After turning down one of the leading suppliers / fitters, who dropped the quote by 35% in a matter of an hour, they spoke and emailed us or kind of harassed us into buying theirs! I had to tell them off.
They say all local businesses are not BFRC rated. Even if they are, they won’t report the solar and effective air leakage factors as the rating is not a legal requirement. They claim the (BFRC) unrated windows and doors mean the air leakage of at least 8% making them inefficient. It’s their word against the local guys, who have a good reputation; they are in the business for more than 20-25 years.
I don’t buy their claim of 8% air leakage with competition and their 0% leakage standing good for the next 20 years. A lot of local environmental factors come into play as far as the efficiency and leakages are concerned, which are the disclaimers / caution these rating agencies provide by default.
We have short listed two, whom they say their products are A++ energy efficiency. They are not BFRC rated. We have asked them to tell us how they arrive at the rating.
One of them gets their template / profile from Kommerling (German company), add guardian glasses and manufacture them locally.
The other provides Deceuninck windows or use their template that seem to use Eco-lite triple glazing.
I am sure some of you would have replaced the windows and doors. What’s been your experience and how much attention one should actually be paying for this independent rating, when there is no legal mandate? I see these certificates as more of a marketing tool.
The origin A++ rated triple glazed bifold has a BFRC rating, but still their air leakage factor is around 0.4%.
I have reached out to rationel through a distributor. hornbyben Did they give you an energy performance certificate of your door please? The windows and doors are rated by one of the three independent agencies with BFRC seems to be the most popular choice.
Thx for reading.