Category: News

Autumn is approaching fast, and our afternoons are getting a bit darker as the weather changes. As a result, you may have noticed your home is starting to seem a bit more gloomy.

In the UK, we change our clocks back by one hour around the end of October each year. It doesn’t seem like much, but just losing this one hour of daylight can have a huge impact on our daily routines.

While having less light in the home seems natural as the Summer months draw to a close, increasing our exposure to natural light can be beneficial to our health – and bank balance. As energy bills are rising, people are also looking for alternative solutions so they can avoid using so much electricity and gas.

Here’s our guide on how to bring more light into your home, all year round.

Why is Natural Light in the Home Important?

Increasing the amount of natural light in your home can be beneficial for a few reasons. Here’s why getting enough light into the home is important.

Improve Your Health

Natural light is essential for our health. Our natural circadian rhythms respond to how much light we’re exposed to throughout a 24-hour period. Working like our body’s internal clock, these processes react to the environment around us to regulate biological functions such as releasing hormones, regulating our mood, and even digesting food.

Save Money on Energy Bills

Although electric lights work perfectly fine and help bring light into a room, we end up spending more money on our energy bills as the days get darker. In the UK, our average electricity use is around 36% higher in Winter than it is in Summer. This can’t all be attributed to turning on the lights more – but it’s easy to forget how keeping our lights on can add up. The amount you spend on lighting varies depending on the type of bulb you use. If we leave an incandescent bulb on for 24 hours, it costs £0.65. If it’s left on for 8 hours a day, for example, that’s £0.22. If it’s turned on for 8 hours a day for a whole year, that’s £58.30!

Balance Your Mood

As with our physical health, natural light also improves our mental health. If your internal clock is thrown off balance, this can have a negative impact on our ability to sleep, concentrate, and use energy effectively. Without enough light to maintain a consistent rhythm through the day, the chance of mental illnesses such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) developing can increase.

Brighten up Your Space

Light, airy interiors are popular at the moment. Being surrounded by natural light can boost our mood, and even encourage alertness and productivity at work. Lighter rooms often seem bigger and more welcoming. A brighter home also gives you the opportunity to showcase your interior décor skills, attracting attention to your favourite areas within a space.

Window Style & Placement

The type of windows around your home, as well as where they’re placed, can have a huge impact on how well light can enter the home. You might not have the ability to completely renovate your windows and doors – but there are other ways you can keep them well maintained to let more light in.

Install Large, South-Facing Windows

If you are able to configure window placement, remember your windows can be strategically placed to let in the maximum amount of light throughout the day. Think about which side of your house is most exposed to sunlight. You’ll notice any northern-facing windows are mainly in the shade despite the daylight, since the UK is in the northern hemisphere. Large, south-facing windows are the ideal choice if you’re able to have those fitted, as the sun shines on us from that direction.

Bi-Fold Windows

Bi-fold windows are an especially popular choice for those with south-facing gardens. Instead of limiting the window space to just one section of the wall, they’re made to open up an entire wall that would otherwise separate your interior and exterior spaces. Having bi-fold windows fitted means you can enjoy seamless access between your home and garden – so there’s no more struggling with awkward patio doors or steps. Bi-fold windows are designed to glide open smoothly with just a push. These large windows allow plenty of light into the home, while you get to benefit from improved accessibility between your house and the outdoors.

Skylights & Velux Windows

Rooflights are another great option if you’re looking to increase the amount of light in your home. Many houses don’t have south-facing walls or gardens, so finding other ways to lighten up your spaces can help. Skylights are ideal for those who want to add light while retaining privacy and even adding value to your home.

Skylights are now available with remote controlled options, so you can also improve airflow as your roof window opens with the push of a button. “Velux” windows are now the go to choice for those looking to brighten up their homes. Velux is actually the name of a brand that makes skylights, but the success of their room brightening windows means their name has become synonymous with the skylight concept. The Velux name was created by combining the words ‘ventilation’, and LUX – meaning light. Ultimately, skylights mean you can enjoy improved ventilation and access to natural light, no matter which side your house is facing.

Keep Your Windows in Top Condition

Keeping your windows clean is another way to make the most of natural light! Invest in a good window cleaner so your view remains clear and streak-free. Don’t forget to keep both sides of the window wiped regularly. If you notice your windows are steamy or fogged up from within, you might need your double glazing repaired.

