Tightly sealed windows save energy

In view of the dra­mat­ic increase in energy prices, every build­ing envel­ope should be optim­ized for energy effi­ciency to ensure less heat­ing energy is wasted. For example by prop­er seal­ing of the win­dows. This also bene­fits the envir­on­ment, because less heat­ing is required and there­fore few­er emis­sions are released. What is more, there will be no need for the com­plete replace­ment of all win­dows.

Tip 1: How to detect leaks

Drafts mainly occur in two places. One area is the joint between the glaz­ing and the frame. The oth­er is the joint between the frame and the out­er wall and/or shut­ter box (win­dow reveal). The lat­ter source of leak­age is rel­at­ively com­mon, as win­dows were not always installed expertly in the past. There are two well-known tricks for detect­ing leaks. With the candle test, a burn­ing candle shows which way the wind is blow­ing. The paper test has also proven its worth: Simply clamp a sheet of paper between the win­dow and the frame and close the win­dow. If the paper can be pulled out, the win­dow is not tight.

Tip 2: Eliminate leaks yourself or hire a professional craftsman

Exper­i­enced do-it-your­­selfers can carry out minor seal­ing work between the glaz­ing and the frame them­selves. Depend­ing on the nature of the leaks, they can be elim­in­ated with joint seal­ants made of sil­ic­one or acryl­ic. How­ever, if there are leaks in the area where the win­dow frame meets the exter­i­or wall, it is bet­ter to call in a pro­fes­sion­al crafts­man. Along this seam, gun­nable seal­ants, seal­ing strips and mem­branes as well as pre-com­­pressed foam tapes are the pre­ferred choice. Their cor­rect hand­ling requires a great deal of expert know­ledge and exper­i­ence. It is advis­able to hire a spe­cial­ist com­pany that is cer­ti­fied to carry out “Win­dow install­a­tion accord­ing to RAL guidelines”. Res­id­ents can then be sure that the seal­ing job will not be botched.