A double glazed unit is the minimum requirement to any external glazing to an insulated space. By trapping a gas cavity between two pieces of glass you create an insulated glass unit with the capacity to reduce heat loss to the external of a building.
The exact thermal performance of any double glazed unit will vary depending on the glass specification required, gas filling used and spacer bar used on the insulated glass panel.
A gas filling of air is available to use for a layer of insulation within the double glazed unit but argon gas fillings are generally the minimum required to achieve the thermal performances criteria for most modern applications. If required krypton gas filling can be used but are only really applicable on more specialised double glazed situations.
The spacer bars used to separate the two glass panels can be made from aluminium or specialised Warm Edge spacers for improved thermal performance. These spacer bars can be coloured to suit but a black spacer bar is a versatile solution and particularly suitable for structural glazing where the spacer bars will be more visually exposed.
A double glazed unit is extremely versatile and most modern framing systems will be designed to take the unit depth of a double glazed unit for a thermally insulating opening window or door. Double glazed units can also be used within frameless structural glazing, in glass walls and roofs as well as glass floors.
Toughened or laminated glasses can be used for either glass panel used and for added performance elements such as solar control glass or low maintenance glass can be included.