Clearview North August 2013 - Issue 141 | Page 18

DOORS&WINDOWS £¾ million investment in decorative glass stock Distinction has taken a lot of trouble over its decorative glass offering for the composite door, providing designs that cover both the traditional as well as modern and contemporary styles, and all coloured to complement the colours within the composite door range. Dave Gomersall explains: “It’s one thing to offer the range, and another to ensure that there is continuity of supply, which we recognise is so important to our customers. That’s why we have invested over £3/4m into this new venture, and now hold in excess of 25,000 decorative triple glazed units. Our supply chain is varied such that traditional hand-made zinc and brass camed glass comes from China, whereas the satin glass designs, screen printed, and ‘resin lead’ designs are UK sourced. For the real traditionalist, we also offer a popular resin bevel option”. Dave Gomersall concludes: “If we were to provide decorative glass to complement our popular insulated composite door blank, we had to ensure that its availability matched our service for both blanks and cassettes. This is why we have invested so heavily in stock and why our customers can have confidence in selling our products.” Call Dave Gomersall, Director, on 0845 2000 816, email davidgomersall@ distinctiondoors.co.uk Seeing the bigger picture Andrew Jenner, product manager of warm edge spacer manufacturer, Technoform Glass Insulation, discusses the ‘bigger picture’ of energy efficiency… The thermal performance of a window, door or conservatory is determined by a wide variety of factors. These include the frame material, the number of chambers within the frame, the glass type, the number of glass panes, whether the unit is filled with air or gas, the type of gas, the seals, the quality of installation and much, much more. Warm edge spacers Another key factor is the spacer. Broadly speaking you have two types of spacer – aluminium and warm edge. Aluminium spacers are very practical, durable and easy to process, but they are not very energy efficient. Aluminium is a conductor, allowing the cold from outside to be transferred through the spacer and in turn cool the warm air inside a property. By contrast, warm edge spacers are incredibly energy efficient. They cancel out this ‘thermal bridge’, keeping the inner and outer panes of glass at different temperature and stopping any undesirable loss or gain of heat. This difference in temperature ensures that the pane of glass in contact with the warm air stays warm, and so almost eliminates the likelihood of condensation forming. The bigger picture In Germany, where 7, 8 or 9 chambered window systems are commonplace, manufacturers do not choose warm edge spacers purely for their thermal performance, they choose the spacer that will be easiest to manufacture, will offer greater longevity and use the supplier that can offer the best overall service. As long as they are using a good quality warm edge spacer, German window companies know that their 7, 8 or 9 chambered system will enable them to meet the most stringent standards in energy efficiency. A great ‘all-rounder’ Whilst warm edge spacers do influence the energy efficiency of a window, door or conservatory, it is important not to get too obsessed over such a small component. Bigger components such as the frame and glass have a greater impact on overall performance, rendering the small thermal differences between many of the leading spacers systems insignificant. The TGI®-Spacer is used by many of the leading German and French IGU manufacturers, thanks to its easy, cost-effective processing, and has proved a big hit here in the UK too, with many big-name British companies switching to Technoform Glass Insulation in recent years. Call 0121 506 9740 or visit www. glassinsulation.co.uk 18 AUG 2013 To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com