Athermic glass

At present we have a Duetto on a MK7 Transit and early next year will be changing this to a AutoSleepers Warwick Duo fitted with athermic glass. Having never had a vehicle fitted with this kind of glass before we are wondering what the benefits / problems there might be (if any). Can anyone who has had athermic glass fitted let me know how it performs both in summer and winter?

Also, has anyone experienced feelings of hostility from other road / site users towards the fitting of the darkened, "we can see you, but you can't see us" type of glass?

Just curious  .......  Michael

Its on the camp site / rally field that I find them disconcerting. During the day you know that if blinds are closed someone is resting or changing - they want privacy. Those with darkened windows don't need to close the blinds so I always feel uncomfortable knocking on the door in case I'm disturbing them. It would be nice if the outside light could be switched to either green or red to indicated availability.

Peter

Peter Brown wrote:Its on the camp site / rally field that I find them disconcerting.  During the day you know that if blinds are closed someone is resting or changing - they want privacy.  Those with darkened windows don't need to close the blinds so I always feel uncomfortable knocking on the door in case I'm disturbing them.  It would be nice if the outside light could be switched to either green or red to indicated availability.

Peter

Similar to "shop" windows in Amsterdam Peter? 

Peter Brown wrote:Its on the camp site / rally field that I find them disconcerting.  During the day you know that if blinds are closed someone is resting or changing - they want privacy.  Those with darkened windows don't need to close the blinds so I always feel uncomfortable knocking on the door in case I'm disturbing them.  It would be nice if the outside light could be switched to either green or red to indicated availability.

Peter

Peter

A good point, thanks for replying. I suppose we could always turn the awning / sliding door light on to indicate that someone is at home (it's not coloured, but perhaps would be taken as an indication of occupancy in a similar way to having a light on at home?)

dandywarhol wrote:Similar to "shop" windows in Amsterdam Peter? 

I knew someone would not be able to resist!!!!

Peter

Well I'm not sure how to follow that but...

IMO the glass does feel a tad warmer, but the biggest downside is when you look out,everything is so gloomy outside. This is a problem with all base vehicle manufacturers using this glass. When I go away I don't want to think it's about to rain everything I look out through the glass.     

In a van conversion, give me traditional glass and blinds/curtains any day   

John

One other well-documented issue with athermic glass is that it typically has a metal content which interferes with high frequency radio reception.

This can have an adverse effect on aftermarket satnav receivers, making initial startup slow and causing them to lose lock while in motion. If the van is fitted with satnav as original equipment then the manufacturer will probably have installed an external GPS antenna, but that's not so easy with freestanding units.

I also agree with Hoopman - I personally prefer to make the best of the available light, and I specifically ruled out buying a van with "privacy glass" because of the gloom effect.

I have not really noticed the 'gloom' when in one of these vans looking out. This was on a bright day and I may feel differently when it is gloomy, but up to now I don't feel it to be a problem.

The Sat Nav problem may not be a problem at all. The signal mostly comes in through the cab windows and they are not tinted. For 6 years we have driven a Transit with a heated windscreen (hundreds of wires embedded in the glass) and this has not had any noticeable effect on our Tom Tom.

I would really like to hear from someone who have used one of these vans, is there anyone out there?

Michael

We have had a Dorset with this sort of glass for just over a year now. 8000 or so miles on we have never experienced any problems with Satnav. 

The only problem we have had was when a couple put their faces right up against the windows to look in, not realising we were still in the van. Their expressions when they moved round to look in the windscreen was very entertaining!

Spospe wrote:I have not really noticed the 'gloom' when in one of these vans looking out. This was on a bright day and I may feel differently when it is gloomy, but up to now I don't feel it to be a problem.

I would really like to hear from someone who have used one of these vans, is there anyone out there?

Michael

Michael
I have owned one with this type of glass. It's obviously a personal view, but I would suggest you do some comparisons with vans without such glass fitted. I think you maybe surprised by the difference.

Regards
John

Hi Michael.
We have had a 2011 Symbol for a year now. It's our 3rd motorhome. We have found the athermic glass is very good and I can't understand the comment about being dull and a lack of light. We have clear roof lights as all Autosleepers of this vintage will have, that gives plenty of light inside. They seem to keep it cool in bright sun and up to now, warm in the colder weather.
They don't seem to get scratched like plastic windows on our other vans. All in all we would highly recommend them.
We have had no negative comments from fellow campers whatsoever.
No problems with sat-nav or Tom Tom.
What's wrong with looking cool.
Enjoy your Warwick Spospe.
Regards Wallis3

Thanks for all replies, I am encouraged by what you have said. One last question and that is what is the athermic glass like from a condensation point of view, especially in winter?

