Up to a quarter of a room's heat is lost through its windows, and a single-glazed window can lose up to 10 times the heat of a double-glazed window. Replacing your existing windows with Double glazing, however, can be quite expensive. For property owners seeking a more economical alternative to double glazing, there is secondary glazing.

With secondary glazing, a second window is built inside the existing window. The secondary window is constructed using aluminium frames, thick laminated glass and thermal/acoustic seals. The perimeter frame is then sealed to the existing reveals so there are no gaps that would allow noise or drafts to penetrate. Windows can still be opened for cleaning and ventilation. Secondary glazing will significantly improve a room's thermal insulation.

There are two main types of secondary glazing:

Acrylic secondary glazing

With acrylic secondary glazing, a sheet of transparent material such as perspex is affixed to a window frame via magnetic strips. This lightweight material will reduce some noise, however, the heavier and denser the material, the higher the degree of sound reduction. The problem with acrylic/magnetic systems is these materials are simply too lightweight to provide very high levels of noise reduction. In addition to the relatively poor acoustic performance of acrylic/magnetic systems they are visually unattractive and make it difficult to open your windows. To open your window you need to remove the large acrylic panel and lean it against the wall or but away in a wardrobe, under the bed etc. As you will undoubtedly have blinds or curtains in the way this is often difficult and you can easily scratch and damage the acrylic during this process.

Glass secondary glazing

Sound Barrier Systems only manufacture secondary glazing systems with glass. Our system consists of an aluminium frame, powder coated to match the existing window frame colour and glazed with thick laminated glass. Laminated glass is manufactured by bonding two panes of glass with a interlayer in between, this interlayer bonds the two layers of glass together and acts as a vibration dampener. In most cases 10.38mm thick laminated glass is used. This is a very heavy and dense material, it will reduce noise to significantly higher levels than is possible using lightweight acrylic.

All panels within a Sound Barrier System are openable, in most cases sliding, in some cases double-hung. We will design a system to best suit your existing window configuration. Opening your window remains easy, you simply slide open the Sound Barrier window and then open your existing window. You will never need to remove a Sound Barrier panel in order to open your windows. In addition, all panels slide on the Sound Barrier window so you will have easy access to the fixed glass on your existing window so it can be accessed for cleaning or maintenance.

To find out more about secondary glazing for your residential or commercial windows or doors, contact Sound Barrier Systems today.