Few people know a lighter flame can tell you if your windows are really double-pane

The listing said energy-efficient windows. Or maybe the previous owner did. Either way, the bedroom still feels chilly near the glass, there’s no label on the frame, and the paperwork is long gone. You have no real idea what’s sitting in those openings.

lighter flame can tell you if your windows are really double-pane
Few people know a lighter flame can tell you if your windows are really double-pane © MarioGuti

You don’t need to take a window apart to find out. The glass can tell you itself, with a small flame and about a minute. Each pane bounces light back, so a flame held near the window shows up as a row of small reflections you can count.

What the reflections are telling you

An energy-software help center that explains the method puts the count simply. Single glazing shows the flame only once. Double glazing shows two pairs of reflections, four flames in total, all the same color. Triple glazing shows three pairs, so six flames.

Then look at the color. If the second reflection, counted from the inside, has a slight violet tint, the glass most likely has a low-E coating. That tint matters, because low-E glass carries an extremely thin coating that holds warmth inside in cold weather and deflects sunlight, so the room temperature stays steadier.

The difference shows up in energy use, too. In one Department of Energy lab test, adding low-E storm panels over double-pane clear glass windows saved about 10% of the homes’ annual heating and cooling energy.

How to run the lighter test tonight

  1. Dim the room. Turn off the lamps closest to the window so the small reflections stand out against the glass.
  2. Bring the flame close, not touching. Hold a lighter or a lit tealight near the pane and look into the glass, not at the flame.
  3. Count. One flame means single glazing, four means double, six means triple.
  4. Check the second reflection. Counting from the inside, see whether it looks slightly violet compared with the others.
  5. Repeat in different light. Colors can shift with the lighting, so try again in daylight or with another lamp on before you decide.

Plan B, if you’d rather not hold a flame near the glass: start with the manufacturer’s information. The help center that describes this test recommends checking product data first whenever it’s available, and using the flame count as a quick visual check.

When the flame count can fool you

This is a visual check, not a lab measurement. Reflection colors can change with the light in the room, so a violet tint you see at night may look different in the morning.

Older windows can also mislead you. Some have been retrofitted with thermal coatings after installation, which can change the color of the reflections without the window being new.

Treat the flame with respect, too. Keep it away from curtains, blinds and anything else that can burn, put a tealight on a stable surface, and never walk away while it’s lit.

Count the flames, check the color, and you’ll know what you’re actually living with. That’s the trick.

The post Few people know a lighter flame can tell you if your windows are really double-pane appeared first on Homedit.



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