For warmth - double glazing or more insulation/plasterboard?

My kids bedrooms are both on external walls and we only have single glazed windows - hence their rooms are the coldest in the house.

What's the best way to make their rooms warmer - installing double glazed windows or to put more insulation into the room - plasterboard?? Both their rooms are small so don't want to add lots of inches to the walls - oh - and on a budget!!

babydays said:

My kids bedrooms are both on external walls and we only have single glazed windows - hence their rooms are the coldest in the house.

What's the best way to make their rooms warmer - installing double glazed windows or to put more insulation into the room - plasterboard?? Both their rooms are small so don't want to add lots of inches to the walls - oh - and on a budget!!

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New double glazed windows with K glass would be a big improvement K glass traps the heat in the room from escaping through the window reflecting it back into the room I installed these in my house and the difference was Immediate and I changed old Aluminium double glazing to new PVC double glazing.
An extra layer of insulation in the attic would also be a help.
Good Luck

Tks Dobber22.

I read about K-glass on an earlier posting but is it madly expensive? Which companies provide it without charging an arm and a leg?

My father deals with this company I installed their product in my own home 2 years ago and so far no problems much warmer since the installation the rooms do retain more heat.
They also have an Installer locator for their product so where ever you are you should have a contact for a quote in your area and don't be afraid to price around!

[broken link removed]

Good Luck

Tks again. I will contact them.

Any other ideas about whether double glazing is more effective than additional insulation for increased warmth?

babydays said:

Tks again. I will contact them.

Any other ideas about whether double glazing is more effective than additional insulation for increased warmth?

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I'm assuming that you have an older type house of solid block construction maybe 25 - 30 years old may be older? If so then you most likely have no insulation in the cavity walls this can be easily rectified with pump in insultion, a standard size house shouldn't cost any more than E1,000 although I did get a quote last year during the summer from the below company for E750 which was a very reasonable price for a 3 bed semi.
I am unsure whether the double glazing will be more effective than the insulation but if funds allow then together they should make for a very toasty warm house and will also lead to a reduction in your heating bills.

http://www.warmfill.com/

Good Luck

Hi Dobber,

How much do you know about that company? It looks very reasonable but I would wonder about the franchise bit? Do you know of anyone who has used them. They appear to make 10 holes overall in the walls. How do they fill these in?

Thanks,

Sueellen.

They supplied me with a quote and were very helpful but I decided the insulation would have to wait as I had other projects to tackle. When I have the spare funds I will ring them back to see if the offer still stands.
They have an approved list of installers on their site best thing to do if you feel wary in any way is to ask for references a good company will always have no hesitaion is supplying them.
Never pay cash up front only supply a small deposit my parents had their home insulated total cost was E1100 which included an extension to the rear of the house total deposit was E150
the rest was paid on completion I will also get the details for that company and post them.
The holes are drilled from the outside and when the bonded bead is pumped in the holes are filled again using morter or coloured morter depending on your exterior finish.
There are plenty of franchise companies offering services in Ireland ie. Senator Windows.

Good Luck

Thanks for that. Might investigate in the future. If you do go ahead let us all know how you get on. Seems very reasonable.

Yes, the house dates from the early 70s and has single glazed aluminium windows - most of them are very large (fantastic for light...).

The insulation route sounds like it would work out as much cheaper to do the whole house than double glazing.

You seem to indicate that insulation might have a better impact on the warmth of the house (and particular on the kids rooms that have 2 external walls?) than the double glazing of all the windows. Do I read you correctly.

Tks so much for the input. I feel that I have the problem that if I ask a windows company or a insulation company they'll both tell me their approach is the best whereas I can only afford to do one.

Great site by warmfill. Nicely explained for beginners!

Anyone else had any experience of them?

babydays said:

Yes, the house dates from the early 70s and has single glazed aluminium windows - most of them are very large (fantastic for light...).

The insulation route sounds like it would work out as much cheaper to do the whole house than double glazing.

You seem to indicate that insulation might have a better impact on the warmth of the house (and particular on the kids rooms that have 2 external walls?) than the double glazing of all the windows. Do I read you correctly.

Tks so much for the input. I feel that I have the problem that if I ask a windows company or a insulation company they'll both tell me their approach is the best whereas I can only afford to do one.

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Hi again Babydays, if you are asking me which I would pursue first then in my case I went for the new windows first which were an improvement but the rooms with two external walls can still go cold quickly since you can't do both then I would advise the insulation first since you have ickle baba's the insulation is much cheaper than the windows the improvement will be immediate however make sure you have some heavy lined curtains pulled in the rooms at night these will help keep the heat in the room from escaping through the windows. Also make sure you have enough insulation in your attic as you don't want precious heat escaping through the roof after paying out for pump in cavity wall insulation.

Good Luck