What Is A “Warm-Edge Spacer”?

adminr

4 years ago

Technically, a warm edge spacer is any sealer that is more effective than a cold edge aluminum spacer, including steel spacers&period; Beyond steel spacers, the technology to improve heating efficiency has produced a number of innovative solutions for window edges&period;&NewLine;<img class="size-full wp-image-1163 aligncenter" title="What Is A &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Warm-Edge Spacer”&quest;" src="http&colon;//incrediblemag&period;com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Warmedgespacer&period;jpg" alt="What Is A &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Warm-Edge Spacer”&quest;" width="494" height="500" />&NewLine;<h4 style="text-align&colon; justify&semi;" align="LEFT">Why We Should Care About Warm Edge Spacers</h4>&NewLine;A building envelope is an engineering term describing the physical separation between indoors and outdoors and how well they block the transfer of heat, light, noise, and the weather&period; In this sense, windows can be one of the greatest points of transfer of all the above, which is a cause for environmental concern&period; Improvements have been made to the glass and the air trapped between the window panes with glazing and optimized air mixes, respectively&period; Improvements to the construction of window edges hasn’t caught up until recently&period;&NewLine;<h4 style="text-align&colon; justify&semi;" align="LEFT">The Benefits from Research and Development in Spacer Technology</h4>&NewLine;Spacers can be made of metals, but other materials will also work, including insulating glass and flexible silicone foam&period; Both types of material have a high U-value, meaning heat will not be easily lost from the indoors to out in the winter and outside to in during the summer&period; It may strike some customers as a surprise that companies would use glass as an insulator due to its heavy nature&period;&NewLine;Metal is certainly a strong material, but there are other materials that sufficiently preserve the integrity of the window&period; The insulating glass unit (IG) actually flexes with changes in the environment, therefore an edge spacer that is too rigid may not be ideal&period; With fluctuations in heat and humidity, the window panes can flex inwards or outwards like two convex or concave surfaces&period; The application of silicon foam in a spacer makes the material flexible enough to support the changes to the IG, leading to less stress on the window panes and longer period of use without replacement&period;&NewLine;In addition to inventive design of new warm edge spacers, some manufacturers fill the spacers with desiccants to remove moisture from the air between the panes of glass&period; The reduced moisture can prevent condensation from forming on the inside, which sometimes happen when the trapped air meets the warm inner pane of the glass&period;&NewLine;With some spacers, your U-value can increase by 10&percnt;&period; Depending on the number of windows in your building and the difference between room temperature and the weather outside, the improved U-value can lead to a significant saving in heating/cooling costs&period;&NewLine;Author Bio&colon; &NewLine;Anne Flemings loves interior designing and is always in pursuit of the latest changes and trends in home improvement&period; She is an expert in designing spectacular house windows and doors&period; Her other interests lies in cooking, painting and blogging&period; She is an enthusiast homemaker who lives in Toronto with her husband and two kids&period; She can be followed on twitter&period; &NewLine;&NewLine;