Energy Efficiency

SECONDARY GLAZING HAS REDUCED MY ENERGY BILLS BY 40%

Amid concerns over rapidly escalating energy prices - and with more rises to come- homeowners are naturally concerned over how they can conserve energy and keep costs down. Installing Granada Glazing’s secondary glazing has helped the owners of a single-glazed apartment to save around 40% on their monthly electricity bills, as well as exclude external noise.

Lindsey Gordon’s monthly electricity bill dropped from around £450 per month to £230 in the following month after 11 secondary glazed panels were fitted in her threebedroomed home at Murrays’ Mills, Ancoats in central Manchester.

Formerly the world’s oldest steam powered cotton mill dating back to 1797, the Grade II & II* listed buildings have been sensitively restored for residential use. The 107 apartments retain many historic features, such as exposed brickwork walls and multi-pane, sash and bay heritage windows. “Secondary glazing is the best investment we’ve made, I think, on this property to date. It’s made a huge difference, saved us money and the flat is now silent and warm,” comments Lindsey, who moved into the all-electric duplex flat in November 2019.

At first, their heavy usage of the electric heaters meant their monthly bills were as high as £900 for three months. “They are energysaving heaters, so we left them on all the time to keep the flat warm. But once we realised the cost and reset the timer, our bill halved.”

The secondary glazing was fitted in February 2021 and Lindsey noticed an immediate difference in heat retention, noise reduction and the March bill had dropped to £230. “We had a whole year where we couldn’t understand why the bills were so big. It was a combination of not having secondary glazing and leaving the heaters on most of the time. I reckon it’s a 40% saving overall.” Reducing outside noise intrusion was Lindsey’s main reason for getting secondary glazing and the 6.4mm acoustic laminate glass offers enhanced sound insulation that can reduce noise levels by as much as 80% (54 decibels). However, she says the improved thermal efficiency it also provides makes it “a very wise investment, especially in these times.”

She adds: “The secondary glazing has made the flat completely soundproof and the rooms remain warmer for longer after the heating goes off. “Although bills are going up, we’re saving over £200 a month. I’m sure anyone we sell this flat to would be delighted with the secondary glazing!” Suitable for all property types, Granada’s slimline aluminium secondary glazing frames can be powder coated in over 200 RAL colours. Virtually invisible, they blend in with any interior décor. The Granada Glazing product range encompasses hinged, sliding, vertical sliders, including tilt back, and liftout options. For more information the Granada Secondary Glazing range, please call 01909 499899, visit www.gsecg.com or email info@granadaglazing.com.

LEKA PRODUCTS LEAD THE WAY IN FUTURE-PROOFED THERMAL EFFICIENCY INNOVATION

The changes to Part L of Building Regulations covering thermal efficiency have had a huge impact on many solid roof manufacturers. One manufacturer that’s unaffected is Leka Systems. Leka products have always achieved industry-leading U values thanks to the system’s innovative design. It’s an advantage that’s more important than ever right now.

Rhys Hoddinott, Managing Director of Leka Systems, said: “The majority of our competitors have had to alter their systems to comply with the new regulations. In many cases, this has added complexity and cost to the installation. On the other hand, our Leka Warm Roof, Leka Orangery Roof and Leka Xi are thermally efficient by design and have always been available in a range of U values from an industry leading 0.12 W/m²K. to 0.15 W/m²K. It’s a huge advantage for installers because our roofs are still as easy to fit as they always have been.”

Rhys credits the thermal efficiency of Leka products to the innovation in their design. “We lead the way with innovation and consistently invest in engineering so we have been prepared for changes in building regulations since the day of concept and even future proofed further changes to Part L in years to come.” The big difference with Leka products is their GRP construction. The material delivers outstanding thermal efficiency but also offers another important benefit in the current climate.

It means they don’t use aluminium, which means they aren’t being affected by the sharp increase in aluminium prices. Rhys commented: “Fabricators and installers using aluminium are having to pass price increases onto consumers because they can’t absorb them any longer. Because we don’t use aluminium, this isn’t something we’re having to do. Our costs have been very sustainable, allowing Leka to become one of the most competitive systems in the marketplace.” With the rise in energy prices, more consumers than ever before will be looking at ways to improve the thermal efficiency of their conservatories and extensions. Leka Systems always had a compelling offering for this market. With the changes to Building Regulations, it’s an offer that’s just got even more compelling. Tel: 0800 773 4040 www.lekasystems.co.uk

EPWIN WINDOW SYSTEMS LAUNCHES NEW WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO FURTHER ENHANCE CUSTOMER SERVICE

Epwin Window Systems has announced the introduction of its new Warehouse Management System (WMS) which went live at the beginning of July. Ray McGrady, Commercial Director at Epwin Window Systems, says the new system will deliver numerous benefits for customers. He commented: “Everything about our WMS has been aimed at making customers’ lives easier. The first difference they’ll notice is improvement in delivery paperwork, which will make booking in deliveries much quicker and more straightforward.”

The WMS means every customer delivery will include an exacting delivery manifest for each stillage delivery. It will identify which products are on each stillage, which will make handling multi-stillage deliveries much easier. There will be a reverse pick list for each stillage, so the first product on the list will be on the top of the stillage and the last one on the bottom, making booking in quicker. The WMS has also enabled live dashboards to be implemented across customer services and order processing departments. These give live visibility of all orders, production and delivery schedules for greater transparency and instant customer updates. Ray commented: “Our WMS harnesses the power of intelligent technology to streamline operations and improve productivity and visibility for us and our customers. Feedback so far has been extremely positive and we know it’s only the start of the benefits it brings.” Implementation of the WMS took place over a number of weeks at the end of June and beginning of July and was carefully planned and communicated to minimise disruption to customer schedules. Epwin Window Systems is renowned for its commitment to continuous investment in its business and the WMS is the latest example of this. Further investments are already planned for later this year, including an automated vehicle delivery communication system that will enable ‘live’ tracking and a 30-minute predelivery text message to be sent direct to the customer for a streamlined process. Ray concluded: “We continually strive to improve our levels of service and support because we know it adds value to our customers’ businesses.”