Plastic windows are produced in a very wide variety of design options. They differ in shape, size, number of wings, the way they are opened, the type of glass and profile features. Also, windows can be very interesting to decorate, both on glass and on the frame. There are completely innovative designs that can independently determine how much light is allowed into the room, changing the level of transparency.
What are the types of plastic windows and what to focus on when choosing them, you will learn from this article. The window has been installed for more than one year, it costs a lot so far, therefore the design option needs to be carefully thought out, consulted with window installation masters, professional builders and people in whose houses the windows are installed earlier and they have some experience in their operation. Often, the designs you like are not very convenient to use, or too expensive.
Content:
Types of PVC windows by the number of leaves
Features of the material of the frame and double-glazed windows allow the manufacture of plastic windows with any number of wings. Most often there are one, two or tricuspid. The option is determined by the installation location, the exterior of the house and the size of the window.
If the window is small, somewhere within 1.5 x 1m, then one leaf will be quite enough.
Larger windows should be equipped with two wings.
Three are equipped with wide and high windows, the area of which allows the use of sufficiently large double-glazed windows. The fact is that the design features of plastic windows require rather massive vertical racks between the wings, especially opening.
In the case of three double-glazed windows, two racks take up 10% of the total area of the glazing, if there are more flaps, then there are more racks, so the light transmission of the window will decrease, and its weight will increase, without a special increase in functionality and design improvement.
The best option for standard windows in the apartment is two wings. But certain restrictions may be imposed on the appearance of the facade by urban planning standards, especially if the windows face historic or central streets. In this case, the number of flaps is regulated and changes cannot be made without the permission of the relevant authorities.
What are the windows depending on the method of opening the wings
By choosing the number of wings, you can determine the options for opening them. Window designers offer a fairly wide number of options and their combinations.
Dull window.
The simplest window is dull. The double-glazed window is fixed motionless in a frame. Functionally, this is the most inconvenient window. Although it passes maximum light and retains the greatest amount of heat, it is rather difficult to wash it from the outside. Even on the ground floor, a stepladder or prefabricated scaffolding is required. But in most double-wing windows, one of them may be dull, but the second must be necessarily rotatable.
Turning flaps.
Rotary wings can open exclusively inside the house along a vertical axis. These can be both wings in a two-leaf window, or two side in a three-leaf window. This option is quite convenient if there are a lot of windows in the house and one or two of them have folding, or tilt-and-turn opening mechanisms. In this case, there is no problem either washing the windows or ventilating the rooms.
Flaps.
Flaps - open only partially by moving the upper part inward, while the lower crossbar is fixed on the horizontal axis. The opening angle is determined by the built-in stops. It is very convenient for airing the room, a simple mechanism that reduces the cost of construction. But it is desirable to install such flaps together with rotary ones - it will be easier to wash.
Combined sashes.
Combined or tilt-and-turn are equipped with sophisticated fittings that allow you to both tilt the upper part of the sash and open it inside the room along the vertical axis. It all depends on the position of the control knob on the window. Some windows are equipped with slot ventilation. Such windows are the most expensive and are installed in combination with rotary or folding, to reduce the cost of the entire project.
Varieties of windows depending on the design of the profile
Having found out what plastic windows are by the method of opening, you need to get information about the type of profile from which they are made. It has a very big influence both on the operational properties of the window and on its price.
The main material for the production of metal-plastic windows is polyvinyl chloride - a polymer based on chlorine and ethylene, with the addition of plasticizers, modifiers and stabilizing substances. After melting the powdered raw materials, the resulting mass is pressed and the walls of the future profile are formed - the main component of the window frame.
After receiving the surface of the part with a complex configuration, a “P” -shaped metal profile or square profile pipe is inserted inside it and the whole structure is glued together with a heat solder. Modifiers and stabilizers turn polyvinyl chloride into a material resistant to mechanical stress, chemically inert, non-combustible and not subject to ultraviolet radiation.
If pigment is added to the raw material, the profile will turn out not to be white, but to any given color. As a result of all operations, a rectangular or trapezoidal tubular structure is obtained, inside of which are from three to seven longitudinal isolated cavities. The reinforcing metal profile is located in the central cavity.
