Understanding Glazing and Why It Matters for Your Home’s Energy Efficiency

Glazing is a term that is used to describe the style of windows that you may choose for your Toronto area home. Depending on the type of glazing you purchase, it will impact the energy efficiency of those windows and can actually save you money or cost you more in the long run with regard to heating and cooling your home.

The harsh winters of Toronto.

Toronto sees some tough winters. When the average temperature is well below zero throughout several months, it is going to require a lot of energy to heat the house. 40 percent of your home’s heat during the winter is lost through the windows and doors.

When it comes time to replace your old windows, you want to make sure that you take advantage of this opportunity to increase the energy efficiency of your house. Glazing comes into play in this regard.

For example, a single glazed window means that you will have one pane of glass and no buffer of air between two layers of glass. That means the air outside will be able to push into your home much more effectively. Cold air pushing into your house will drive warm air out. Hot air rises, so the more cold air that pushes in, the more the hot air will rise and find leaks through the walls or other parts of the house and you will be spending more money to keep it warm.

Double glazing essentially means that you will have two panes of glass with air in between them. Having that air vacuum sealed out will create a barrier, or a buffer zone, against the cold. Having that space between the two panes of glass filled with argon or krypton gas will increase the energy efficiency. If you have double glazed windows with argon or krypton gas sealant in between the glazing, you will notice a significantly warmer texture to the glass if you touched it than you would with a single pane glass.

Triple glazing is the most energy efficient, but these windows tend to be a lot heavier and cost more. You need to weigh the benefits of choosing triple glazing over double glazing for yourself, your home, and your budget. Double glazing sealed with argon or krypton gas is generally a great idea for Toronto area homeowners.