224 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
224 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
property
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greenproperty
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8104675
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# Alternatives to double glazing
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## Sarah Lonsdale reports on the latest 'eco' products and sorts the fads
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from the finds. This week: alternatives to double glazing.
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![Green property: Sarah Lonsdale][1]
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Sarah Lonsdale Photo: ANDREW CROWLEY
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By Sarah Lonsdale 12:09PM GMT 02 Nov 2010
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[Comments][2]
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Katy Duke and her husband Richard Swann live in a converted Victorian school
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house in Frome, Somerset. A beautiful historic building made from the creamy
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local dressed limestone, it does, however, retain its features of a large,
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draughty central space and long windows to allow light into classrooms built
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before the days of electricity.
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"We have lived here for over 20 years and have always struggled with heat loss
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through the windows," Katy says. "Last year, we decided we couldn't continue
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heating the garden, so replaced some of the single-paned windows with double-
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glazed fixed units. However, some of the windows are beautiful Victorian
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sashes with original glazing - it's uneven and one pane has a scratched
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signature on it - I like to think it was a bored schoolchild."
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Katy and Richard decided they wanted to retain these lovely examples of
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Victorian glazing, but were faced with the perennial problem that owners of
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period homes invariably have: how do you stop your heat escaping through them?
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Katy, a trained architect, had come across a system of fitted, insulated
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roller blinds in a project she had been involved in and wondered whether her
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windows might benefit from something similar. "These blinds were attached to
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the window frame with Velcro, so they were quite tricky to operate, however,
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doing some research I came across an American model, called Heat Saver Shades,
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which allows the blinds to fit much more snugly to the window frame using a
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fitted plastic channel," she says.
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The blinds are nylon outer material, with a layer of Thinsulate insulating
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fibres sandwiched between two layers of metallic space-blanket material, used
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for example in wrapping up hypothermia sufferers.
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## Related Articles
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* [Landlords forced to make homes green][3]
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02 Nov 2010
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* [The homeowners who are planting trees][4]
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01 Nov 2010
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* [Green property: energy efficient homes][5]
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19 Oct 2010
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* [Green property: energy-efficient libraries][6]
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15 Sep 2010
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* [Green property: sharing the harvest][7]
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12 Oct 2010
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* [Green property: the benefits of wool][8]
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08 Sep 2010
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"It is fairly bulky," Katy says, "but they still roll up and down well and the
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difference in the draughts is enormous."
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At £152 per square metre, they were not cheap, but were considerably less than
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double glazing. "It means we can keep our old windows, which are on the
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exposed side of our house," Katy says.
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The question of how to balance out conservation with 21st-century fuel bills
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is likely to become more urgent in coming years. [**Double glazing**][9] can
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be horrendously expensive, but protecting windows has become a necessity. The
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Natural Curtain Company, for example, which makes thermal lined and interlined
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curtains, had a 500 per cent surge in orders last winter.
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An interlining is a middle layer sandwiched between the face fabric and the
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back lining. It is made from thick cotton and is almost cotton wool-like in
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texture. It provides extra protection from direct sunlight damage,
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particularly for delicate fabrics such as silk and can also be used with
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thermal lining for maximum insulation.
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Research into different window coverings by Dr Paul Baker at Glasgow
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Caledonian University's Centre for Research on Indoor Climate and Health has
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produced encouraging results for home owners who want to reduce fuel bills but
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also preserve their windows.
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The research shows that while installing double-glazing reduces heat loss by
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55 per cent, other coverings did better. These were: secondary glazing
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combined with insulated shutters (77 per cent); secondary glazing with
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curtains (66 per cent); a Victorian blind with shutters (58 per cent); and
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insulated shutters on their own (60 per cent).
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The team did not test blinds like Katy's; however modern roller blinds did
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poorly (22 per cent) and "honeycomb" blinds, which trap a layer of air inside
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them, did considerably worse than other options, reducing heat loss by only 36
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per cent. Uninsulated internal wooden shutters performed nearly as well as
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double glazing, reducing heat loss by 51 per cent.
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Rob James of shutter makers Plantation Shutters says that while customers
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primarily buy his firm's shutters for aesthetic reasons, they are pleasantly
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surprised that as a side effect they get fewer draughts in winter.
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"The shutters must, however, be properly fitted," he says. "It doesn't matter
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how dense or solid the wood is - if there is a gaping hole around the shutters
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then they are not going to keep out anything."
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**MORE INORMATION**
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* Dr Baker's report can be found here: [www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/paul-
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baker-performance-of-traditional-windows-and-practice-improvements.pdf][10]
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* [www.heatsavershades.co.uk][11]
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* [www.plantation-shutters.co.uk][12]
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* [www.naturalcurtaincompany.co.uk][13]
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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* Share: [Share][14] [ ][16] [ ][17]
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[Tweet][18]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/greenproperty/8104675/Alternatives-to-
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double-glazing.html
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Telegraph
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## [Green Property][19]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][20]
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* ### [Earth »][21]
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* ### [Greener Living »][22]
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* ### [Property »][23]
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* ### [Sarah Lonsdale »][24]
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In property
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[![Castles for sale][25]][26]
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### [Property Picture Galleries][26]
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[![Interior of the new Oka store][27]][28]
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### [Interiors and Shopping][28]
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[![World's best places to live ][29]][30]
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### [World's best places to live][30]
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[![equity-release-guide][31]][32]
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### [The Daily Telegraph Guide to Equity Release][32]
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[![Bargain Hunter: The St Sulpice sofa][33]][34]
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### [Bargain hunter][34]
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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Share:
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* [ ][14]
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][17]
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* [Tweet][18]
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* Advertisement
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![][35]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][36] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][37]
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