Quickslide’s Ade explains how you can sell Olympic gold medal windows and doors!
As anticipation builds for the upcoming Olympics, imagine offering your customers a winning streak of windows and doors that perform way above the minimum standards offered by other builders. While we admire athletes setting new records of excellence, you can seize the (white) gold by championing excellence in window and door solutions.
It’s not just about retaining heat; if they live on a busy road for example, their windows can dramatically reduce the noise and even in a nice, safe neighbourhood, nudging them towards more secure locks for their doors and windows will help them to sleep at night.
Keep the heat in!
Understanding u values is key – the lower, the better for heat retention. Building Regulations for replacements mandate a minimum u value of 1.4 W/m2K (for ‘Watts per square metre Kelvin’, just in case someone asks!), but surpassing this threshold is a breeze and yields substantial benefits.
Double and triple glazing can be made more thermally efficient for example by specifying the inclusion of argon or even krypton gas in the units. And far from being Superman’s fictional home world, these inert, odourless, colourless, and non-toxic gasses will significantly improve not just the insulation value of the window, it can also reduce heat build-up through the glass on the odd occasion the sun comes out in the UK. However, it’s important to note that krypton, albeit highly effective, can be both hard to obtain and costly.
Additionally, enhancing frame energy efficiency by filling cavities with low thermal conductive materials presents a smart solution. For instance, in our traditional vertical sliding windows, this technique presents us with an impressive u value of 1.2 W/m2K which is quite an achievement for this type of frame.
Noise out…
High performing glass can also be used to improve sound reduction in a home. Special sound attenuating laminated glass, made using a specially formulated interlayer sandwiched between two panes of glass, will significantly reduce noise from roads, factories or perhaps railways and airports. And triple glazing will have a dramatic effect at reducing noise inside the home.
Add security up!
Irrespective of how safe an area is, you will never hear a customer tell you that they don’t care about the security of their property. So why not offer them extra peace of mind by suggesting upgrades that will give them the most secure windows and doors possible?
Any reputable manufacturer will provide security enhancement options, including spec compliant with PAS 24:2016 standards and, bearing the Secured By Design marque operated by the police, could very well be worth the few extra pounds. Fitting laminated glass can also dramatically improve the security of a window but might be regarded as only worth the money in high crime areas.
Triple glazing emerges as the pinnacle upgrade, surprisingly affordable with manifold benefits. Although it is a popular misconception that the additional third pane of glass will improve the insulation value by an equivalent pro rata value, sound deadening, and security will be significantly improved. And such units typically also include a gas insert and may be tuned with the use of specialised coated glasses to further improve thermal insulation, noise control and security. Ask your supplier for advice as everyone will take a different approach.
The point is, just like the athletes and sport stars out there competing in France this year, by helping your customers choose the very best products available, you can cross the line ahead of your competitors.
For further information on Quickslide visit https://www.quickslide.co.uk/
