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Comment by sccxy | Hacker News Reader

Triple pane windows are not that kind of luxury.

I live in a poor Eastern European country and this is the standard for new buildings.

Ah, but in North America, only double-pane windows are required. Triple-pane windows are considered necessary for noise abatement but are prohibitively expensive. There are government rebates for upgrading older homes from single to double-pane windows, but no third-pane increase in the rebate.

Yes, and to give an idea I replaced some windows in my house a couple years back. The double pane windows on the north side were about $100 to $150 per, while the triple pane windows on the south side were $900. The triple pane also had higher installation labor costs. It seemed ludicrous to me that it would be so much more expensive, but after calling around, that was very typical.

Why was labor more expensive?

Only thing I could imagine was extra hands to deal with the weight.

Don't they use machinery to carry the windows? Even double pane gets heavy. The windows of the sliding doors I've recently got replaced were like 200kg each.

Where I am, in British Columbia, the solution formoving even the biggest windows in single family homes is to use ten men and a boy.

It is exceptionally rare for a contractor to have equipment to move literally anything that takes less than four laborers to move by hand.

Not here in the Netherlands. By law anything heavier than 23kg should be carried by a machine. In principle one can carry something heavier, but then there needs to be a written plan etc.

It's very common to carry stuff with a small crane. If it needs to be carried to thd back of the house which is not accessible, they set up a bigger crane.

I bet y'all have comprehensive workers compensation coverage and good healthcare too. Half the contractors around here lie about carrying a personal injury policy and several I've worked for had a standing policy where if you fell off a roof, scaffold, or ladder it was understood that you were fired before you hit the ground.

I got extra thick glasses (12mm thick each instead of 6mm standard) for my argon filled double pane windows in the bedroom. The noise isolation is incredbly improved. It did cost only 15% more. This is Europe again.

Do you mean the spacing between the two panes of glass?

No no, the thickness of the glass panes.

12mm thick glass is pretty damn thick and is normally used for for table tops, glass walls and partitions, hearths, frameless balustrades at ground level, and kitchen worktops.

Here in Germany triple pane windows are very much a luxury.

Nonsense, they're pretty much standard for new buildings, too.

It's more expensive to replace old windows with triple-pane as most window frames aren't thick enough. But it's definitely not a luxury.

They are the standard, because historically Eastern European winters are several times harsher than anything in USA, with the exception of a few states bordering Canada.

So the ROI is way higher.

They're standard because energy is more expensive in Europe than in the US.

Properly priced externalities strike again?

More like the lack of natural fuel that Europe is willing or able to use for itself.

Noticeable exception includes Norway with their gas fields, but it's not like Germany has huge swaths of oil ready to be used. Germany does have substantial coal, but it's been decreasing its use of it in exchange for alternatives it doesn't own the fuel for.

In other words, Europe pays more for energy because they have to import it. Importing it isn't factoring "externalities", as the extra money isn't going to anything except Russia or OPEC.

Sure, if it helps you sleep. There is a good reason for you to consume less

Better isolation?

About half of the buildings in Australia still use single-pane windows.

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