Keep Your Windows Clear

If you have double glazing installed, it’s important to check your windows are fully functioning. When double glazed windows fail, moisture can penetrate the gap in between your window panes and make them look misty.

Failed double glazing can therefore cause a build up of condensation on your windows, obscuring your view and diluting the amount of light that can enter the home. Check around your windows for any water ingress which could be a sign of blocked window drainage or any slight patches of moisture inside the glass. If your windows look cloudy or steamed up, it’s time to get them fixed. If you leave the condensation to spread, it can cause even more problems – including mould and damp.

Make the Most of Sheer Curtains

Blackout curtains are a popular choice for use in bedrooms, so you can have total control over lighting levels as you sleep. Our choice in curtains can be similarly adjusted to let light in. To maximise the amount of light in your home without having an impact on your privacy, invest in some sheer curtains. These will be most effective on the south-facing windows on your property, but will also brighten things up in the rooms that aren’t exposed to sunlight.

If you prefer blinds, there are lighter options. White blinds will make a room feel brighter while allowing some light through. You can now also find semi-transparent designs made from finer materials like voile.

Plants & Garden Maintenance

Plants can easily obscure your view from outside the window, especially as they grow more over the summer months. Keeping your garden well maintained and having plants trimmed back means they’re not preventing any sunlight from entering via your windows.

The issue here comes in when it’s your neighbours plants that are growing over and covering your windows. It’s worth asking them to cut them back – or offer to help, so you can recover your windows and bring more light into your home. There are certain rights surrounding property boundaries and overgrown gardens – but this depends on whether your neighbours’ plants are weeds or inviting pests in.

Interior Décor & Mirrors

If you’ve tried all of the above on the exterior of the house and still need more light in your home, start thinking about how you can alter your interior décor to maximise light.

Lighter coloured décor can make your space feel much brighter. Opt for white or cream-coloured walls, go for light coloured floors (or rugs), and pick out neutral accessories. High gloss paint is a great way to improve the way light reflects around the home. If you don’t want it on your walls, a high-gloss ceiling can work wonders.

Mirrors and other reflective surfaces are great for inviting light in. Mirrors are especially useful if you need to reflect or divert light around to reach darker corners within a room. Metallic décor and accessories are popular at the moment, and can be used in a variety of ways to add a reflective shine in certain areas.

Repair Your Double Glazing with Cloudy2Clear

At Cloudy2Clear, we’ve been transforming windows since 2005. Specialising in double glazing repairs and maintenance, we’ve perfected our process so we only replace the steamed up glass within your windows. Where there’s no need to replace your window frames, we’ll save you money by focusing on the issue that’s causing your clouded windows – the glass itself.

This is a more eco-friendly way to manage your misty double glazing; and we’ll replace your old glass panes with efficient, insulating glass to ensure your home keeps the heat in. Save money on your energy bills, reduce the cost of having your double glazing fixed, and make the most of our services with our 25 year guarantee!

Call our team on 0800 61 21 119 to arrange your appointment with us for a free, no-obligation quote. Fill out our contact form with your details and we’ll get in touch soon as we can.

If you’re looking into having double glazed windows fitted, it’s worth reading up about how the process works. This can help you decide the best route to go down when upgrading your home or apartment.

Here’s our guide to whether double glazing should be fitted from the inside or outside. We’ll explain the ideal scenarios for fitting both from the inside and out, since the best way to do it can depend on a variety of factors. We’ll also describe how to tell which is the best option for you, depending on your windows and living situation.

Internal vs. External Beading

When considering whether you’ll need your double glazing fitted from the inside or the outside, you need to determine whether your frames are internally or externally beaded. What does this mean?

When glazing any window pane into a frame, the glass panel needs to be held in place under compression. This is what we call beading. With PVC windows, this is normally a plastic strip seen around the edges of the glass. This strip is what snaps the glass into place during installation, and runs all the way around the side of the window frame the glass was fitted from. You won’t find beading on the other side of the glass, since it’s already held in place from the direction it was fitted.

If you can see the beading line on the inside of your window frames, it means your glass was fitted from inside the home. If you see beading on the frames from the outside of the house, it means it was fitted externally.

