Description

Insulating glass (also known as thermal glass, bay window, 2k glass, 3k glass, selective glass in insulating glass, energy-saving glass…)

Insulating glass (thermal glass) is usually 2- or 3-glass. An insulating glass element is made by joining 2 or 3 panes of glass together to form a hermetically sealed element. There is usually an aluminium spacer between the panes, which separates the panes at a certain distance from each other. Newer insulating glass also often uses a composite interlayer instead of aluminium, which insulates the edges of the insulating glass much more effectively than aluminium. Insulating glass usually also has selective glass and argon gas to improve the U-value.

If you are buying a new insulating glass to replace an old one, we recommend that you remove the window sills and measure the exact dimensions of the insulating glass, as well as the total thickness of the insulating glass.

Thermal insulation value (U-value) – energy savings

The number of layers of glass, the width of the space between the panes and the type of glass affect the U-value of the insulating glass. The lower the U-value (W/m2K – Watts/square metre*temperature difference inside vs outside in Kelvin), the less heat is transmitted through the glass. For example, by selecting selective glass (Glass thickness menu) and argon gas for the glass, the U-value is lowered. The U-value is measured at the centre of the glass.

For the best thermal insulation value, use 3-layer insulating glass, where the outer glass is Pilkington SunCool 70/40 solar selective and the inner glass is selective glass, with a glazing bead width of 20mm.

You can see the U-value of the selected glass in the additional information below the glass options.

# insulating glass # thermal glass # 2k glass # 3k glass

What is selective glass?

Selective glass is normal glass coated with a very thin, and nowadays almost colourless, metallic alloy. This metal alloy reflects the heat radiation from the inside back into the room, but allows the slightly different wavelengths of solar heat radiation from the window to penetrate well inside. The coating of the selective glass is always turned inside the insulating glass, thus protecting the coating. Modern selective coatings are virtually colourless and do little to change the colour of the insulating glass. Almost all new insulating glass has selective glass and argon gas between the panes.

Solar control glass (double glazed solar control glass)

There are also selective glasses, which effectively reflect both the sun’s heat radiation back out and the heat radiation from inside back in. For this use we sell state-of-the-art Pilkington SunCool 70/40 solar control glass, which has the appearance of neutral (not heavily tinted like traditional mass tinted or reflective solar control glass), still lets in light well (light transmission around 70%), but solar energy transmission drops to around 40% in 3-layer glass and 43% in 2-layer glass, while without solar control glass the solar energy transmission of insulating glass is around 72-82%. With Pilkington SunCool 70/40 solar control glass, you get modern insulating glass, which reduces not only heating costs in winter, but also energy consumption from cooling air conditioning in summer. The house is warm in winter and cool in summer!

Sunscreen glass

Normal sunscreens only reduce the amount of heat that the sun brings in, but do not affect the heat that escapes from the inside. Sunglasses are always either highly tinted or highly reflective (or both). These include mass tinted glass in grey, bronze, blue, green and reflective + tinted glass e.g. SuperSilver, SilverLight etc. Depending on the thickness, tinted glasses have a solar energy transmittance of about 50%, while reflective glasses have a solar energy transmittance of about 19-29%. With both types of glass, light transmission drops in the same proportion at the same time. With normal sunscreens, it is always recommended to use a selective glass as the innermost glass to reduce heat loss. It is always recommended to temper mass-tinted sunglasses due to the potential risk of thermal shock.

Self-cleaning glass

With self-cleaning glass you get ease and convenience in your everyday life as self-cleaning glass significantly reduces the number of times you need to clean the glass, but it should be noted that self-cleaning glass does not completely eliminate the need for cleaning.

Self-cleaning glass only works:

• • • • outdoor
      • in a place where the self-cleaning coating of the glass gets plenty of:
        • UV radiation from the sun (UV radiation activates the coating and breaks down biodegradable dirt on the glass)
        • rainwater, which rinses away the dirt dispersed by the coating (or, alternatively, hose irrigation)
    • The self-cleaning glass coating also drips the water stream (repels water), allowing water to move away from the glass more quickly

Ask more about Self-cleaning glass from our customer service! # self-cleaning glass

Example recommendations

If you want insulating glass, where is the top of the range:

• thermal insulation against heat escaping from the inside to the outside (reduces the need for heating energy)
• solar thermal insulation against solar energy from the outside to the inside (reduces the need for cooling-air conditioning)
• neutral appearance (no strong colours or reflections)
  • Select
    • 3-layers (3-glass insulating glass)
      • Pilkington SunCool 70/40 solar control glass as the most open glass
      • 4 or 6mm selective glass as inner glass
      • Better thermal insulation composite moulding as a partition, best thermal value with 20mm wide partition

If you again want to have the illusion of solar energy inside your future building, choose “Clear Standard” as the most transparent glass.

# insulating glass # thermal glass # 2k glass # 3k glass

Insulating glass with safety glass

All insulating glass can also be tempered

If you want more security, you can select the tempering of the glass from the menu above. After tempering, the glass is about 3-5 times more durable than untempered glass (excluding the edge of the glass), and when broken, tempered glass shatters into small “vacuum cleanable” crumbs, so there is little risk of cutting if the glass breaks. Tempered glass is also more resistant to temperature differences in different parts of the glass (200 kelvin difference inside the glass, maximum operating temperature 300C – untempered 40 kelvin). By selecting tempering, all 2 or 3 panes of the insulating glass are tempered. (Note! Insulating glass maximum operating temperature +65C, the mass may start to break down at higher temperatures)

Laminated glass can also be used in insulating glass to increase safety:

Laminated glass usually has two panes of glass bonded together with a PVB or EVA laminating film. If the glass breaks, the membranes still hold the two panes together, which means that laminated glass rarely causes an accident if it breaks. This is why laminated glass is classified as safety glass. The maximum operating temperature for laminated glass is +90C. (Note! Insulating glass maximum operating temperature +65C, the mass may start to break down at higher temperatures)

Applications include: windows and doors in buildings, thermal insulation of terraces, etc.

In all glass construction, take into account building regulations and their requirements for glass durability/safety glass requirements.

Also remember to take into account the dimensions of the glass to allow for sufficient clearance. For insulating glass, the black mass area of the glass must be protected from the sun’s UV rays (usually the black edge area of the glass is covered by e.g. fixing strips). The black mass area is about 8-13mm wide, depending on the type and size of the glass.

You can also calculate the weight of the glass by entering the glass data in the fields. The glass weight calculator does not take into account the reduction in mass due to the shape of the glass, but always calculates the weight of the glass in the rectangular area. The glass weight counter is indicative. The weight of the glass can vary between different production batches due to the thickness tolerance of the glass.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact. contact us – we are happy to help!

In all glass construction, take into account building regulations and their requirements for the load/durability of glass.

# insulating glass # thermal glass