I’m not going to lie ― the first time I heard about triple glazing, I was reminded of The Onion’s ‘F*ck Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades’ article about razor companies’ endless metal strip additions.
But the promises triple glazing makes are pretty compelling.
Comparative home price site GreenMatch writes that the added pane can improve your energy (in winter, that means heating) efficiency by as much as 50% and can even give you better security.
Still, they claim that it can add about 30% to the cost of new windows ― a percentage most people would want to see payback from.
So, HuffPost UK spoke to Michael Zohouri, an expert in sustainable retrofitting and founder of efficient energy company The Retrofitters, about whether it was really worth the extra dosh.
Will triple glazing pay for itself?
If you’re looking for a one-to-one payback as soon as possible, you might not get it as quickly as you’d like, Micheal told us ― though he doesn’t think the 30% figure is quite right.
“Triple glazing is about 40-50% more thermally efficient than double and only costs 10-20% more,” he told us.
“But having said that, the payback period, if we just look at energy savings, is still more than 50 years in most cases.”
Though he added: “It all depends on how energy-efficient the windows you are replacing are ― if they’re old, single glazed and draughty, the payback period can be much faster.”
Still, “worth it” doesn’t just refer to energy costs, Micheal argued.
If you opt for the extra pane, he says, “the value of the home will increase, the noise pollution will drop and it’ll be more comfortable.”
Indeed owners of triple-glazed homes told the BBC they’d never go back, calling the change “dramatic.”
So what’s the verdict?
Ultimately, Micheal thinks it all depends on your home.
“When we’re retrofitting whole houses with wall and loft insulation, we’ll often advise triple glazing if the windows need replacing because it’s only slightly more expensive,” he shared.
“But if the windows are already double-glazed, it usually doesn’t make sense to replace them with new triple-glazed ones.”