In the manufacture of window frames, the profile is cut into parts of the required length and connected by gluing or welding into a rectangular or other spatial structure. The outer part of the frame is cut from above and below, connecting the first external cavity “chamber” with the external atmosphere - the holes serve for ventilation and condensate drainage. The remaining chambers are tight and are not connected either with each other or with the external environment.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has a sufficiently low thermal conductivity to be considered a good thermal insulation material. But the presence of chambers filled with air inside the structure increases the energy-saving properties by several times. The more such cameras, the lower the thermal conductivity of the window frame, the warmer it will be in the house.
Modern industry produces profiles for windows with a number of cameras from three to seven.
In mid-latitudes, it is necessary to choose profiles no lower than five-chamber ones with at least four internal cavities.
Three-chamber can be installed in warmer regions or in unheated rooms - warehouses, outbuildings, garages.
Six and seven-chamber profiles are characterized by increased mass, but they do not give a sharp decrease in thermal conductivity. Buying them is impractical - the windows are more expensive, but about the same in quality. It is better to install a wider double-glazed window - the gain in thermal protection will be greater.
With an equal number of chambers, for windows it is necessary to use a profile with an outer wall thickness of at least 2.8 mm and an inner one - more than 2.5 mm. This is a type “A” profile for residential use. Profiles “B” and “C” can only be used in industrial or technical rooms where there are no special requirements for the microclimate.
How windows differ by type of glass
Glazing of plastic windows is carried out using complex structures of two, three or four sheets of glass, fixed at a given distance from each other. The outer part is sealed. The cavities formed inside, between the glasses, are called chambers.
Double-glazed windows installed on plastic windows can be:
- single chamber
- bicameral
- three-chamber
Therefore, having learned that the window is two or three-chamber, it is necessary to clarify which cameras are meant - in frames or double-glazed windows.
Single chamber double-glazed windows
The thickness of a single-pane glass unit (two sheets of glass and a cavity between them) is between 14 - 32 mm. The space between the glasses around the perimeter is closed by a metal strip separating the glasses and holding them at a given distance - a distance frame. It is seen in the section that the frame is by no means a strip, but a “P” -shaped profile, with the open side directed inside the frame.
In the lower part of the frame, holes of small diameter were made connecting the chamber and a special sealed volume inside the frame, in which a moisture absorber was filled. As a result of the action of the absorbent, moisture from the chamber is almost completely removed and the window does not fog up at any temperature outside.
But single-chamber packages are considered obsolete. They are installed on not too critical windows in unheated rooms, on balconies, loggias, in shops, production rooms, etc. In residential buildings, more complex structures are used - two-chamber (three sheets of glass and two cavities between them). They are somewhat heavier than single-chamber ones, but in terms of efficiency, heat and sound insulation are almost twice as good as them. In this case, the light transmittance of both structures is approximately the same.
Double-glazed windows
When using glass with a thickness of 4 mm, the total mounting depth of the two-chamber package is from 30 to 58 mm. Often manufacturers fill the chambers with argon, xenon or other inert gas, but this is justified only when using energy-saving i-glasses with spraying.
If you are trying to sell expensive packages of ordinary glass filled with inert gas, do not succumb to advertising tricks. In the best case, you will get a 1-2% reduction in thermal conductivity. When using I-glasses, the difference can reach 10 - 15% of the total heat-saving effect. This is a pretty decent figure.
Compared to ordinary glass, a two-chamber double-glazed window reduces street noise by several times. In absolute terms, this is more than 45 dB. At the same time, the cost of such a package is not much higher than a single chamber.
Three-chamber double-glazed windows
It is not advisable to buy windows with three-chamber packages, compared to two-chamber packages, they are heavier, and the level of heat saving and sound insulation increases slightly due to the decreasing width of the distance frames.
Special features of a double-glazed window
Properties of a double-glazed window in many respects depend on properties of glass. Leading manufacturers are constantly experimenting with glasses, as a result of which you can buy windows with double-glazed windows:
Heat saving. A metallized film, invisible to the eye, is sprayed onto the glass and reflects the thermal part of the spectrum, passing at the same time all visible rays. Glass has excellent transparency and does not distort colors, but does not allow heat to penetrate inside in the summer, and in winter the heat leaves the room in the form of infrared radiation.
Tinted. As a rule, glass is stained at the production stage by adding metal oxides or other chemical compounds to the mixture. As a result, the window, while maintaining transparency, takes on a very attractive, sometimes exotic look.
