Windows – Doors

So the house has a roof but nothing else. The first thing I need to do is close it off to the miserable Irish climate.

% Heat Loss

As you can see from this graph, windows can contribute up to 10% heat loss. Even good windows have pretty poor uvalues compared to a wall, so its important to get the best windows you can afford.

As you’d expect, triple glazed windows are better than double glazed windows in terms of uvalues/energy efficiency, however you lose some of the solar gain from the sun with triple glazed windows. Solar gain is valuable if your house was originally designed to make best use of it, but I don’t see any evidence with this house that this was the case. Also this is Ireland where sunshine is a rare commodity!

So we are going for triple glazed windows. We prefer bog oak (i.e. black) frames and single sash (1 opening) where possible.

Doors are as bad at keeping the heat in as windows, so again, it’s important not to skimp here either. We will have 2 french doors, both will be triple glazed with bog oak finish.

For the front door, we are going with a red composite door. It offers better thermal resistance and is lower maintenance than the prettier timber doors.

The utility door will be just a standard uPVC door with a triple glazed window.

One important thing to consider when thinking about designing a house (bit late for us) are fire regulations as they can impact on the type of windows you can have in your house.