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Communication by NAXA
… TO GUARANTEE ENERGY SAVING AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING INSIDE A BUILDING
The well-being inside your home is determined by many factors such as the level of light, the quality of the air, the percentage of humidity and the acoustic and thermic isolation.
In this situation, the Caiframe window plays a determinant role, and that’s why we have to use it at its best: to obtain the maximum housing comfort with the lowest energetic expense!
First of all, it is fundamental to know that the new Caiframe windows are highly performing as for acoustic and thermic isolation and therefore act differently and somehow opposite to the old windows we all are used to.
To obtain the best comfort inside your house you will have to keep under control some parameters, sometimes linked together:
- Air exchange
- Humidity control
- Solar and temperature control
AIR EXCHANGE
Air exchange inside a room is a fundamental variable for the well-being of your home. ventilazione-naturale-manuale
Not everybody knows that the presence of people inside closed rooms increases the water vapor and the concentration of carbon dioxide, subsequently reducing the oxygen level and therefore the air quality.
All this generates in the individuals a feeling of tiredness, lack of concentration, depression and other small disorders.
Old windows, without seals and with very small constructive precision airtight systems, allowed a continuous air exchange through drafts, without opening the shutters. We practically had our windows ‘constantly open!’
Just think that an old closed window was able to exchange the air of a whole room during 1 to 4 hours, depending on how approximate its airtight system was!
In this way, the continuous air exchange had serious negative effects: it couldn’t be controlled, caused heavy energetic waste, created continuous discomfort because of the air blades invading the rooms.
The Caiframe windows, thanks to the high airtight performances they guarantee, are impermeable to drafts and allow a totally controlled air exchange: the rooms ventilation only happens through the correct opening of the shutters or via controlled ventilation systems.
You have to pay attention, because an incorrect ventilation of the room can lead to a 25% dispersal of the global energy, both I terms of heating and cooling, with a subsequent negative impact on the environment and on the economy of our home!
It is essential to learn to exchange the air in an efficient way, distinguishing summer ventilation from winter ventilation.
SUMMER VENTILATION
In summer, room’s ventilation must exclusively happen at night, 1-2 hours approximately after sunset, in order to exchange the air and refresh the rooms for free. Opening the shutters during daytime’s hottest hours causes a high rise of the temperature inside the room, with a consequent energy dispersion, whether talking about an air-conditioned room.
Opening the windows during the hottest hours of the day rises the walls and floors temperature, and when the temperature lowers in the evening, heated walls and floors keep on releasing heat inside the room, decreasing the housing comfort.
Vice versa, at night the windows must be wide open and kept open as much as possible, in order to exchange the air and store the fresh one, also lowering the walls and floors temperature.
Simply using Caiframe windows as reported above, the comfort of your home will improve and the air conditioning expense will considerably decrease!
WINTER VENTILATION
Not everyone knows that in winter the air inside the houses is more polluted, because of domestic heating.
It is very important to keep the UR index under control, which measures the level of relative humidity and therefore the percentage of water vapor contained in the air.
The importance of keeping the UR index under control derives from the fact that in winter the walls are colder, and if we don’t control the UR index we will easily find condensation on the windows or on the walls and so you are going to meet mold phenomena.
How can we control the UR index? Simply by completely changing the air in the rooms through a brief opening of the shutters, one or more times a day.
In winter, the air exchange speed is much faster, since we have a substantial temperature difference between inside and outside, so a few minutes will be sufficient to have a complete air exchange in the rooms. To have a complete air exchange in a 3ml x 4ml room of average dimension you can operate in two ways:
- Open wide the shutters for 5-6 minutes.
- Position the window in tilt door position for 45-50 minutes.
- Position the window in ‘Micro ventilation’ position for 80- 90 minutes.
Following the directions reported above, you will have a complete air exchange with a minimum energy waste. The opening time of the window are short, and the walls, furniture and floors keep their warmth and as soon as you close the window the initial temperature of the room will be restored in a few minutes.
ATTENTION: AVOID EXCESSIVE VENTILATION IN WINTER
In winter, an excessive ventilation is strongly not recommended! Other than having high thermic dispersion, contrary to what you may think, we might meet with mold phenomena on the walls! If you leave the windows open for a longer period than the one recommended above, the walls will cool down and when you will close the window the thermic inertia might lead to condensation phenomena in the walls corners. All these factors combined to the absence of ventilation due to a closed window might lead to the development of molds.
Anyway, it is advisable, in the rooms with highest humidity rate, rather than exceeding the opening time reported above, to increase the daily frequency of air exchange, taking it to 2-3 times a day.
