Modern double glazed windows are also aesthetically pleased, increase security, add value to your property, reduce noise pollution and resist the build up of condensation.

The UK double glazed window and door market is competitive, so dealing direct with a manufacturer is less likely to cause problems in the future than if you buy through “a middle man” who ends up not having the resources to deliver on whatever guarantee you were promised. Obviously costs do vary between suppliers, as does the quality of the product, and installation knowledge and expertise. It is therefore wise to do your research and find out who exactly (and where!) will be fabricating and fitting the replacement windows and doors you require, as the last thing you want is to fork out on a major investment that ends up costing you nothing but time, money and hassle in the future should anything be/go wrong with either the products or installation.

Price is not the be all and end all, especially if you want high quality, energy saving replacement windows and doors, so be wary of any quotation that apparently is considerably “cheaper”, as there is always a reason, so check the specification carefully, as well as visit the showroom of your chosen home improvement partner, so you know what you are going to get before you get it.

Finally, never rush a decision, plus allow sufficient time (2-3 months) for survey, ordering of raw materials, fabrication and installation. Better to take your time and get it right first time, than opt for a cowboy who surprisingly can offer you a quick installation date. For genuine peace of mind, choose a company who do not require a deposit, as then you stay in complete control, as there is nothing to pay until your installation is completed.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, George Clarke, presenter of Channel 4 Television’s “The Home Show” and “The Restoration Man” explained: “When you look at the potential energy savings, every house in the country ought to be double glazed.”

Mr Clarke has provided advice to consumers about how they can reduce energy bills and make their day to day living more energy efficient. He added: “There is a perception that eco-designed homes are newbuilds, with a lot of hi-tech modern features. But all homes need to become eco-homes if we are to reduce carbon emissions in line with the Kyoto Protocol.”

The article posted by Mark Stephens on the Energy Saving Trust website highlighted how much energy, fuel and money can be saved by installing home improvements such as energy efficient double glazing and loft insulation.

The Hazlemere Group wrote to every single customer/household on their database in June 2010, informing them of the significant changes to the building regulations after 30th September 2010. Property owners now only have 30 days including today to purchase our most affordable windows that meet current legal requirements. From 1st October 2010 onwards, we will only be able to provide them with windows that have an energy rating of C or higher.

I do however think it is important to point out that our double glazing that has less than a C rating still delivers excellent benefits, and is without doubt a much better option than sticking with old timber or single glazed crittal windows. Not only do you need to purchase these windows on or before 30th September 2010, but you must have had them installed by 5th April 2011 in order for them to be issued with a FENSA certificate. Hazlemere Windows are currently able to promise that we will have them installed and ready in your home well well before this final deadline, so there is no need to panic as long as you do request a no obligation quotation very very soon, and sign/date an order before the end of this month!

It is worth remembering that the cost of having new windows and doors put in your home is a much less costly option compared to moving house. When you add up all the costs of moving home such as paying stamp duty, estate agents fees, removal vans, solicitors and legal fees (most of which attract VAT as well), it can often make real financial sense not to change property, enabling you to stay in your current residence for a fraction of the cost.

Another reason it is worth considering ordering replacement double glazing now, is because as long as it is installed before Christmas 2010, you will avoid the 2.5% Valued Added Tax increase from 17.5% to 20% VAT that comes into effect on Tuesday 4th January 2011.

Cala Homes starting work on the Raans Road Affordable Housing Scheme in Amersham Bucks

As a condition of obtaining planning permission, Cala Homes have to build a significant number of affordable homes on the scheme, which also includes a new community church building for Kings Church Amersham.

As a member of Kings Church Amersham, I am hoping they will allow Hazlemere Commercial to tender for all the new bespoke windows and doors that will be required, as all the building costs of this community church(estimated to be in the region of £4.25m) is being funded via Kings Church Amersham. Consequently I want the Church to get decent windows, well installed, and at a decent cost.

The new community centred church will have capacity in the main hall for 400 persons, along with associated ancillary rooms. Plans also include a coffee shop, meeting rooms and a bookstall to allow the building to be used by the local council and community for civic functions and concerts etc. Whilst Kings Church Amersham own the land, and will own the new building, it fully intends for it to become an integrated part of the community, serving as a hub for all the new homes, as well as all the existing local residents.

