Reducing noise pollution from permeating your home or business, improving security or upgrading your current windows. These are all valid reasons to consider acoustic glazing.
Whether it is your home, home office, or business premises you are planning to alter, acoustic glazing offers many benefits.
At Manchester Window Factory, we have more than 25 years of experience providing and installing windows, doors, and conservatories.
In this blog, we’ll outline the pros and cons of acoustic glass compared to triple glazing and try to help you decide which is better for you.
Should you replace glazing windows with acoustic glass?
To answer this question, you first need to determine your current glazing situation and how much you would potentially benefit from replacing your windows with acoustic glass.
Your budget, location, and level of environmental concern may also be deciding factors.
For example, if you currently have single glazing, you likely need to upgrade.
Single glazing is not recommended in UK homes. It is compulsory for UK homes built after 2002 to have double or triple glazing to meet energy-efficiency requirements and building regulations.
The question then becomes whether you go for standard double glazing, acoustic glass double glazing or triple glazing.
If you are searching for information on acoustic glazing, you probably need noise-reducing windows. If so, you can discount standard double glazing and turn your attention to the other options.
Acoustic glass vs triple glazing
Acoustic glass can be double or triple-glazed, but for comparison, we will look at double-glazed acoustic glass v triple-glazed windows.
What is acoustic glazing?
Acoustic glazing is a window comprised of two or more panes of glass, often of different thicknesses, with a layer of laminate or acoustic foam and air gaps filled with an inert gas such as argon or krypton. The acoustic glass available at Manchester Window Factory is STADIP SILENCE. Featuring a special film interlayer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), STADIP SILENCE has an airborne sound insulation level of up to 54 decibels.
Pros of Acoustic Glass
- Reduces noise by up to 50%, a difference of around 10 decibels
- Insulates to reduce heat loss
- Offers improved temperature control
- Absorbs around 99% of harmful UV rays
- Works well for internal dividing spaces such as schools, offices and meeting rooms
- Difficult to break for extra security
Cons of Acoustic Glass
- Effectiveness can be determined by the thickness of the glass
- More expensive than triple glazing – Soundproof windows can range in price from £900 to almost £2,000 + VAT per window
- It can be heavy and require a specialist frame
- Frames can warp over time due to the weight of the acoustic glass
What is triple glazing?
Triple glazing is three panes of glass, usually the same thickness sandwiched with air gaps filled with an inert gas, usually argon or krypton.
You can find a more in-depth explanation of triple glazing in one of our previous blogs.
Pros of Triple Glazing
- Makes homes and buildings warmer
- Reduces overheating
- Offers an up to 35% reduction in heat loss compared to double glazing
- Usually has the best Energy A+ rating
- Can help reduce heating bills
- Hard to break for better security
- Better sound reduction than double glazing
Cons of Triple Glazing
- Significantly more expensive than double glazing
- Might be unnecessary in the UK, where we don’t endure many extreme temperatures
- Increases CO2 emissions by up to 40-50%
- Heavier so requires more energy and costs more to transport
- Uses more materials than double glazing at a higher cost to the environment
- Less flexible than soundproof acoustic glazing
- Can sometimes stop noise from getting out of the rooms creating an echo chamber
As you can see, acoustic double glazing and triple glazing offer many of the same advantages. However, neither is perfect, so your decision will come down to your needs and personal preference. For soundproofing, acoustic glass is more effective than standard double or triple glazing. However, triple glazing will offer some noise reduction with other benefits, such as increased overall comfort.
You can also choose to install acoustic glass in some rooms and standard double or triple glazing in others, depending on their purpose.
How thick is soundproof glass?
STADIP SILENCE windows and glass facades range from 6.4mm to 16.8mm. STADIP SILENCE double-glazed windows from Manchester Window Factory are typically 28mm thick, broken down as 4mm-thick panes of glass, one with the interlayer, with two air gaps of either 8mm or 16mm each, filled with an inert gas such as argon.
How effective is acoustic glass
Acoustic glass is specifically designed to combat and reduce noise pollution, by absorbing, reflecting and dampening soundwaves. At least one pane of glass is usually coated with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB), offering better noise reduction than standard double glazing.
It does this job very effectively and offers better safety and security, with coated glass being much more difficult to break, either on purpose or by accident.
Our acoustic also blocks UV rays without compromising the clarity of the glass, giving you excellent views and preventing sun bleaching.
Is acoustic glass worth it?
This question brings us a full circle back to whether or not you should replace your existing windows with acoustic glass windows.
Ultimately, you need to look at all the facts and determine whether acoustic windows make the most sense for your home.
There are also some other suggestions for reducing noise pollution in our previous blog.
We hope this blog has helped you to pinpoint the pros and cons relating to your specific needs and financial circumstances, enabling you to make an informed decision.
If you would like to know more about acoustic glazing or any of our other products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on 0161 976 4739 or drop us an email at [email protected].
Alternatively, you can fill in our online contact form to receive a free, no-obligation quote. If you’re in the area, you can also pop into our Altrincham showroom. See our homepage for up-to-date opening times.
We look forward to hearing from you.
