Argon Filled Windows At High Altitude
Secondarily we can sell the windows with capillary tubes or air filled.
Argon filled windows at high altitude. Argon filled units also cannot use breather tubes for high altitude applications. These units will not qualify for the tax credit and will not meet energy star northern region. Milgard is now making windows in salt lake city and offering argon gas as an option to those of us at 6000. There are also concerns about maintaining the gas fill levels over time.
I have a couple of concerns about the longevity of the gas fill. When windows filled with argon are transported and installed in buildings above 5 000 ft however lower atmospheric pressure causes the argon gas to expand which in turn can lead to adverse effects. These inert gases are denser than regular air so they slow heat transfer to a crawl keeping more of the heated air inside your high altitude home. While an air filled gap between two panes helps improve window efficiency argon or krypton gas infills are even better.
It is also likely that water vapor will gradually enter the ig unit resulting in fogging if enough moisture gets in. When windows are filled with a special low conductivity gas such as argon or krypton it is clear that those gases will be lost over time if capillary tubes are left open.