Cala Homes in conjunction with Kings Church Amersham obtained planning approval, although planning permission was subject to a Section 106 Agreement with Bucks County Council and Amersham Town Council. This was signed and agreed by all parties in June 2010, after which Cala Homes and Kings Church Amersham received formal Planning Notice, enabling the initial preparatory ground works to commence. I am delighted that Kings Church Amersham are party to a scheme that will provide much needed affordable housing in Amersham.

When looking at double glazing, take advantage of well established independent local firms that offer a genuine no obligation free home consultation by an experienced expert. From the outset, advise every firm you approach that you will not tolerate any hard selling tactics, plus that you will require a written quotation to consider in private. Make it clear you are not going to rush and that you will make any decision in your own time and space. Be wary of any double glazing sales person or firm that claims it can offer you delivery in only a few weeks, as ask yourself why are they not busy and able to offer delivery quicker than other firms quoting several months? If one firm has a substantially larger order book, it could well mean that more people had chosen to wait and have a longer delivery to get the firm, quality of product and workmanship they want, rather than rush to try and save money with a quick fit outfit desperate for the work.

It is all about choice, but the process of producing good quality energy efficient high quality bespoke replacement double glazing does take time. Firstly, after a client signs up, the sales consultant’s measurements, product specifications and costings have to be double checked. Then a professional surveyor needs to arrange a new appointment at the client’s convenience to take accurate exact measurements of each opening. From his survey and assessment of a particular property, the raw materals and appropriate glass is ordered. Upon receipt of these (which can take several weeks if the product required is not in standard colours or finish), the work is scheduled for production in the factory, enabling the windows and doors to be fabricated, then checked, before an installation date is set. Fitters are then assigned to carry out the installtion on a mutually agreed date with the client.

Steer clear of any firm looking to cut corners in order to be able to deliver a lower cost product, as they will still be looking to make a profit out of the deal, so it may well be worth asking yourself at which point in the process will they do this? Where will they make their margin on your contract? Will there be any area of compromise? If so, will it be a) on the survey, b) on the quality of the raw materials, c) on the glass specification, d) during fabrication, e) on quality control, f) during installation or g) on after sales service? There is nearly always a reason why one firm is less and one is more, so please remember the faithful old saying that “you get what you pay for”.

I would therefore be wary of sales representatives and/or firms promising a quick delivery, as if they have lots of customers ordering they can’t do them all as priority, plus if they have taken a 25% deposit off you, it is very difficult to cancel the order if they don’t achieve the delivery date promised, as they have your money. At Hazlemere Window Company we don’t take any deposit and will quote a realistic genuinely achievable delivery period. I believe we therefore offer consumers the choice of waiting a little longer and ending up with a high quality product, installation and a ten year fully comprehensive guarantee, or taking a risk on a firm who are “promising” a fast delivery.

This risk can be reduced by doing thorough research into the product, the speficication on offer and each of the firms under consideration. As nowadays energy efficient double glazing is not cheap, it is worth taking one’s time and carrying out sufficient investigation into your chosen double glazing supplier and installer, to ensure you get a decent return for the investment you are making in your property. You may be fortunate enough to have a job well done, as there are some really decent local independent UK double glazing manufacturers, suppliers and installers around, so don’t be rushed into signing on the dotted line, wait till the sales representative has gone before selecting the right product for your property.

Candidates should have excellent organisational skills, a very pleasant telephone manner and be a confident communicator.
This dynamic position is full time Monday to Friday 8.30am – 5.30pm, with 28 days holiday (including statutory Bank Holidays), with a salary commensurate with experience. We are an equal opportunities organisation. Hazlemere Group current vacancies

If you know anyone who would be suited who would like to apply, please get them to email their CV to Hazlemere with their availability and a covering letter explaining why they are particularly suited to this unique role to m.hanson@hazlemere.co.uk or post to HWC, Wellington Road, Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, HP12 3PR. Closing date: 10am Tuesday 31st August 2010

A typical UK home affected by the new Building Regulations

After the 30th September 2010 double glazing suppliers will be forced, by law, to sell windows that meet the new regulations strict criteria. Part L of the Buildings Regulations states that windows sold from October onwards must have a minimum Window Energy Rating (WER) of C or higher. Although these windows will provide better heat efficiency, the extra costs in production means that they will be more expensive for manufacturers, suppliers, installers and therefore ultimately for the consumer.

