What “Thermally Broken” Means
First of all – what does “thermally broken” mean? While the name itself has a negative connotation to it, the concept is very positive when it comes to metal windows and doors.
In layperson’s terms, thermally broken refers to high-performance insulator material separating two metal halves, whether aluminium, steel, or bronze. The insulator cuts down the ‘thermal bridging.’ With NON thermally-broken systems, or solid metal systems, cold and heat can exit or enter the interior of the home by travelling or “bridging” through the solid metal perimeter frame or true divided muntins.
The basic performance premise is:
- Improved overall thermal performance over traditional non-thermally broken systems.
- Improved U-Values over non-thermally broken systems. The lower the u-value, the better the performance.
- Improved Condensation resistance factors (interior sweating/ice build-up).
- Narrow profiles equal or similar to traditional non-thermally broken.
