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Writer's picturee3 Healthy Homes
Dec 5, 20235 min read

The 3 main window materials destroying your homes thermal comfort and 4 ways you can fix it today.

Updated: May 18

Thermal comfort is difficult to achieve at all, especially whilst trying to be as energy efficient as possible. Here we will learn the 3 main material types that are destorying your homes comfort, and decreasing your energy efficiency at the same time.


We will leave you with links (at the bottom of the page) to more cost effective DIY alternative products which can get you started on a more comfertable and energy efficient home today.


uPVC Windows and doors

Old aluminium, timber and steel windows used to be the way of construction 30 - 100 years ago. With time, experience and research, the whole world has found much better alternatives than these material types that were used all that time ago.


Unfortunately, these old windows still exist in many old homes and buildings throughout the world, and especially Australia.


Here we will cover the cons of these 3 old window types, and gather the 4 quick fix solutions so you can start making improvements now.






1. OLD ALUMINIUM WINDOWS AND DOORS.


Aluminium is a great conductor of energy:

Aluminium is a great conductor of energy. Meaning, that whatever temperature interacts with the aluminium window, turns the aluminium window into the same temperature.

 

If it is 35 degrees outside during summer, this will severely impact your homes internal temperature with old aluminium windows, as your home will become increasingly hot throughout the day. This will directly impact your energy use, as you turn on the air conditioner to create a more bearable home.


The same goes if it were a cold day. Your alumium windows will quickly turn cold too, creating a freezing cold atmosphere within your home, then leading you to use your heating unit to improve your homes thermal comfort. Again, directly impacting your energy use.


 

Condensation:

The number 1 rule of water is that it will always go to the coldest surface area available. This means, if water was to travel on the face of a wall on a home from rain or fog, it would travel to where the coldest place of the wall is, old aluminium windows and doors.

 

As aluminium windows with single panel glass are a great conductor of energy, it will become cold with the external weather of your home quickly, attracting a vast amount of water to it. This then leads to condensation within the home.

 

The detrimental effects of condensation can be damaging to other material properties within the home (like creating mouldy plaster) or bad for your family’s health (Exposure for too long to indoor dampness can cause health issues like asthma and make it more difficult for people who already have asthma).



Oxidation:

 Oxidation is the process that takes place over time with aluminium windows, where the aluminium frames chemical substance changes with the addition of oxygen.

 

When a new aluminium surface is being exposed in the presence of air or any other oxidizing element, it rapidly develops into a thin, hard film of aluminium oxide. This can leave you with high levels of maintinence and upkeep to avoid perminant damage.






2. TIMBER WINDOWS AND DOORS


Rotting, splitting and deformation:

Timber windows and doors are susceptible to rot, as certain fungi and species can have biological attacks on the timber over time.

 

Fungi can live within timber windows and doors for a long time as benign, until the right conditions present themselves to the fungi. The right conditions include Oxygen, moisture, and nutrients. Moisture is the most critical component for fungi to begin the rotting process within the timber.

 

If rotting within the windows stays for too long over a period, this can cause and produce toxic mycotoxins, like black mould, which can inflict illness.

Black mould toxins can lead to a very serious case of mould poisoning.

 

The deformation and splitting of timber windows is natural. Although, this encourages all elements of what goes wrong with timber windows, as deformation can create gaps, letting insects, termites, and rodents into the home.

 


Insects, termites, and rodents:

Swarms of termites are a great threat to the timber windows and doors of your home, especially the windows and doors that allow the most light into the home. This can also lead to them finding their way in the walls of a home to timber studs, if the correct insect repellent isn’t applied at the beginning of the build.

 

Unfortunately, timber windows that are not fitted properly, or have visible gaps on the side of windows can attract rodents like mice into the home. These gaps incentivise rodents to come to the window. The timber window can be chewed through, for rodents to get into the home or nest within the window and walls.






3. STEEL WINDOWS AND DOORS


Steel is not energy efficient:

Steel windows, like aluminium windows, are great conductors of energy. Dependant on the external weather from the home, the steel will match its temperature, transferring the hot or cold weather directly into your home.

 

Being a great conductor of energy steel windows have common issues to aluminium windows, like using high amounts of energy in heating and cooling units to sustain a homes thermal comfort, or encouraging condensation which can have consequences of serious illness (We learnt about this part in the aluminium section above).

 

If steel windows are made with single panel glass, and no thermal break bridging within the extrusion of the steel window, it can make summer days unbearable. Steel, combined with the compounding effect of single panel glass with no coatings can turn a home into a sauna, leaving air conditioning units and blinds with a battle that they can’t win.




4 DIY Solutions you can use today to improve your homes thermal comfort and energy efficiency.

 

DIY 1. Energy efficient curtains:

To find a more immediate solution to the lack of energy efficiency to your windows, you can visit a general hardware store like bunnings, or mitre 10 which can provide you with a cheap selction of energy efficient block out blinds.


You can find these blinds in the links provided:


 

DIY 2. Solar blocking window film:

Window films are incredibly easy to install, giving your home a sleeker and more modern look.

 

Sun blocking films are an incredible way to give sunglasses to your home for the cheap, as they help to reflect sunlight and block out blind rays which can keep your home cooler in summer with less energy use.


Here you can find links to amazon for cost effective and easy to apply window films:

 

 

 

DIY 3. Caulking around the exterior edges of your windows.

 A great and cost-effective way of increasing the insulation of your home is by caulking the exterior edges of your windows with silicone or a paintable gap filler to block out any potential gaps between your walls and windows.

 

This only takes 10-20 minutes a window and is extremely cheap as a tube of silicone can vary from $5 - $15 (depending on the silicone you choose).

 

You can find caulk in general hardware stores like bunnings, mitre 10 and other stores:

 

 

 

 

DIY 4. Replace rotted timber.

There is a fair procedure to fixing rot in timber windows. Although, it is a very easy task to do and just about anyone can do it!

 

Here is a link that will provide a video detorial in removing rotted parts of a timber window and restoring it with new timber:

 How to repair a rotted window frame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft55LNqBM0w

Credit: HouseBarons Youtube chanel.




Full replacement uPVC windows and doors

If you are looking for a full replacement on all of your windows, instead of a DIY fix, uPVC windows and doors are an amazing solution to replace your old windows and doors at home. They serve in so many ways, like:

  • A high BAL rating (BAL 40) (Bushfire attack rating)

  • Eco friendliness

  • Durability

  • Noise reduction

  • Thermal comfort

  • energy efficiency

If you want to learn more about uPVC in depth, click on the link below.





 

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