Best Scandinavian Windows by Rationel – A Video Guide

Video Transcription:

Hi,

I’m Sean from the Thames Valley Window Company, and I’m going to talk to you today about Scandinavian windows from Rationel.

Rationel is a Scandinavian company that has been in operation for over 70 years. They specialise in high-quality, beautiful timber and aluminium-clad timber window design for sustainable living—the individual features, which is why we recommend them to homeowners, architects and developers..

I’ll go through them with you now. There are two profiles in the Rationel range: Forma and Aura.

Former Plus is a traditional-looking window featuring Georgian bars, also known as astragal bars, and more, all in keeping with the style of old windows.

The Aura Plus range is a more high-performance conventional window and is widely used in contemporary makeovers and new builds.

Well, both windows have a ‘plus’ suffix, and what that means is that they are often referred to as alu clad or composite windows.

That means it’s a powder-coated aluminium exterior and a timber interior.

The advantage of that is that the outside of your windows is completely maintenance-free because the aluminium needs a wipe down now and again.

The other great advantage is that many composite windows available are tilt-and-turn, as they are called. They’re designed for continental living and are made to fit continental standards.

And what that means is that they tilt in for ventilation and open inwards. It doesn’t always suit the British way of life because we have curtains, ornaments on the window sills, etc.

And if you have to open the window primarily for cleaning, it’s a problem, as it gets in the way of the curtains.

These windows open out. They can be of the continental style, but they are designed to open out like traditional casement windows.

The other main point is that we discussed sustainable living, which is embodied in their energy efficiency.

Rational windows tend to be default triple-glazed. Double-glazing is available but triple-glazed. The U-value, which measures the energy efficiency of the triple-glazed window. It’s incredibly low.
If you have double-glazed, the U-value is 1.29, which is still lower than the building regulations dictate, which is 1.4.

Many of these composite windows will need to be a different colour on the inside than they are on the outside. And with a large number of composite windows, and not just composite windows, but windows in general, aluminium in particular, if you have two colours, you pay extra.

With the Rationel windows, provided you’re using their standard colours, which is quite a broad palette, there is no charge for the dual colour, which could save you a couple of thousand pounds on a job over, let’s say, what you might do if you were using a competitive product.

What I want to do now is show you the Rationel window. The energy-efficient windows themselves have two types of openings. This is called a guided casement, as it slides along, allowing you to clean the inside from the outside.

This is a conventional hinge, providing a much wider opening, which is necessary in bedrooms. However, the other side of the coin is that the handles feature a built-in safety mechanism. You can’t open these windows by accident. You have to press the release button to open the window.

Another advantage of the Rationel window is both aesthetic and practical in as much as the building regulations now insist that if you don’t have an alternate passive ventilation in the form of what’s usually quite expensive, mechanically heat recovery systems; you’ve got to have trickle vents.

Many people feel that trickle vents can ruin the look of the window, but Rationel has found a way to address this, if you prefer, with what’s probably the most subtle venting system of all. It’s smooth to the frame. It works like this. But it’s hidden. It’s not something that you’ll look at.

And even when it’s at the top of the frame, it’s in the soffit, if you like, it’s not something that your eyes get drawn to, which sometimes this is what happens with the other trickle vents

You’ve got this, you know, carbuncle on the side. You could never describe that as a carbuncle.

As we were discussing, this particular window is the Aura, and it’s much more conventional. As you can see, it’s a large single pane of glass. The size of the window determines how it opens. You couldn’t have a window like this opening sideways. So, it opens from the top, but with the exact mechanism that accompanies it, the same security on the handle, and, of course, they’re all lockable as well. However, you have to press it in to open it up.

I’m standing in our showroom, and we’ve got these beautiful Scandinavian windows on display, as you can see. Come and have a look at them. There’s nothing better than seeing the windows in the flesh. It’s the best way to imagine how they’ll look in your home or in your project.

Rationel windows and doors are for the discerning customer.

Thank you.