I’m recycling four stained glass windows. (they’ll go into the round tower) but I’m concerned, (not about the windows they are very solid and evan the wood frame around them is nice).
I’m worried about insulation.. (my house is super insulated) all my other windows are double pane low e argon filled Anderson’s, thus I don’t think I should put single pane window up without some help. What I’m thinking of doing is to putting a layer (or two) of glass on the outside.. While the tower isn’t real noticable, you can see it (admittedly from about 200 feet away).
My question is, will it look funny to see a layer of glass over the window? (what about two layers of glass?)
These are rather large sized windows (roughly 40×45) but there will be a black walnut frame around them which will add two inches to both sides so the total rough opening will be 44×49
Replies
Remember that glass is a suspended liquid, and a piece 40x 45 is quite large. I think it'll look fine if at a minimum you use 3/16 or 1/4 thick laminated glass, or tempered if you can find someone to cut it. Clear acrylic is another option, but I'd avoid it unless the window is somewhat sheltered from the elements.
I think Anderson will make a custom window incorporating your glass.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
To add to Ed's comment, so will Pella and Marvin.
A fixed lite insulated unit outside of your leaded glass will not detract from it , and may well give it a longer life. My suggestion would to install the stained glass frame in such a way that you can remove it for cleaning the outside insulated units. We managed that on one job by hanging the stained glass panel with screw eyes and chains in side the window frame. On smaller panels we had a local a stained glass shop put them in frames that would install in place of the screens of casement windows.
Lots of option are available. check with a local stained glass studio that does repair and restoration work. They will work with you to give you art glass the best look and protection.
Dave
I'll issue my usual disclaimer .. I know nothing about building stuff. However, I have seen several churches that have a sheet of clear glass on the outside of the stained glass.
The only church that I have inside knowledge of has done that, and there is no clear glass on the inside, just the outside. However, since they really only heat the place a few hours a week, heat loss might not be such a concern. I think for a lot of churches the main concern is vandalism. So, it might be acrylic, but it usually looks like glass. With the large church windows, there are divisions in the stained glass that can be mirrored in the clear glass, so it's not as noticeable.
But, yes, you do know there is plain glass over the stained. However, you don't normally look into a stained glass, but rather out, and then it isn't noticeable.
IMHO stained glass doesn't really look like much from the outside- it's what you see inside that counts. But then again, aesthetics like that are totally a personal choice- those old houses with the leaded stained glass "lites" above the conventional windows looked pretty sharp from both inside and outside- but heat loss would be significant relative to a modern thermal window. At very least, a layer of glass on the outside with about 3/8" air space between the plain and stained glass would be a big help from a heat loss standpoint. Personally, I'd go with the approach of hanging or mounting the framed stained glass unit on the interior of a conventional low heat-loss thermal pane unit (i.e. two panes with warm edge spacers and low e coatings plus argon fill).
what you should do, is have the stained glass sandwidgched into a thermopane. If you seal it with a window on the outside, it of it with an air space in between, this will create a very hot greenhouse and cause the stained glass to fail. Actually saw this on TOH!!
Actually done it several times and had no problems, either with the leaded method or the Tiffany (copper foil and solder) method. It gets pretty hot here in the summer in Toronto, but not Texas hot. Can't see how you'd get the leaded/foiled glass hot enough to "fail", since it gets really hot during the process of soldering it anyway. Any properly-designed, properly supported stained glass panel should be strong enough not to fail under the little bit of heat it'd get from standing in the sun next to a plain glass window.
FDAMPIER5:
I have a 90 year old house with several leaded glass windows and doors. I had to have repairs made to the stained glass door and the repairman suggested that we install a sheet of 1/8" clear glass on top of the stain glass for protection and insulation. This was done 10 years ago and I have not experienced any problems with it. The leaded & stained glass by itself is not very airtight. The glass overlay solved the air infiltration.
Stan
will it look funny to see a layer of glass over the window
That's the recommended method for installing modern stained glass, it is 'hung' inside a "standard" outside window. This protects the stained glass, and provides insulation. This does not look as traditional from the outside, but it does work.
I agree completely that you'll have problems with moisture sweating on the glass if you put it in uninsulated.
My inclination would be to put a double pane window on the outside for a couple of reasons. Stained glass can sometimes leak water, and generally stained glass is viewed from the inside, so you'd want the glass to be uncovered from the inside. You don't need tempered or laminated glass unless there is some special need for protection from impact.
I would mount the stained glass frame to the inside of the window frame (probably need to custom mill some sort of support) in such a way that you can remove it on rare occasions to clean it and the clear glass.
I don't know if the flat glass on the outside will make it look funny, but I think it's a fair trade off for the thermal protection you'd need.