Hi guys. All our bedroom windows face the road and to add to the problem, my house is on the 1st floor. The primary noise problem is the traffic noise especially the vehicle honking noise. Also there is a construction site nearby whose work starts at 8 am in the morning itself. The existing windows are normal builder fitted single glazed aluminium sliding windows that hardly help in reducing the noise.
Now I have a few queries. Firstly, I am confused whether to replace my existing windows or add an additional window inside by keeping the existing one. The 1st option is installing an additional interior window behind the existing window. However, I don’t know if that is possible because my window sill width is just 7.5 cm. Though, if I get the same results with the 2nd option, then I would prefer the 2nd option since I don't really want to go for an additional window.
The 2nd option is to replace the existing window. If I have to do that then I am thinking of going for a combination of fixed glass + openable window. However, I am confused between the glass to use, a double glazed with different glass thickness and an air gap in between or a laminated glass? I have been getting contrasting opinions about this, some say double glazed is better and some say laminated is better. One of the contractors has given me options for both double glazed and laminated glass in UPVC frame. The configuration for double glazed is 6mm clear glass + 10 mm spacer + 5mm reflective glass. The configuration for laminated glass is 12 mm clear glass + .75 EVA laminate + 5 mm reflective brown glass.
Lastly, the unending confusion of aluminium vs UPVC window frames. Now some say that aluminium is better because it has more mass. However, I have also read that UPVC is better since there are much less number of gaps in UPVC as compared to aluminium. And if the UPVC is metal reinforced, then wouldn’t its mass be the same as aluminium then?
Kindly suggest the best possible and economically feasible solution for my problem.
