Glass
Sealed Units
 In
simple terms a glass sealed unit is two or more pieces of
glass glued together with a gap in between to help create
an insulating
barrier to the outside weather. Almost every piece of glass
we create ends up as a double glazed sealed unit although
we do get requests for triple glazed units from time to time.
There are many different types and ratings of glass sealed
units available from Leadbitter Glass such as energy
saving units,
toughened
glass and laminated glass units. This section will help you
understand the basics of sealed unit construction.
For more information about the new WER (window energy ratings)
see Window Energy Ratings
Standard Double Glazed sealed units
A standard double glazed sealed unit is created by placing
two pieces of glass  together
with a spacer
bar tube in
between the glass (pictured). Common sense will tell you
that the
further away these two pieces of glass are from each other,
the warmer
the internal piece of glass will be because the cold diminishes
as it conducts across a larger space bar.
Spacer bar sizes
range from 6mm to 20mm so when added to glass of 4mm thick,
this can give a minimum sealed unit thickness of 14mm and
a maximum thickness of 28mm. We can create thicker sealed
units if required by using thicker glass such as 6mm glass
for example. Inside of the metal spacer bar tube are placed
small absorbing dessicant beads
that
help
rid
the
sealed
unit
of any moisture if any moisture should enter the glazed
unit. A glue sealant is then applied to the outside edge
of the glass to bond the 2 pieces of glass together and also
to
keep the
spacer bar in place. The picture above right shows the glueing
process as the 2 pieces are clamped and sealed together
with a hot melt gun.
 Triple Glazed sealed units
Only a small percentage of customers actually order triple
glazed units with us but they may still be the right choice
for you. Triple glazed units have a better energy saving
rating
than double glazed units because there are now 3 pieces of
glass for the cold to travel through before it gets into
your home.
Triple glazed units are almost 50% heavier in weight than
a double glazed unit so this needs to be taken into consideration
when ordering large windows.
As you can see by this image, there are 2 narrow spacer
bars with an extra piece of glass in the middle of the sealed
unit. This actual panel was created using gold lead and the
client didn't want the nice gold appearance to dull over
time so they asked for the decorative piece of glass to be
encapsulated
inside of a triple glazed sealed unit.
Back
to the Glassroom
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable
laws, Leadbitter Glass disclaim all liability for any error
in or omission from this website and for all consequences
of relying on it.
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