Double Glazed Sealed Units Saint-Gobain vs Pilkington

[Mike Myers]

Hi,

Following on from my Window hunting, one company has offered me two choices of Low-e glass, the first being Pilkington K-Glass which I have heard of which is a hard coat Low-e glass and the second is a Saint-Gobain soft coat Low-e which looks a lot more opaque than the K-glass. Sales guy (its Colefax in Hull) claims the Saint-Gobain soft coat is actually a better u-value than the K-glass although looking on the Saint-Gobain website, their standard low-e glass seems the same spec as K-Glass, but it does look more natural than the tint on the K-Glass.

Any of you DIY'ers had any dealings with Saint-Gobain glass, from an aesthetic point of view I think the Saint-Gobain is nicer, but is it really as good as K-Glass?

Cheers,

Mike

[Ziggur]

I have frequently visited both Pilkington and Saint-Gobain main flat glass production units, seen the glass made, seen the coating process, and studied the technical specifications in depth.

The Low-E coating differences have a small significance for the sealed unit fabricator but none at all for the end user. The level of thermal efficiency is so similar that you would not be able to measure any variation between the two options.

My suggestion would be that you go with the windows that you prefer, regardless of the coating. There are other features that are much more important (including your perception of the appearance).

HTH.