British residential areas are increasingly busy, with many homes now having rooms that are directly overlooked by neighbours and passers-by on adjacent roads. This can create a potential security issue, with would-be burglars able to see directly into your living room, kitchen, and bedrooms to scope out access points and assess the location of valuables and electronics.

But more than this, being overlooked also compromises the privacy that we are entitled to enjoy in our own homes. People don’t need to see us walking around the home going about our business, and nor should we have to close curtains or blinds during the day if we don’t want to be seen.

Privacy glazing is the ultimate solution to peace and privacy in the home, enhancing your comfort, security, and peace of mind.

What is Privacy Glazing?

Privacy glazing is a type of glass pane designed to obscure visibility from the outside while still allowing natural sunlight to pass through. There are several ways this can be achieved, for instance:

• Frosted or Etched Glass – popular in bathrooms and toilets, the result is a translucent surface that blurs internal images and obstructs direct views.
• Tinted Glass – reduces visibility from the outside while maintaining transparency from the inside. Tinted glass also reduces UV rays and glare in bright rooms.
• Laminated Glass – this privacy glazing features multiple layers of glass interlaid with polyvinyl butyral layers (PVB), which can be frosted, coloured or patterned. These panes are more difficult to break than standard glass, and so enhance security in street-facing and downstairs rooms most vulnerable to break-ins.
  
  

Reasons To Invest In Privacy Glazing

1. Eco-Friendly Performance: privacy glazing reduces the amount of direct sunlight entering your home. You won’t notice this and it doesn’t make the room feel dimmer, but it does help minimise solar heat gain, keeping your house cooler in hot weather and also minimising heat loss in the winter. At the same time, the glass reduces the intensity of glare, making it more comfortable to use screens or relax inside without pulling down the blinds.

2. Improved Security: privacy glazing makes it more difficult for people outside to see inside your home, increasing the security of ground floor windows in busy residential areas. As most burglaries are opportunistic, not being able to look for visible valuables through the window will deter most break-ins. Many privacy glass windows are also more difficult to break, further improving your home security.

3. Versatility: privacy glass is adaptable to many different rooms in the home, from bathrooms and kitchens to home offices and conservatories. In conservatories, especially, privacy glazing offers seclusion while still drawing in warmth and light from outside, while privacy glazing in offices shields valuable computer equipment and business files from unauthorised access, and creates a confidential private space for meetings and discussions. A variety of decorative designs are also available, with different styles to fit the character of your home.

Next Steps

Harvey’s Windows provide a variety of high-quality triple-glazed and double-glazed windows for domestic properties. For privacy glazing, we are proud to offer Pilkington Optimirror, which is the best eco-friendly performance glass for sunlight reduction, privacy, and security.

To find out more about the benefits of privacy-enhancing triple glazing and double glazing, and for help making the best choice for your home, please contact us today by clicking here.

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