I cannot begin to explain how much of a problem this is. Even with brand new windows. Insulating glass units are two plates of glass which are sealed at the edges. They are filled with some nitrogen gas and sometimes argon, but are mostly a vacuum. They fail when the seal leaks and water vapor gets inside. When they first lose their seal it is impossible to tell without putting a block of dry ice up against one side to force condensation build up on the opposite side of that plate. Remove the dry ice and the condensation disappears. If the IG unit has not lost its seal no condensation will form. Once the seal becomes worse condensation will form on cold days. Without dry ice. So cleaning the windows on a sunny cold winter day is not a bad idea. Especially just before your warranty runs out! After awhile the condensation will become more heavy. Even in the summer. When more time passes the water vapor will chemically react with the glass making it white. Water does react with glass. Especially when the temperature is high and the humidity hits 90 percent.
Now when an IG Unit has a low e coating on the inside of one of the two plates it will take on a kind of purple/pink discoloration. Sometimes this is very easy to see. But at other times it is a very light film or just shows up as very small spots. The only way to see it is to have the window professionally cleaned. Other times it can be VERY obvious. Like in these four pictures!
I have seen this problem so many times over the years. It is extremely commonplace. When I had my house built I told the manufacturer that I absolutely did not want IG units. Because of this problem. I rather wanted to have the old fashioned storm windows that can be removed. They made the mistake of putting IG units in anyway. And did not charge me the extra cost. Within the first year the IG units started to fail. Within only a few years almost every one had failed. The reality is if you are buying or building a house you definitely need to have your windows cleaned by a Glass Smart window cleaning company. They will be able to help you locate any bad windows so you can have them replaced before making the purchase. Otherwise you will have to pay for replacement later on.
Written by Henry Grover Jr.
glasssmart@protonmail.com
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