Elementary My Dear Watson
My recent post regarding The Elements by Tom Lehrer, reminded me of another elementary experience.
A few years back we decided to upgrade the windows in our house. The common replacement at the time was double pane windows filled with argon. We found a company that sold triple pane windows filled with krypton. Krypton, being a heavier element, should provide better insulation than argon. Probably doesn’t make a huge difference, but these windows came with an exterior beige finish which matched the house and a nice wood-grain finish on the interior.
The day before the installation, we thought that maybe we should have shopped around a bit more. So we called the local utility to see what they had available. The utility representative and his wife came out that evening with samples of the standard ugly white non-paintable double pane argon filled windows that seemed to be the norm.
We decided against the utility company offerings and told the man about the windows we had decided to go with. “Krypton?” he said. “There’s no such thing as Krypton.” Then he made some comment regarding Superman.
“Gee dude, remember seventh grade science class?” Apparently not.
So he left. A few hours later he called to tell us that indeed krypton was real.
We thanked him for the information, and are now enjoying our triple pane krypton filled windows. Hmm. I wonder if a xenon upgrade is available.
posted by Alan @ 12/18/2006 03:38:00 PM
12 Common Taters
12 Comments:
LOL Krypton does not equal Kryptonite.
Just out of curiosity, why is it that heavier elements make better insulators? Isn't air a better insulator than water? I'm cornfused.
In these gas filled multi-pane windows, heat transfer is via convection as opposed to conduction. The heavier gases (more viscous) tend to move around less and thus less heat is transfered.
With air vs water, I believe heat conductivity comes into play regarding the water.
I've had classes in heat transfer/fluid flow, but it wasn't my best subject and it's been decades. Maybe a physicist will stumble upon this blog and enlighten us all.
the best insulating windows have the space between the panes filled with lead (doesn't move around much either), but they tend to be dark and are not very popular.
you're welcome.
Before i moved up north, the home we lived in had double paned windows. I was quite amazed just how much noise it kept out, considering we lived right on a main road, compared to the normal single pane.
Somehow I doubt Bryan's being serious. Lead may not have much convection, but it does have conduction.
We have all double-paned glass, Michelle, and our house is creepy quiet. You can hear all the clocks ticking.
Thank you Dr. Torre. The lead also keeps out those pesky stray neutrons. They might sneak in and split something.
Michelle, Dave, the multi-pane windows do quiet things down a lot, and we're fairly close to a main arterial. I know what you mean about the clocks.
Sounds like you made the right decision there. Never buy anything from a moron seems to be a good general rule of thumb. The lead is a good idea - given that most people keep their blinds/curatins closed I'm not sure it would make much difference. SO long as your kids don't start licking them.
It's a good thing thing that I have only single-paned windows. The sound of ticking clocks drives me nuts. So what if I'm cold and spend a fortune in energy bills? :)
Hey, Blogger is working again! Yay!
hey alan: enjoyed this post about the dangerous (to superman) kryptonite windows...
have a great christmas!
Hi Grunt, Our kids are in their twenties now, so they don't lick the windows much any more.
Hi Melissa, Great to see you back again.
Hi Si, You (and all my faithful readers) have a Merry Christmas.
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