Window glazing or treatments

Choose the right glazing and window treatments for your home to save on energy bills and create a more comfortable home all year round. While double glazing may be an option for some households, it’s certainly not the first thing you need to do to improve energy efficiency in your home.

You can:

• install thick curtains that seal around the edges and drop down to the floor, with blockout attached but not bonded, and pelmets
• fit honeycomb blinds snugly
• add tight polystyrene shutters over the windows on the outside
• minimise air leaks around the window to improve draughts.

Secondary glazing is where a sheet of glass or Perspex is retrofitted to existing windows. It can be quite effective, but is not suitable for all window types.

Some companies specialise in retrofitting single glazed windows with double or secondary windows, but products are available that you can install yourself.

Before you install permanent reflective or tinting films on windows, consider if this might also block out valuable winter sun.

Choosing new windows

If you are building a new home, the design and orientation of windows will help your home achieve maximum thermal efficiency.

Installing good quality double glazed windows can reduce your heating and cooling costs. It can also reduce noise and condensation.

If you’re building a new house in the ACT, installing double glazed windows is cost-effective as the additional cost is relatively small.

In some instances, gaps in old windows may be so severe that full replacement is the only effective option. In other situations, a retrofit to an existing house can be expensive compared to other energy efficiency improvements you could make. The Sustainable Home Advice Program can help you understand more about your particular home.

Double glazing has many benefits, including:

• being efficient during the day and the night
• meeting mandatory energy efficiency requirements for new houses
• increased strength (meaning windows will last longer and be more protected against breakage, increased fire resistance, and reduced noise from outside).

To help you make the right choice when purchasing windows, check the Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS).

Skylights and roof glazing

Installing skylights or roof glazing can cause extreme heat gains or losses in the ACT's climate.

If you want more natural light, install a ‘daylighting device’. This will collect and concentrate sunlight through a lens on the roof and transmit it through a reflective tube to dispersion lens inside the room.