Re condensation. We were in Cairngorms recently with snow and -5C at night. Heating on low all night and no condensation. Certainly felt better than previous vans with "normal" windows, but possibly blinds better now as well.

Was there condensation on the non-Athermic glass of the cab windows?

No, but we do use an external silver screen.

RDBNorfolk, thank you for your reply.

I have a 2007 Auto-Sleeper Warwick with said glass, never had any problems, absolutely love the look, very contempary and cool looking van,  very practical. Enjoy your van its brilliant.
Regards
Duke

We also have a Warwick Duo with this glass and I think that not only does it look good, it could be argued that it is more secure than plastic/acrylic windows (imo).
Also I enjoy being in the van when people are walking by eyeing up other vans on site and sometimes they stop and have a good nose, not realising that someone is inside watching them watching you !

Hi Michael
I have a 2012 Kemerton and like others I have had no issues with condensation on the athermic windows, I was also concerned about condensation before we bought our van but we needn't of worried, neither do we have a problems with our free standing sat- nav.
I don't find it gloomy at all especially with all the light coming through the roof lights and the cab windows, plus unlike some VW conversions you do have loads of space inside the van so it never feels gloomy. And yes I agree it does look good and yes I ( I should say we ) are very pleased with our van and really don't agree with the negative comments.
 
Regards

Batch

Thanks to you all for your replies; it's always good to hear from people who have had personal experience of an issue.

Hello,

We echo all of the positive comments made above and don't recognise any of the negative points made.  When we had the option to go for a new Symbol with athermic glass we jumped at it and 3 years later we do not regret the decision. In fact quite the reverse - there is no way we would return to using a van with plastic windows.  PLastic looks and feels clunky and gives distorted vision, especially when scratched.  And then there's the issue of broken catches ....

We have not found anything to fault athermic glass:  the van is certainly not gloomy inside, especially given the surface area of the roof-lights; we use our van all year and have not suffered any condensation on the athermic glass (we use an external silver screen on the cab windows); and we have had no problems using our Garmin, nor indeed when using wi-fi.  People tell us that athermic glass is less thermally efficient than double-skin plastic windows but we have not found this an issue.  In our experience the van is no more difficult to keep warm in winter than those with plastic windows. 

We love the privacy it affords; well, what's not to like about sitting up in bed in the morning with a cup of tea, the blinds up and enjoying clear views of the surrounding countryside, safe in the knowledge that no-one can see in?!   As for people outside the van being uncomfortable about privacy glass, well that's their problem.  We only ever get comments from folks with glass envy, because they love the look of the van with its aesthetically pleasing streamlined look.  We're surprised that other van conversions don't follow AS, we looked at dozens of vans at the NEC last month and AS's were the only ones exhibited with athermic glass.

What can we say about the suggestion to adopt red & green porch lighting?  Seems a little over-complicated to us.  We find it simpler to hang a Travelodge "do not disturb" tag from the driving mirror when we want to enjoy ourselves during an afternoon siesta .......not.

Needless to say we recommend athermic glass without hesitation.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

We now have our Warwick Duo and although we have not yet been away in it, our initial impressions concerning the athermic glass are good. At home the van is parked facing north with an unrestricted sun view to the south and it is already obvious that it is staying cooler inside than our previous Duetto.

I will give a fuller report in July, after a continental summer's use with lots of sunny weather (I hope!)

We also love the glass in our van. When you look at the IH or Murvi vans that are at least £10k more than the AS vans, and the 'cheap' plastic windows spoil the van, and make them look like a home conversion ! Could never go back to normal windows just for the styling aspect.

Our Duetto before had plastic habitation windows, but at least AS used tinted ones, unlike the above makes.

What gloom?  We have never noticed it - the athermic glass is intended to absorb heat not light.
It is very difficult for people outside to see in but then why would they want to?
Very good for bird spotters - put a stick on bird feeder on the window with with suckers and the birds will come...
Probably the members who don't like athermic glass have never tried it...
Pete