The next two months present a final opportunity for home owners all across the country to grab themselves a bargain before the last remaining stocks of less expensive double glazed windows are snapped up by property owners looking to save money on replacement double glazing before the new laws come in.

Under Part L of the Building Regulations, double glazing that only satisfies the existing legislation criteria has to be sold before 30th September 2010 and installed before the 6th April 2011 in order to receive FENSA Certification which is required on all new replacement windows and doors (unless otherwise approved by Building Control). After these cut off dates, any remaining stock will be useless to suppliers, so right now is a unique one-off opportunity to purchase more affordable double glazing before several product ranges become obsolete.

Currently the cost of installing aluminium double glazing for a semi-detached three bedroom house is currently around 15%-20% less than it will be after 1st October 2010. Plus, by ordering before 30th September 2010, and ensuring new double glazing is fitted before the 2010 Christmas shutdown, property owners will save themselves the 2.5% price hike when VAT increases to 20% on 4th January 2011.

The cost of carrying out any home improvements, needs to be weighed against the average cost of moving house which is currently £13,500 when both selling and buying a £250,000 property. This takes into account estate agent fees, stamp duty, solicitor’s fees, survey costs and the price of hiring a moving company to transport all of your belongings.

The next six weeks offers a final window of opportunity for property owners to purchase less expensive double glazing while they still can.

For further information on the imminent changes to Part L of the Building Regulations, as well as solutions if looking for quality UPVC and aluminium replacement windows doors and conservatories, request a a free no obligation consultation by a Hazlemere Windows experienced expert or Freephone 08000 825825. Alternatively, click here for more about energy rated windows

Aluminium Dualframe Hazlemere Conservatory

Whilst, it is not right some property owners get away it, it does not make building an illegal conservatory right, especially now the planning laws and building regulations have been significantly tightened. It is not so clever, if having spent between ten to fifty thousand pounds on a conservatory, a home owner then gets an enforcement notice to demolish it or reduce it in size! Whilst I don’t know the details, I know of someone in Beaconsfield, Bucks who had a nightmare with his conservatory, as he told me it cost him a fortunate, as he had to pay out three times. Once for the initial build, once for the demolition, and once for rebuilding a smaller conservatory with a lower roof.

Understanding the many conservatory planning “rules”, is a bit of a minefield in itself, as getting actual definitive answers from a local planning department on what one can and cannot build onto a property is almost impossible, as almost invariably they will say the only way you can know for certain is to make a formal planning application to your local council. Many councils have different rules, and different interpretations of the conservatory planning laws, plus each property can have it’s own unique location and circumstantial criteria that may even vary from their next door neighbour.

For example, take the London Borough of Hillingdon’s guidelines for building a conservatory. According to their “Design and Accessibility Statement”, any new structure should “always be designed so as to appear subordinate to the original house. For terraced and semi-detached houses with plots less than 5m wide, a 3.3m projection is acceptable, or 3.6m projection if the plot is more than 5m wide. Detached houses can have a projection of 4m. All these projections assume that the position of the conservatory does not interfere with each neighbours right to light. It is worth remembering that all conservatory width and depth planning limitation dimensions based on the total width or depth INCLUDING GUTTERING, so the internal dimensions obviously need to be reduced to accommodate the width of any guttering.

Any new conservatory built in Hillingdon Borough Council’s area must not result in any significant loss of daylight, sunlight or outlook to neighbouring properties, and it must not extend beyond a 45-degree line of sight taken from the middle of the nearest neighbours window of a kitchen or habitable room. Most local authorities, such as Wycombe District Council and South Bucks District Council planning departments tend to operate a 60-degree rule, so it is important to check what your local councils rules are.