The Pros and Cons

When fitting double glazing, it’s important to know whether your current frames are internally or externally beaded. If you’re going for entirely new frames they are all internally fitted as standard

Appearance

Some people prefer the appearance of externally beaded windows. Old, timber window frames usually feature external beading as it tends to look smarter. The side the glass is fitted on will feature more ridges and bumps in the frame design, so externally beaded windows can look neater. It’s usually down to personal preference – from the perspective of looking out from inside the home, internally beaded windows will look better.

Accessibility

If your frames are already fitted, or you live high up – you won’t have the hassle of deciding whether to have your windows internally or externally beaded. If you live high in a multi-storey building like an apartment block, your windows will naturally need to be fitted internally as they won’t otherwise be accessible.

Considering the Frame Design

Sometimes you won’t have the luxury of choosing between internally or externally beaded windows. If your frames are already fitted and you’re having double glazing installed, the glass panes must be fitted from the original side the beading was on anyway.

This is because frames have a glazing rebate. This is the area within the frame that the glazing panes need match up against. So externally beaded frames need to be fitted from outside the home, while internally beaded frames need to be fitted from inside the home.

Modern Fitting Options

PVC has been the standard material used in window frames for a while now. Many homeowners are in the process of upgrading to more modern options that provide greater security and durability. Aluminium windows are becoming popular within new builds and upgrade projects. They can use either internal or external beads, so you have the option to decide between which version you prefer most.

Whichever type of frame you have, the specialists fitting your double glazing will be able to identify whether it needs to be fitted internally or externally. It’s good for homeowners to understand the difference between internal and external beading, however, so they have more knowledge surrounding how their windows work to protect the home.

Efficient Double Glazing Solutions by Cloudy2Clear

If you’d like to have double glazing fitted or replaced affordably by experts, Cloudy2Clear can help. With us, you can have your double glazing fitted without having to endure long waiting times. Here’s how the process works:

1. Contact us to book your free consultation with our service engineers. We’ll try to fit your appointment in as soon as possible.
2. During your consultation, we will survey and measure your property so we can determine a quote for your double glazing needs. We’ll also make recommendations that will work in your best interests, as our experienced engineers can help you decide on the product that’s right for you.
3. It should only take around 20 minutes for you to receive your quote once everything’s been surveyed.
4. If you do want to go ahead, we’ll confirm this quote with you and place the order for your materials. We’ll then aim to book your fitting in within 5 – 10 days, though this timeframe can depend on the materials involved.
5. On fitting day, we’ll work efficiently to fit your double glazing without disrupting you or your neighbours. We keep mess and noise to a minimum, as our years of expertise mean we can complete the job smoothly.

To get started with Cloudy2Clear, contact us today. You can call our team now on 0800 61 21 119 to book in your consultation. You can also get in touch with us to request a callback from your local branch manager by filling out our contact form.

We all like to think we live in a safe neighbourhood, but burglaries do happen. Often, houses are targeted due to bad luck. Other times, criminals scope out homes beforehand as they look for security weaknesses to exploit.

No matter how a burglary has happened, it’s happened because the perpetrator has somehow been able to enter your home. Ramping up your security measures might not make it 100% impossible to break in, but it can considerably slow down the process. This helps deter burglars – research shows the longer it takes to get into your house, the more likely they are to give up. 4 – 5 minutes is generally the cut-off point, after which they decide it’s not worth it.

Remember that security measures aren’t just the physical things you ‘add on’ to your home, like alarm systems. You might have the most state-of-the-art security system there is – but this means nothing if you forget to activate it. Some of the best security measures don’t cost the earth – they simply involve learning new habits, while avoiding those that make your home an easy target. The doormat is not a good place to hide your house key!

Here’s our guide on how to protect your house and keep your family and belongings safe.

Check Your Locks, Hinges, and Door Handles

Security weaknesses can happen almost anywhere in and around the home. The first step we’d recommend is to check your locks are in full working order. Make a habit of doing this every couple of months. Your locks might work now, but with time they can wear down.

Be sure to check locks around windows too – these often go overlooked, yet they can be just as easy to get through as a door. You might want to add additional safety features to other areas around your house, like the garden. Padlocks and combination locks are a great option for securing sheds, gates, storage tubs, and gardening equipment.

