- Why buy Thermotech?
- Why Fiberglass Windows/Doors?
- Why bother with energy efficient Windows/Doors?
- What Windows/Doors do Professional architects use?
- Why Triple Glazing?
Revolutionizing Building Design:
- Super energy efficient windows are changing the way buildings are designed
- Specifically, energy efficient windows can:
Maximize Window Design Freedom
- As you can see from the graph below Thermotech’s insulated fiberglass windows have unmatched energy efficiency
Energy Ratings of Typical Casement Windows
- For a more detailed look at Energy Ratings see our Energy Rating Advantage Fact Sheet.
- Unmatched energy efficiency means Thermotech’s Fiberglass windows provide superior draft protection, giving designers new design freedom
- Views can be enjoyed wherever they are available without causing uncomfortable drafts.
- Conventional windows are often drafty for two reasons.
- Firstly they leak air.
- Inherent stability fiberglass frames means that they stay ‘shop floor’ tight in the coldest weather
- Secondly the have convective drafts – cold poorly insulating frames and glazing of conventional windows’ cause cold air to cascade down the room-side face of the glass
- The dramatically warmer frame and glazing of Thermotech’s Fiberglass windows stay warmer, providing maximum protection against convective drafts
- Firstly they leak air.
- Conventional windows are often drafty for two reasons.
Good windows mean that brighter buildings with more and larger windows, can now be comfortable too.
Heat Your House With The Sun: Thermotech’s Fiberglass windows make it easy to capture free heat from the sun by overcoming the two main drawbacks of passive solar heating.
- Oversized windows cause excessive temperature swings
- The highly insulating glazing used in Thermotech’s windows minimizes temperature swings by reducing both excessive gains and losses.
- Southern orientation limits applicability
- Thermotech’s Fiberglass windows are so efficient that they don’t need a primarily southern orientation to dramatically reduce heating bills.
- Graph below shows, using energy efficient Fiberglass windows contributes four times as much passive solar heat as southern orientation alone
Performance of windows used in the Advance Houses Program
- Condensation induced mould growth is often a hallmark of conventional windows.
- Mould spores can cause asthma and other serious health problems.
- Thermotech’s Fiberglass windows’ insulated frame and sash and SuperSpacer TM are significantly warmer than other windows, offering more protection against condensation than other windows.
- Maximum condensation protection means maximum health protection.
- Fiberglass windows reduce heat loss and increase comfort so much, that heating systems in houses can be totally rethought.
- With less heat loss, a smaller furnace or boiler and distribution system can be used.
- Warm windows registers and radiators can be moved away from windows.
- Shortening duct and pipe runs increases system efficiency, while decreasing installation costs (as well as adding flexibility for furniture placement).
- As the graph below shows, the savings of a properly optimized mechanical system for a 2150 ft 2 super energy efficient house could be as much as $3,900.
Heating System Costs
Adapted from Allen Associates. Optimizing Residential Forced-Air HVAC Systems; Final Report. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Ottawa (1996)
What Experts Use In Their Own Houses:
- Two Canadian building science experts were inspired by the Advanced Houses Program and have built Advanced Houses of their own.
- Gary Sharp of Post Harvest Developments, Consultant to the Advanced Houses Program
- Picked “the best of the best” technologies
- Included fiberglass windows along with airtight super-insulated envelope
- Wishes he went with lower capital cost heating system
- Why? – hardly ever uses it
- Kevin Lee of L.E.E. Building Solutions
- picked fiberglass for their energy performance
- also valued indoor air quality and low maintenance benefits
“Most importantly, however I wanted lots of windows (mainly looking at a great northern view) AND I didn’t want to feel cold – Thermotech was the obvious (and really the only logical)”