HOW TO USE THE WINDOW FOR AIR EXCHANGE
You can chose different level of comfort and speed to perform air exchange in your rooms| QUICK | CONTROLLED | CONFORT |
| Swing opening: horizontal handle. In winter, max 10nminutes. | Tilt door opening: whether the window is provided with such accessory. Handle positioned vertically upward. Allows a controlled and not invasive ventilation. In winter, maximum time 50 minutes. | Micro ventilation: whether the window is provided with such accessory. Handle inclined 30°. Allows a very slow and not annoying air exchange. In winter maximum time 90 minutes. |
CONTROLLED VENTILATION
Given the importance of air exchange inside homes, to guarantee the best housing comfort, in the new generation houses controlled ventilation and air exchange system are more and more often installed. These systems act according to the humidity and carbon dioxide concentration inside the rooms. The air exchanger allows the outcoming air to give its temperature (hot in winter and cold in summer) to the incoming air, so that the air entering the house has almost the same temperature as the air inside the room. This way, we have air exchange without temperature variations inside the rooms, obtaining a considerable energy saving.
With these new air exchange systems, the Caiframe window expresses all its value, guaranteeing the best performances in terms of thermic isolation.
Just think that in the high energetic efficiency houses, the opening of the shutters is only expected when cleaning the window glass, just to maximize the thermic isolation!
HUMIDITY CONTROL
It is a fact that human presence and activity inside the homes generates a considerable amount of water vapor. In winter, when the walls and window glasses are cold and we have an excess of humidity in the air inside the room, this phenomenon can cause water dripping in the inner side of the window and condensation on the walls, that can develop into mold. All these phenomena can accentuate in presence of house with thermic bridges or walls that are not isolated enough.
If those phenomena did not happen with old windows, because they had almost no airtight sealing and consequently caused a high thermic dispersion, as described above, it often happens that with the installation of new windows, phenomena of condensation in the inner side of the window or mold forming may happen.
All these things may lead to think that the new windows are to blame!
You must be aware that the new Caiframe windows, with high airtight sealing, only put in evidence some problems of the house that have always been present, but were hidden by an old window that allowed a continuous and uncontrolled air exchange, with high energy dispersions.
Mold and condensation problems are also frequent in new or just restored buildings because of water that still has to evaporate from the new walls and ceilings. In such cases, you have to intensify the rooms ventilation for the first 6-8 months, otherwise condensation and mold will be inevitable in the coldest months.
With the new Caiframe window you will just have to ventilate the room as reported above to have the right degree of air humidity, maximum housing comfort and an excellent energy saving!
In order to live well in your house, you must know that the percentage of humidity related to air must not exceed 65% to avoid the problems described above, but at the same time it must not be below 40%, since dry air encourages the development of viruses and bacteria.
A common hygrometer, like the one in the picture, can be useful to keep the real housing comfort under control.
SOLAR AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL
In every home, temperature control has always been delegated to heating systems, and lately also air conditioning systems, without taking into consideration with the right attention that even the choice of the right window, other than its correct use, can influence the solar control and consequently the temperature, having important positive effects on management costs and environmental impact.
IN WINTER
The ideal temperature we should get used to live at in our homes in winter is 20°. Studies show that the cost to further increase the temperature over 20° has a relevant impact on the house management costs, other than a consequent environmental impact that cannot be neglected. An ecologically, other than economically, responsible behavior, requires us to set the winter temperature of our home around 20°.
Let’s see now how can we contribute with our behavior to control the temperature during winter time, minimizing the costs and environmental impact: installing high energetic efficiency Caiframe widows.
Correctly ventilating the rooms following the indications reported previously.
Closing the darkening systems at night, in order to make the most of the insulating power of the shield and keep an air cushion, more or less steady, in contact with the window that further contributes to avoid useless heat dispersion.
IN SUMMER
During summer, especially in rooms exposed to south and south-west, the correct use of the new generation windows such as those from Caiframe, is determinant to contribute to the correct solar and temperature control.
You must be aware that the rays of the sun hitting and directly entering the rooms through the window glass, are absorbed by the floor, the walls and by the furniture, and are then reissued with a different wavelength from the original one, and can no longer go across the window. This way, we have what we all know as the ‘greenhouse effect’. Even in this case, the old windows, considering the drafts and the old on-isolating glass, could somehow dissipate the heat outside. The new thermic isolated windows with low emission that prevent the infrared radiation to exit, dissipate heat in a much minor way, and so, in summer, the environment overheating can greatly rise, until it becomes unbearable.
To solve the problem you can: install shading or darkening systems whether not expected.
Keep the curtains and the darkening systems closed as much as possible during the day, so as to avoid direct radiation from the sun.
Use the special Caiframesolar control glass HCS.
Correctly ventilate the rooms as reported above.
Remember that a correct use of the Caiframe windows as reported above, can highly limit the use of heating and air conditioning systems, thus optimizing the management costs of your home and sensitively reducing the environmental impact.
Installing and correctly using the Caiframe windows means taking an ecologically responsible behavior!
MAGAZINE
Window purchasing guide
ECO-SUSTAINABILITY AND LOW ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
How to save by making the right choice!
GUIDE
USE AND MAINTENANCE
Congratulations for choosing a Caiframe product!