Of course, locks will only work as a deterrent if you actually remember to lock up every time you leave the house. This comes as a natural habit to many of us, but when we’re in a rush it can be all too easy to run out of the house – forgetting you’ve left the back door unlocked.

Remember, don’t focus on just the lock itself when looking for any faults. You should also check the area around your locks. If the windowpane around the handle feels weak, it’s easier for a burglar to break the pane entirely – rendering the lock useless at protecting your home anyway. If you do need your locks, hinges, or handles repairing, Cloudy2Clear can help.

Keep The Lights On

Burglars are looking for the easiest target. Most will want to break in as quickly and discreetly as possible, avoiding any additional or unexpected obstacles. They don’t want to break in, only to find the house is full of people – and therefore risk being caught or hurt.

A classic trick is to make your home appear occupied when you’re out. Keep a couple of lights on or play music to make it seem like there’s somebody home. You could go one step further and control your sound system and lighting via a smart home system. These can be connected to your smartphone apps, meaning you can easily adjust what’s going on in your house with the tap of a finger.

As well as this, try to make sure your gardens and any walkways are lit up at night. Burglaries at night are common, since it’s harder for neighbours to notice any unusual events in the dark. Outdoor motion sensor lights are relatively cheap and make effective deterrents, as burglars will likely choose the house in darkness over one that’s well-lit and exposed. These don’t require any high-tech equipment, and if you opt for solar powered lights you won’t need to worry about energy.

Upgrade Your Windows for Security

Certain types of glass and styles of windows can be almost impossible to open from the outside. If you do feel it’s time for a bit of an upgrade, getting your windows replaced can be a great place to start uplifting your home security.

There are hundreds of possible window combinations, each with their own redeeming qualities. But there are just three key things to consider when optimising your windows for security purposes.

Window Design & Frame

Casement windows are known to be the most secure type of frame, since there’s no way to adjust the handle from outside. There’s also no way to force them open with a crowbar. You just need to make sure the window is closed and locked. Unable to enter by manipulating the frame, the only other option is to try to break the glass.

Double Glazing

To strengthen the glass so this can’t happen, make sure your windows are double glazed. Double glazing is added as standard on new modern homes, as it insulates so well and can save money on energy bills. With double glazed windows the burglar would have to break through two sheets of glass rather than one – taking even more time and effort.

Type of Glass

The type of glass in your double glazed windows does make a difference. Tempered glass is specially heat treated to resist more force than normal glass. This process involves subjecting the glass to intense heat before quickly cooling it down. This heat vs. cooling action compresses the external surfaces of the glass, making the entire structure tougher to break. As a result, it’s around 4 times stronger than usual glass.

Considering the above, double glazed tempered casement windows make the best combination for a secure home. Impossible to enter from the outside, with double glazed tempered glass that’s highly resistant to breaking.

Keep Valuables Out of Sight

Let’s address the reason a burglar might target your home in the first place. Many burglaries happen due to perceived opportunity. That is, the burglar thinks – or knows – there is something in your home that is worth stealing.

Keeping your home a bit more private can reduce your chance of being targeted. Hide valuables so they can’t be seen through windows. This is more difficult with larger items like TVs and computers, though you can draw the curtains to keep them out of sight. You could also cover some windows with privacy-enhancing screens or stickers. These are a popular choice for those with street-facing windows or no front garden, as they still let light in while the semi-opaque screen obscures the contents of your home.

You might want to take extra steps to avoid your car getting burgled too. A car can be the most expensive item many people own, yet we regularly leave them out on display. Avoid parking your car in the street and stick to parking in your garage – or on your driveway – if you have one.

Secure Your Home Against Burglars with Cloudy2Clear

Keeping your home safe and secure involves checking everything is working properly. If you take the above steps we’ve mentioned, watch any habits that might make your house a target, and ensure your windows, doors and locks are in top condition – a burglary is much less likely to happen.

At Cloudy2Clear, we’re experts in repairing and replacing door and window mechanisms, double glazing, and more. All our repairs involve replacing only the faulty or worn down elements. That is, we won’t charge you for an entire window frame if only the glass needs replacing.

If you’re looking to boost the security of your home, start with us. Get in touch via our online contact form for a free, no obligation quote. You can also call our team now on 0800 61 21 119.