Not thinking of buying some but I heard an ad on the radio earlier and was curious. I tried looking them up on Wiki but it all got a bit technical. Something to do with rain?
Do they really work or is it a gimmick? And I suppose they're 10x the price of "normal" windows?
Quite a few people are convinced enough to specify it for large office buildings, and it does seem to work. The payback is better if you have to pay someone to stand in a cradle dangling from the roof of a building all day cleaning normal windows.
As to the rest of it:-
Pilkington's advertising department at work....
Indeed, the first question:
"Q. What can I use to clean the glass? A. Warm water with soap"
Presumably they mean the *inside*, but still.... "Hi, what can I use to clean my self-cleaning windows?". I suppose it would be useful (if it works) on a skylight window or somewhere else that's difficult to get to like a conservatory roof.
No system is perfect. You'll notice they also refer to "approved glass agents" for cleaning. The process only works with organic dirt and the organic binding agents surrounding inroganic, so you'd need some way to clean off what can't be done. Even if it increases the interval between cleaning by a factor of 3 or 4, it'll be worth it in a commercial situation.
And conservatories are one of their promoted applications.
Yep, I can understand the attraction for tower blocks and the like. But this was an advert on the radio for home improvements, I just wondered how effective they were.
No they mean the outside. We have them in all our windows (cost an extra £200 for over twenty windows). Sometimes you need to do that in the summe r when it hasn't rained.
Jonathan
It's not perfect but they are never as dirty as if they had never been cleaned. If you are near South Warwickshire come and have a look. We are a four storey building, so it mad sense for us to give it a go.
Jonathan
Jonathan
So a tenner extra per window? That sounds pretty good value. I was expecting an exorbitant cost...
Rain cleans them. I asume it doesn't rain inside your house, PV panels are made of self cleaning glass too. Seems to work.
They need UV light to work so indoors is unlikely to work.
Or just buy a RainX kit of cleaner and the stuff itself.
I was very skeptical about RainX until I saw a kit for about a tenner in CostCo. Took a fair bit of care cleaning and buffing the windscreen before applying the RainX stuff. Any wet just beads and doesn't stick. Above about 40 mph there is enough wind to keep the screen clear as the water just beads and blows up the screen. Fly splat still happens but cleans off a lot easier with the wipers and good washer fluid. Lasts a good two or three years before you notice it less effective where the wipers pass.
if the glass is old and scratched it's not quite as effective but still works.
(Makes mental note never to buy a s/h car from Dave L.)
I rarely sell cars. History indicates I normally break them, involving trees or drystone walls. B-)
I was very skeptical about RainX but it really does make a difference. The only slight bad thing is that imediately atter a wiper blade has passed the beads are tiny so the screen may look misted but that's only in a region up to 12" or so behind the blade. The screen is far clearer once the beads have made themselves bigger under surface tension. Not like the permenant smear you get with a dirty screen and the wash/wipe.
I suspect a lot is down to getting the screen really clean/polished and for it to be in reasonable condition (ie not too micro-scratched).
The apartment that I have just moved out of appeared to have self cleaning windows.
Any dirt/bird mess/etc that stuck to the widow just washed off over a number of week.
I didn't clean them once in the 30 months that I was there and they were never more than slightly dirty.
I doubt that they cost significantly more, this wasn't a high spec flat
tim
>
Sorry to hear it.
Indeed. Once you've used it, you have to use it forever, or replace the windscreen. I think it's loathsome stuff.
The alternative is to get windows that turn right round when opened so you can clean the outside from inside.
Not even that. Upstairs DG windows are supposed to open 90deg so you can exit in need. Ours also detach and slide along when at the 90deg position, so that indeed you can clean both sides. We had this type installed up and downstairs.
Or somewhere so clean you only have to clean the windows every two or three years.
Full explanation can be found on Wikipedia ... between "Sealed for life bearings" and "Ever Lasting Light bulbs"
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