make my own low-e windows?

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activa
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:26 am

make my own low-e windows?

#1 Post by activa »

Hi, I'm new to the board and appreciate any help.

I'm building a passive solar home in Maine and I got several 8 ft sliders REAL cheap. Five are Andersons, and one is a no-name. I would like to make them low-e. I have glass drill bits and experience working with glass. Can I make these windows low-e by simply replacing the air between the panes with argon and placing a low-e film on them?

Does anybody make a kit for this?

On a related note, in my current home I have several double-pane windows that were installed in the wall of an addition on a slant. In other words, they are essentially functioning as skylights, and predicably, the gaskets have failed, fogging the panes. Is there any solution for this short of removing and replacing them?

PK
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:58 pm

#2 Post by PK »

Thats TOO FUNNY

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Windows on Washington
Posts: 5311
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:23 am
Location: DC Metropolitan Area-Maryland/Virginia/DC

Re: make my own low-e windows?

#3 Post by Windows on Washington »

activa wrote:Hi, I'm new to the board and appreciate any help.

I'm building a passive solar home in Maine and I got several 8 ft sliders REAL cheap. Five are Andersons, and one is a no-name. I would like to make them low-e. I have glass drill bits and experience working with glass. Can I make these windows low-e by simply replacing the air between the panes with argon and placing a low-e film on them?

Does anybody make a kit for this?

On a related note, in my current home I have several double-pane windows that were installed in the wall of an addition on a slant. In other words, they are essentially functioning as skylights, and predicably, the gaskets have failed, fogging the panes. Is there any solution for this short of removing and replacing them?
Low-e is typically a cathodically sputtered coating of metal (tin-oxide, silver-oxide, etc) so dupliating that would impossible. Also, drilling holes in your window to replace the air with argon is not going to benefit you that much at all. There are some plastic films that can be retro fit to existing windows that will improve the efficiency but that is about all you are left with.

As far as the windows that have failed, try contacting the manufacturer about replacements or a local glazing company to redo the glass packs if you do not want to replace the entire window.

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