Important Information About Dual Pane Windows

First of all, you don’t need them.

window-installations

If you have them … Soundproof Windows can double their life expectancy, though! If you don’t own dual pane windows, we can help you avoid them.

Life Expectancy of Dual Pane Windows

Guarantees aside, the life expectancy of dual paned windows is less than 15 years. This number represents a reasonable life expectancy of the best dual pane windows.

Guarantees are a serious concern within the glass industry. It is either a huge liability for a company or it is a guarantee of repeat customers, depending on how the guarantee is written. Given the true life expectancy, you will be replacing all the glass and/or the windows after 10-20 years.

There are two exceptions where you may not be replacing your dual-paned windows as soon:

  • If you live in a very mild climate (like the California coastal areas) where the seals are not as stressed
  • If you “insulate the insulated glass” with a second window system like Soundproof Windows. Secondary windows reduce the stress on the IGU (Insulated Glass Unit) seals. These will also act as insulating windows.

Dual Pane Windows Fail

Double-paned windows have two parallel panes (slabs of glass) with a separation of typically about 1 cm; this space is permanently sealed and filled at the time of manufacture with dry air or other dry nonreactive gas.

Such windows provide a marked improvement in thermal insulation (and usually in acoustic insulation as well) and are resistant to fogging and frosting caused by temperature differential, but do not hold the same bar to soundproofing or temperature control like Soundproof Windows.

They are widely used for residential and commercial construction in intemperate climates, or so they claim.

The cooling and heating of the IGU (Insulated Glass Unit) expands and contracts the seals. Over time the weakened seal will fail. When it fails, moisture will migrate into the middle of the IGU and cloud up the window, and the only corrective action is replacing the glass or the window. Freeze-thaw cycles and other severe temperature changes determine how fast the IGU window seals break.

In mild California climates, the seals may last a long time; with Chicago or east coast winters,for example, they fail too often and too quick.