!

Well you’d certainly hope so.  Double Glazing on the Web believes in complete transparency of service, therefore we make no bones about what our service includes right from the outset and we’ll even clear up for free!  When you decide to invest in new windows for your home, we believe strongly that there should be no grey areas when questioning ‘what do I get?’ 

Our quoted prices include everything; costed exactly and openly so you no can not only see what you are paying for, but remain in control and with plenty of choice.  DGOTW execute the work from start to finish: from carrying out the initial survey work through to wiping clean the cills after your beautiful new windows have been installed.  We even dispose of your old windows.

Don’t play the guessing game where double glazing is concerned; make an informed decision with DGOTW.  Transparent and upfront, we are compliant with all current FENSA and Local Authority Building Control standards; you’ll even get a certificate when the job is complete.

Ok, so there’s frost on the ground, it’s dark at 4:30pm and there’s talk of more snow… You could be forgiven for not putting those new patio doors at the top of your priority list.  In fact if you’re anything like me, you don’t so much as venture into the back garden between October and May, but trust me, come the odd day or two of British summertime, you’ll wish you’d planned ahead!

Picture it now; smart new double glazed patio doors leading directly onto your lawn.  This year you’ll enjoy serene evenings with just the summer breeze and the sound of the dusk symphony from the song thrush.  You can be looking out through your patio doors at the frosty mornings, the drizzled afternoons and the snowy winter evenings whilst enjoying all the extra heat that you may have been losing before choosing double glazing.
 
The rate this year is flying by, summer will be here before you know it… better get stuck in on the weeding then!

So Christmas is over and somehow you managed to shoehorn the entire family; pets, granny, uncles and aunts and the cousins into the one room again to open their presents and watch the Queen’s speech…  but wouldn’t it have been lovely to have had some extra space?  With the credit crunch still looming, the ‘improve or move’ question is larger than ever and a conservatory can often be the best solution.

If you decide to take the ‘improve’ route then read on!  A UPVC conservatory is always high up on people’s wish list and you can be almost certain that you will add instant value to your much loved property.  Virtually maintenance free, double glazing only needs a wipe clean every now and then to keep it looking nearly new. 

Imagine all that extra space!  With various conservatory styles to choose from, you could improve your home both inside and out.  Just think, this Christmas you could be enjoying a mince pie and sherry in the warm new conservatory.  Leaving the kids to play in the lounge if you like!

That awful time of year is upon us once again and no I don’t mean Christmas. If you were pleasantly surprised by your last energy bill don’t be fooled, as I am every year - remember that the bill would be for your last quarter (July – September), so sadly folks it won’t be long until the dreaded (October – December) bill comes crashing through the letterbox or down your broadband connection and you’ll have to pay the price for being all warm and cosy during the colder weather.

Don’t be disheartened, there is a solution!  Double glazing can reduce your energy use enormously.  Your heating bills can be shrunk by scrapping those drafty old timber windows and installing new double glazed windows.  Not only will you make a saving on your energy use, heating bills and carbon footprint, but your property will instantly become more desirable and could increase in value. 

Admittedly, energy prices are perhaps a little out of our control at the moment, but you certainly can control how much of it you use!

Did you know that the quality of the UPCV used on your double glazed windows and doors, not only has a direct effect on their life span, but also their colour retention? Clearly all UPVC gets dirty and a quick wipe over with washing up liquid can work wonders in the short term. However, if you want your UPVC to continue being sparkly and white, it’s worth investing in high grade materials during installation.

UPVC or Unplasticised Poly Vinyl Chloride, comes in many different grades and colours. Seen under a microscope, high quality grades, which have the greatest resistance to fading and sun damage, are far smoother than poorer, more porous compounds.

Did you know that when you have your windows fitted by a FENSA registered installer, you will receive a certificate from your local council which goes in your properties HIP?

The government introduced the HIP Home Information Pack, to aid home buyers as part of the 2004 Housing Act. Essentially a set of documents concerning the property, they contain an energy performance certificate, details of local authority searches, title documents, guarantees etc. They became mandatory for homes with four or more bedrooms from 1 August 2007 and were extended to three-bedroom properties from 10 September 2007.

Professionally installed double glazing has a significant impact on your homes carbon footprint. So much so that local councils feel the need to document the quality of your double glazing and more importantly, the fact that your new windows were installed by FENSA a registered company.

The bottom-line is that if you are investing in new windows or any double glazing upgrade, then it is well worth sourcing a reputable double glazing firm. Check that they trade in high quality raw products i.e. uPVC and toughened glass and that they are FENSA registered with an experienced team of fitters.

With the big freeze still bearing down upon us, for many without double glazed windows it can’t help to learn that up to 50% of the heat in our homes is lost through our windows and that’s while the windows are closed! This equates roughly to £135 per year for an average household, or for the environmentally conscious, that’s around 720kg of CO2.

It’s no wonder then that as the cold weather continues, across the country there has been a noticeable increase in double glazing enquiries for new double glazed windows. Similarly there’s been a dramatic rise in interest in new boilers…strange that. The trouble is that doubled glazed windows, just like boilers and water tanks, don’t rate highly on many of our ‘things we would like’ lists – it’s not until they shoot to the top of the ‘things I really must get’ list that we actually do something about it.

It’s a shame because although few people start to shop around for boilers or double glazing in August when the weather’s nice, that’s likely to be the time when the best bargains are to be found. Leave it till the heating’s broken or your energy bills are the equivalent to burning £5 notes for warmth and it’s guaranteed that every engineer and double glazing fitter in the country will be rushed off their feet!