Shockproof. Instead of ordinary float glass, tempered or triplex are used. They do not differ in transparency, but much stronger. Most often installed on production facilities, in educational institutions, in stores. It is convenient to install such windows on the lower floors, protecting the double-glazed window from an accidental blow or intentional act of vandalism.Such glasses are completely safe, even when broken, they crumble into rectangular pieces that are unable to cause injury, or remain glued to a strong polymer film.
Soundproof. As a rule, they use several technological methods. In addition to spraying thin films, the chambers are filled with inert gases, and the thickness of the remote chambers is different. As a result of this, sound vibrations are actively quenched, reflected from intermediate surfaces. Compared to a conventional two-chamber, noise-insulating double-glazed window reduces the level of external noise by 20% more.
Mirrored. Such glass is produced in two ways - by spraying a metallized or polymer film on the surface, or by adding metal oxides to the mass of glass in the manufacture. In the second case, the color is extremely stable, and the amount of light penetrating into the room is minimized. The appearance of the mirror glass is very interesting, you can choose from various shades, from golden and silver to emerald, bluish or pearl.
Variety of window shapes
In addition to standard rectangular and square windows, you can order designs of almost any configuration. It is only necessary to find a manufacturer who makes such windows - these are very complex products and many workshops that perfectly make standard windows do not even tackle complex ones. If triangular or hexagonal can still be made on conventional equipment, then arched, round or oval are assembled on special machines.
But still on the market there are the following windows:
Square window
Polygon window
Trapezoidal window
Arched window
Oval window
Triangular window
Round window
Composite window
Bay window system
Non-standard windows adorn any interior and can even become its “highlight”, turning an ordinary facade into a kind of palace. The most popular are arched windows of various varieties - from semicircular and horseshoe-shaped to lancet and ellipsoidal. When ordering such windows, you need to know that the radius of curvature should not exceed 40 - 45 cm.
When ordering triangular windows that look great on buildings with high roofs, you also need to pay attention to their configuration - any of the corners cannot be less than 300. They are more difficult to manufacture than rectangular and cost more, moreover, it differs in some nuances and ways of their installation. If you order triangular windows, then only with installation.
The trapezoidal windows, which look very good on the facades of cottages and attic-type houses, have approximately the same level of complexity. The same restrictions exist here - angles must exceed 300. But there are much more options for opening the shutters than triangular ones; in terms of ease of use, trapezoidal windows are comparable to rectangular ones.
Round windows are the most difficult to manufacture. They are used for non-standard design and purpose rooms - studios, artists' workshops, in hotels, especially decorated in a marine style. But with success they can be entered into the architecture of a country house. In their manufacture, there are the same restrictions on the radius of curvature as for arched ones. The maximum radius is limited only by the weight of the window and ease of use.
Bay windows and gantry windows protruding beyond the wall plane or completely replacing it have also become fashionable and popular. Such designs are made only to order and can take completely different shapes and sizes. In combination with the various design of glass and frames, non-standard windows allow you to achieve a completely stunning effect both in design and in functionality.
Window decoration options
Colored plastic windows
Having examined the plastic windows the types of which are described above, you can expand the selection with elements of various decor, for example, instead of the usual white profile, choose painted in one of the 150 RAL colors. For staining, special compositions are used that form a strong coating, like a polymer, with a thickness of only 80 microns. Paint can only be done in the factory.
Laminated plastic windows
Lamination is also very high resistance and durability - gluing a special film that imitates the surface of a tree onto a profile. This is done under high pressure and temperature exclusively on special machines. Such surfaces differ from ordinary wood only in their resistance to moisture and durability. A quality glued laminate will last no less than the window itself.
Scarlet.
Swamp oak.
Winchester.
Golden oak.
Mahogany.
Light fir.
Light oak.
Basalt.
Swamp greenery.
Raven wing.
Brushed aluminum.
Fir.
Rustic Oak.
Siena Rosso.
Swamp.
Brilliant blue.
Pine.
Oregon.
Platinum metallic.
Pink tree.
Shogun.
Stained glass
The original type of decoration belongs to stained-glass windows. They are performed on the inner glass of two-chamber double-glazed windows and, in addition to absolutely amazing visual effects, are highly resistant and durable. They can not be damaged in any way, and paints, varnishes and special tin dividing elements are designed for decades of operation. It is only important to choose a picture that best suits the style of home decoration.
The choice of windows is an exciting and responsible occupation. You find yourself in a completely different world of beauty and grace, in which only someone who approaches the choice carefully and evaluates both the design and the practical properties of the proposed designs can navigate.
