Heat transfer characteristics of various plastic-steel triple-glazed windows

Abstract

With the increasing demand for energy efficiency, triple-glazed windows are becoming widely used in severe cold regions in China to reduce internal heat loss in winter. There are three combinations of triple glazing and frames: triple glazing sharing one frame; a single-glazed window and a double insulating unit using two separate frames; and three single-glazed windows with three separate frames. There is a need to study the heat transfer characteristics of different types of triple-glazed windows in order to make better use of such units and provide appropriate reference designs. THERM and WINDOW software were used to simulate the total heat transfer coefficient of triple-glazed window units for variations in the number of frames, glass thickness, glazing arrangements, and air chamber width. The results show that the total heat transfer coefficient varies from 1.35 to 1.95 w/m2; the number of frames has the greatest effect on the heat transfer coefficient and the air chamber width has the least effect. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.