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I just saw a program on the fine living channel featuring a home in the hot Arizona dessert with a wall of windows. This has me wondering how you can get those kind of views without turning your house into an oven. If one pays up, is it possible to find windows that don't transfer heat to the home? I'm sure we're talking about some kind of double pane system but I know little about this topic.
Can someone point us in the right direction? Thanks!
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Double paning with an inert gas layer between the two panes is very good insulation. (There are even triple pane systems with inert gas for the most extreme climates, and Arizona might qualify. Expensive, those.) Putting the windows on the north side of the house where there is no direct sun would minimize radiant heat. With the right alignment, it could work.
Cheers,
Jerry
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A big factor in heat gain is the real sun load on the windows. If you have a sizeable overhang above them it means that the glass only needs to deal with ambient air temperature. If the sun is actually on the glass the you have the solar radiation coming through and heating up everything it touches. Try to have an overhang or position the windows away from the mid-day sun. That means that skylights can get hot!
Jay
Jay
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When we had dual-glazed windows installed in our place in CA, we had a choice of a coating/layer that would lessen the UV, I think. If this was for UV, then, never mind, it's the infra-red that does more to raise the temperature, sí?
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What you're looking for is low-emissivity (low-e) glass. For your application, you'd want the coating on the outside to keep the heat outside.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulated_glass
Low-e coatings can be combined with double-paned glazing.
ArtM
