Sorry about getting off papercrete a little on this post.
My personal opinion may not be something that everyone agrees with,
and that's fine. To each their own.
Just speaking thermally. WINDOWS ARE EFFECTIVELY A HOLE IN YOUR
WALL. If your only goal is to optimize thermal performance of a
structure there are far better ways to transport the sun's energy
inside than to use windows, IMHO. Moving heated water is far more
efficient than moving heated air, and it's far easier to create a
heat battery for cloudy days. Keeping your insulation envelope
completely intact makes sense.
Does this mean I don't want windows? Of course not. Windows are a
picture frame on the world. They also allow in light. I want
windows. I just want windows in my structure to make sense.
I've never understood why someone would put a window in a wall that
looked out on the neighbor's brick wall. Who wants to look at that?
There are cheaper and more effective methods to provide ventilation
and even light (that brick wall is probably blocking most of the
light anyway). I suppose if that is the only direction to provide an
emergency egress window it might make sense. Safety is important.
It sure seems a shame to force a sensless view.
Most of the time I am not looking out of my windows. When I'm not
looking out of them I'd like to plug that thermal hole. I plan on
having superinsulated walls of R-50 or better. Even triple glazed
argon filled glass yields what? R4? I'd call that a thermal hole.
My latest insulated curtain design idea eliminates magnetic seals.
It is a simple roll down shade design where a rod or tube acts as a
spool. When open, the spool is at the top of the window with the
insulating and decorative fabric rolled around it. The top edge of
the fabric is permanantly attached to the top casing. When closed,
the entire spool decends unfurling the fabric as it goes. The spool
rolls along two sloped tracks on each side of the window that are
about 1/4" per foot out of plumb. The sloped ramps on each side
allow the fabric and spool to rest against them and eliminate air
convections. Depending upon the stiffness of the fabric and the
width of the window, dowels or other stiffeners are sewn into the
fabric horizontally at vertical intervals. Gravity holds it all in
place.
Keep in mind that the window wells I anticipate are deep, around 2
feet. There is plenty of room to hold this.
Of course, first things first. I don't have my land to build on.
I'm not really too worried about window treatments. I need to buy my
view before I look to frame it.
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "D Gardner" <dgardner1@...>
wrote:
><snip>
>
> I was thinking about the comments about the shades for your windows
> (on the home being discussed in previous posts). Interesting.
>
><snip>
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