Each new conservatory must conform to the Garden Space Standards, retaining at least 40 sq.m. of the garden after a conservatory is built onto a two bedroom house, 60 sq.m. in the case of a three bedroom house and 100 sq.m. if built onto a four bedroom house.

There are height limits for conservatory roofs. Again as an example, Hillingdon Borough Council state that “the roof should not exceed 3.4m at its highest point. Generally roof designs must not significantly obstruct sunlight and daylight to any adjoining neighbour’s property.” The roof must be glazed in a material of 75% translucency, whilst vertical glazed surfaces must cover a minimum of 50% of the total vertical area. All vertical glazing within 800mm of the floor must be glazed with toughened glass.

To avoid having to apply for Building Regulations, any new conservatory needs to have an internal area no greater than 30 sq.m. plus have an independent heating system (if any), and there must be lockable external doors between the conservatory and the existing property.

According to the Hillingdon Design and Accessibility Statement, the Building Research Establishment’s report “Site Layout Planning for Daylight and Sunlight 1991″ recommends that suitable daylight to habitable rooms is achieved where a 25-degree vertical angle taken from a point 2m above the floor of the fenestrated elevation is kept unobstructed.

Ventilation is a very very important party of any new conservatory, the more the better. Roof vents are highly preferable, as they act as a chimney, allowing the heat that always builds up under a conservatory roof to escape. Officially, the rules on ventilation are that for North facing conservatories, openings of 15% of the floor area are required, and for South facing conservatories, openings of 25% of the floor area are required as a minimum (believe you me, it is wise to build in as much ventilation as possible if you want a usable room on hot sunny days!).

The above represents, only some of the many conservatory planning rules, so if you are planning to build a conservatory, or want advice on whether or not you need planning permission for a future conservatory project, simply request a free no obligation consultation from an experienced conservatory design expert.

Greenbuild News states that “Architect and TV presenter George Clarke is working with Pilkington to highlight the benefits of energy-efficient glazing, which can mean significantly lower energy bills. Replacing single with double glazing can save over £400 a year in fuel, while insulating your pipework and loft could save householders a further £150 a year.”

Pilkington’s Julia Berkin said: “It’s reassuring that energy efficiency is creeping up the wish-list of key considerations for house buyers, particularly as simple steps like turning down your thermostat and fitting energy-saving light bulbs, can really make a difference to energy bills. Installing Pilkington energiKare glazing, for example, can reduce heat loss by up to 90%, compared to single-glazed windows – it also features solar control properties, keeping homeowners cooler in summer and snug during winter.”

The Pilkington Glass survey also found that garden size (64%), attractive exterior paintwork (53%), the appearance of neighbours’ houses (52%) and the state of a property’s windows (51%) were the top four factors that contributed towards a positive first impression when looking for a new property.

Find out more about licensed Pilkington energiKare Partners Hazlemere Window Company Ltd whose retail operation is primarily in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey.

There are of course other ways to ways to save energy and running costs. Key ones include cavity wall insulation, loft insulation door and floor insulation, whilst reducing draughts.

Statistics from the Energy Saving Trust
* The amount of heat lost in homes annually through uninsulated lofts and cavity walls is enough to heat over 1.6 million homes for a year.

*If everyone in the UK that could installed cavity wall insulation, we would cut CO2 emissions by nearly 4 million tonnes. That’s enough CO2 to fill over 22 million double-decker buses or fill Wembley stadium 500 times.

*If every household in the UK, that could installed cavity wall insulation, it would save around £700 million a year or enough energy to heat 900,000 homes for the same period.

*If everyone in the UK installed loft insulation up to 270mm thickness, the financial saving would pay the gas bills of around 770,000 families for a year.

*We would also save nearly 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent saving of taking nearly 1 million UK cars off the road.

It is obviously up to property owners to invest in insulating their premises to reduce running costs, reduce their carbon footprint and save energy. As the saying goes “no pain, no gain”, as capital outlay is required if one wants to address heat loss, improve energy efficiency, thereby saving long term on energy bills.